230 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 29, 1905. 



ANTIGUA. 



At a meeting of the Agricultural and Coimneruial 

 Society, held at Antigua on July 7, Dr. Watts read 

 a paper reviewing the position of the cotton industry 

 in the island. The following are extracts frota the 

 paper : — 



The most profitable iiistauce of cotton growing last 

 season in Antigua was at Bettys Hojie estate where 

 18 aores were planted in cotton and over 20,000 It), ot seed- 

 cotton had been reaped. The lint was sold for 1.?. 2c?. per ft), 

 and the profits on the 18 acres would probably be between 

 £200 and £300. 



Another instance of i)rofitable cultivation was at 

 Piccadilly estate, where 10 acre.? had been [ilanted and 

 12 bales of 180 ft), of lint had been marketed. This amount 

 (2,160 ft).) had been si:>ld at l.s. -Irl per ft), and the profits 

 were from -50 to GO per cent, oji the money invested. 



There would be 260 bales sent from Antigua this 

 season, against 163 last season, and the price realized had 

 been better. Some failures had occurred but these could 

 generally be traced to either very poor soil or late planting. 



It was not necessary to take the sugar lands to plant 

 cotton. There were between 5,000 and 10,000 acres of land 

 in the north, east, and south of the island that were not 

 being used for any important crop and which with [iroper 

 treatment could be made to yield good crops of cotton. The 

 best cane lands were, in many instances, too stiff for cotton. 



All old cotton should be destroyed by the beginning of 

 June in each year to avoid, as far as possible, carrying over 

 diseases from crop to crop. 



It was all-important that good seed should Ije sown. 

 There was no doubt that they had obtained 20 to 30 per 

 cent, better prices for their cotton owing to the Rivers' 

 improved seed obtained for them last year. The action on 

 the part of Sir Daniel Morris in obtaining all the seed 

 ])ossible of Rivers' improved variety last year was a splendid 

 stroke of business, which placed the planters in the West 

 Indies on a level with the planters in the Sea Lslands, as far 

 as seed was concerned, up to last year. 



It was important that a good stock <if insecticide 

 should be on hand at the time when the seed was sown. 

 The action of insects was too rapid to think of this 

 being left until an attack was maile. Paris green was 

 needed for the cateri)illars, and sul|)hur and lime in 

 equal parts gave a sure remedy for the leaf-lilister mite. 

 A moderate amount of pen manure should be applied. If 

 the seed were returned to the .soil very little of the fertility 

 would be removed by the cotton, crop. Cotton seed was 

 excellent as part of a stock ration because it contained 

 a large supply of nitrogen, a constituent deficient in both 

 rane-tops and molasses. The best time to .sow cotton seed 

 was as soon as the rainy season set in, say, about July. 



RATOONING COTTON. 



Readers of the Atjrlcaltaral Ni'us will be aware 

 that the Imperial Department of Agriculture strongly 

 deprecates the ratooning of Sea Island cotton in the 

 West Indies. The reasons for the advocation of ann\ial 

 sowings in fresh soil were brietiy stated in a recent 

 editorial (p. 113). With the view of further urging 

 the ado])tion of the latter practice, it is proposed to 

 publish a series of articles dealing with the reasons 

 whv the ratooning of Sea Island cotton is undesirable. 



In the following article the subject is discussed, 

 fi'oni se\ei'al points of view, h\ Mr. Thoums Thornton, 

 A.K.CS., Travelling Inspector in connexion with Cotton 

 Investigations: — 



Before discussing the question of ratooning cotton, it 

 will be best to define what we are to undei'stand by ratooning. 

 In cane }ilanting the word implies the growth of young 

 shoots from old, cut-back plants, with the idea of raising 

 anothei' crop from the old stools. In cotton i)lants we use 

 the word in a rather different sense. If we were to use the 

 word as it is used in cane cultivation, we should have to 

 speak of the young growth from the cut-back plants in 

 February and March as ratoon plants, but this is not w^hat 

 is meant in the case of cotton. Our definition, in this ca.se, 

 is — ' continuing the growth of the old plants after the closing 

 of the dry season, and after seed has been sown tor the 

 new crop.' 



The reasons why ratoonhig cotton is not desiiaMe are as 

 follows: — 



(ii) Because of its ett'ect on the quality of the lint, and 

 thus on the position it occupies in the market. 



{!/) Because of its iuHuence in spreading di.seases. 



(<■) Because it is more economical to grow another crop 

 after cotton has been grown for one year. 



THE EFFECT OF E.'^TOONING ON THE POSITION OF WEST INDI.^N 

 (;OTTON IN THE M.^EKET. 



The ratooning of cotton is of great interest in the 

 present .stage of the industry. We have just established 

 a, market and have already attained a good position. If 

 a planter wishes to obtain a name for his cotton, or keep the 

 one he has already gained, he must avoid ratoon cotton. 

 The first croj) may be of excellent quality, but afterwards it 

 deteriorates in every respect : the lustre disappears, the 

 fibres become coaise, and the staple becomes \ery much 

 shortened. It will be impossible to use this for the .same high- 

 class work as the first croj) cotton. The price obtained for 

 ratoon cotton this year ought to be sufficient to guard any 

 l)lanter against it : when ordinary Barbados cotton was selling 

 at 33c. per It)., ratoon cotton fetched only 18c. 



Great care must be exercised if we are to keep the 



