>10 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July L5, 1905. 



could be ginne.l and baled at a cost not e.Kceeding '2c. 

 (1(/.) per lb. It was felt that it would be for the good, 

 not only of the industry generally, but also of the 

 cotton growers, if the factory were taken over and run 

 on co-operative lines. The growers woidd thus obtain 

 not only the profits arising froui the cultivation of the 

 cotton but also the profits of the working of the 

 factory. 



The total cost of erecting the flictory and bringing 

 it into its present efficient condition was £1,159 12.s. (J«/.: 

 of this amount the Government of Barbados had 

 contributed £C49 9s. Gd., ami the British Cotton- 

 growing Association, in gins, baling press, and 

 disintegrator, £24G Cs. 10c/. and a free grant of £100. 

 A further sum of £16G lOs. id had been provided from 

 the income of the factory. 



Sir Daniel Morris mentioned that the Governor- 

 in-Executive Committee would be prepared, in the 

 event of a company of cotton growers being formed, to 

 recommend to the Legislature that the interest of the 

 Government in the factory might be transferred to the 

 company for first-mortgage debenture bonds of the 

 value of £G00, bearing interest at the rate of 3 per 

 cent, per annum, and also that a lease might be 

 granted of the present site to the company at 

 a nominal rent, provided the land was not required 

 fur public purposes. Under similar circumstances 

 the British Cotton-growing Association was willing to 

 accept £150 for its interest in the machinery. They 

 therefore required about £600 to meet the payment 

 of £150 and to carry on operations during the coming 

 season. 



The agreement of sale would include an under- 

 taking that the factory would not charge more than 

 2c. (1(/.) per H:>. for ginning and baling cotton for 

 cotton growers in Barbados ; also that the factory would 

 buy cotton from small growers or make advances to 

 them to the extent of 75 per cent, of the value of their 

 cotton. Further, in the event of a new law being 

 passed to prevent cotton stealing, the company would 

 become the principal buyers of cotton, in order to 

 prevent its purchase by unauthorized persons. 



On the motion of Dr. C. E. Gooding, M.C.P., 

 seconded by Mr. H. E. Pilgrim, the following resolution 

 was unanimo\isly passed : — 



'That the cotton growers present at this meeting 

 hereby agree to form themselves into a limited liability 

 company in order to take over the Central Cotton Factory 

 and work it on co-operative lines on the terms set forth in 



the letters laid before them from the Colonial Secretary and 

 the Secretary of the British Cotton-growing Association.' 



Ke-solutions were also passed authorizing Sir Daniel 

 Morris to communicate to the Governor-in-Executive 

 Committee and the British Cotton-growing Association 

 the decision contained in the above resolution. 



Upon the suggestion of Sir Daniel Morris the 

 following were appointed a provisional board of 

 directors, viz., the Hon. F. J. Clarke, Dr. C. E. 

 Gooding, Mr. Samuel Browne, Mr. T. B. Evelyn, jnr., 

 Mr. G. Sebert Evelyn, Mr. H. E. Pilgrim, Mr. W. D. 

 Shepherd, and Mr. J. R. Bovell, with power to take all 

 necessary steps lo start the company. 



In answer to a cotton grower, jMr. J. R. Bovell said 

 that the number of shares already taken was 1,21G, 

 equal to £G08. 



Very hearty and sincere votes of thanks were then 

 accorded both Sir Daniel Morris and Mr. Bovell for 

 their substantial services in connexion with the cotton 

 industry and especially with the establishment of the 

 factory, the control of which it was hoped would soon 

 be in the hands of the cotton growers working on 

 co-operative lines. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Seedling Caues in Jamaica. 



In his )-eport on the Sugar Experiment Station in 

 .lamaica for the year 1904-5, Dr. Cousins makes the 

 following references to the work in connexion with 

 seedling canes : — - 



Experiments to test ten selected ^rieties of canes in 

 100-hoIe plots have been established at eleven estates in five 

 parishes. 



Selected seedling canes, from which trials on an estate 

 scale are to be started in the coming season, have been 

 supplied to twenty-two estates ; for this purpose 35,500 cane 

 tops and cuttings have been distributed from the Hope canes 

 under my direction, of which it is estimated that 28,000 are 

 actually growing. 



Seven acres of land at Hope are reserved for the purposes 

 of this scheme as a nursery for cane varieties. The 

 reservoir was made available for irrigating the canes by the 

 construction of a conduit, so that while the reservoir could 

 store water all night, it could be drawn upon at the same 

 time as the ordinary supply in the day time. The canes 

 liave made good growth ; a breadth of Barbados seedling. 

 No. 208, yielded 76-9 tons of cane per acre. Some 100 

 selected seedlings, besides thirty-five selected seedlings 

 raised in .Tamaica in lOO.'i, will be ready for first selection in 

 June next. 



