182 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Junk 17, 1905. 



ANGUILLA. 



The St. Kitt's Daily Express of May 29 has an 

 article on cotton cultivation at Anguilla, from which 

 we extract the following : — 



We understand that Mr. \). .J. van Itoniondt, of 

 Bt. Maitin, who started a snuill ginnery in the island of 

 Ansjuilla in March last, has exiiorted about 12,000 lb. of 

 Sea" Island cotton, and that he is now making strenuous 

 efforts to get the cultivation of that product materially 

 increased. He has cultivated in the last two years a large 

 area of his own iilantation at St. Martin in this cotton, and 

 from his small ginnery there has turned out this season 130 

 bales. We feel [lersuaded that this industry is the 

 sheet-anchor of that poor island. We are informed that 

 Mr. van Komondt has reaped as much as 1,000 R. seed-cotton 

 per acre from some of his fields. 



BARBADOS. 



following 



The Maiiclii'titer Utnirdian has tht 

 reference to the cotton industry in Barbados :- 



The Agricultural Xnr.^ (Barbados), tjie official organ of 

 the Imperial Department of Agriculture of the West Indies, 

 publishes an account of the proceedings at a very successful 

 conference of cotton growers held at Barbados on April 14, 

 at which an address was given by Sir Daniel Morris. 

 In the discussion which followed some interesting facts^ were 

 put before the meeting by various cotton growers. There 

 appeared to be a general feeling that the prospects of the 

 industry were good^and that, where efforts had been made to 

 keep the cotton worm in check and the soil had been well 

 cultivated, the results had been satisfactory. In many cases 

 the yield of seed-cotton had not come up to expectation, but 

 this was, for the most part, attributed to the drought. 

 Efforts are being made to obtain a careful estimate of the 

 average cost of growing cotton and idacing it on the English 

 market. It was suggested by Sir Daniel Morris that 

 a special meeting of the Agricultural Society should be 

 held later to discuss the question whether cotton could be 

 grown as a ' catch crop ' with cane in Barbados. This, 

 says the A<ir!riilUiyal News, is an important jjoint which 

 deserves careful consideration on the part of the jdanters. 



THE MANURING OF COTTON. 



The following article has been written for the 

 Agricultural Neics by the Hon. Francis Watts, 

 C.M.C, D.Sc, Government Analyst and Agricultural 

 Chemist for the Leeward Islands : — 



The yield of cotton is profoundly inHuenced by season 

 and by the condition of the soil : under the head of season 

 may perhaps be included not only rainfall but also exposure 



to wind ; tlic cotton plant is very sensitive to wind and 

 grows much more vigorously when sheltered. 



The condition of the soil has a most important bearing ; 

 for its best development Sea Island cotton requires rather 

 light soil and requires the soil to be in a good state of 

 tilth. Cood tilth can be obtained by the application of 

 oi'ganic manures such as farm-yard manure, compost, green- 

 dressings: therefore in preparing for planting cotton care 

 should be taken to see that the soil is in good condition, and, 

 if necessary, one of the organic manures mentioned should 

 be used. In experiments conducted in the Leeward Islands 

 during last season, it was found that, in cases where the soil 

 was in good condition, the yield of cotton was not increased by 

 the application of artificial manures, though doubtless, there 

 are cases where the use of artificial manures will prove of 

 use. However, in the earlier stages of the industry it will 

 be safer if cultivators of cotton take care to keep their land 

 in good general condition by the use of organic manures, 

 than if they trust to the use of artificial manures to make 

 good the defects of bad farming. Possibly, however, it may 

 be found, after cotton has been grown for some time on the 

 same land, that artificial manures can be usefully and 

 profitably employed to make good defects in the soil which 

 may not appear in the early stages of the industry. 



There is little room for doubt that cotton will require 

 careful attention in the matter of manuring. AVhat is here, 

 sou"ht is to indicate what may be considered the natural 

 manures, the use of which the cultivator must not neglect 

 while seeking a short cut to success by means of artificial 

 ones. There are certain underlying, fundamental principles 

 which will serve to guide the cotton planter, and on which 

 he will be able to build up his practice, at the same time 

 extending his knowledge of the applicability of all the 

 various kinds of manures within his reach. 



A sugar crop makes comparatively little demands upon 

 the soil because of the return to the soil of a large quantity 

 of waste products such as the tra.sh and toiis of the canes, 

 which either go back directly to the soil or find their way back 

 as pen manure. The mud or scum of the clarifiers and filter- 

 presses carries back a large proportion of the nitrogen and 

 phosphate, while the ashes from the megass restore to the 

 soil a considerable part of the mineral matter contained in 

 the cane. Tlie sugar itself carries away comparatively little 

 of the fertilizing constituents in the soil, thu.s, with the help 

 of compaiatively little artificial manure, the sugar cane has 

 been cultivated in some instances for some two hundred 

 years almost continuously on the same land. 



A cotton crop makes some demands upon the soil if we 

 take both lint and seed into consideration; but the nitrogen, 

 phosDhate and potash, the substances usually considered in 

 connexion with manurial questions, arc nearly all contained 

 in the seed, there being but very small cpiantities in tha 



