230 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 22, 1911. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholine and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date July o, with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



Since our last report, between 300 and 400 bales of 

 West Indian cotton liave been sold, including St. Croix, 

 Nevis, Barbados, St. Kitts and Anguilla, at 15d. to 16(7.. and 

 a few superfine St. Vincent at 22(f.: the sales also include 

 about 100 bales of Stains, at 8id. to 10(7. 



Prices remain steady at the decline, but spinner.s are not 

 in any immediate want, and are only purchasing for stock. 



The report of Messrs. Henry W. Frost & Co., on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending June 24, is as follows: — 



With sales during the week of only 30 bales of ofi' cotton, 

 the market remains quiet and unchanged. The stock consists 

 largely of planters' crop lots, and such cotton as is being held 

 off of the market under instructions from the owners, leaving 

 only very limited offerings of odd bags on the market, for 

 which we tpiote : — 



Fully Fine 28c. = 15f (7. ci.f. it .^ per cent. 



Fine 26c. = U|(? „ 



Stains and off Grades at 20c. to 24c. = 11 J,(7. to I'ihL 

 ci.f. it 5 per cent. 



Cotton-Growing in the Western United 



States.-- Jvxperiments in cotton-giowing are being conduct- 

 ed on the Pacific coast, from the Imperial Valley in Southern 

 California to Klamath Falls in the State of Oregon. These 

 experiments are being carried on under the supervision of 

 a F(!deral Government Inspector. Most encouraging reports 

 are being received from districts so far north that the idea 

 of attempting to grow cotton had never before entered the 

 heads of the landowners of those sections. Some of the 

 cotton plants have frozen, but on the whole, the work is pro- 

 gressing so favourably that the inspector is .sanguine of the 

 results. 



Egyptian long staple cotton is being planted, and is 

 found lo resist the cold much l)etter than other varieties com- 

 monly grown in the United States, and at the same time it 

 furnishes a fine quality of cotton with a long fibre. 



Another feature that is encouraging to growers is that 

 the value of the cotton seed is now e(|ual to. or greater than, 

 that of the cotton. In cases where the fii)re proves of small 

 value, the seed will often make the crop profitable. {The 

 Board of Trade Journal, .\pril 27, I!) 11.) 



COTTON-GROWING IN PERU. 



In a recent number of Peru Today (Vol. Ill, No. 2), 

 there is presented an account of cotton production in Peru, 

 which is partly a translation and partly an abstract, of a study 

 of the subject prepared for the Bulletin of Fomento, of Peru. 

 From this it appears that the most favourable lands for 

 growing cotton, in the Republic, are situated in the river 

 valleys, near the coast, where there is a deep and fine soil 

 formed from the alluvium brought down by the rivers. The 

 kind of cotton most generally grown is the species indigenous 

 to the country, Gossijjnuni peruvianum; this is particularly 

 resistant to drought, on account of the possession of a large 

 root development. 



The article gives detailed information as to the rate of 

 jiroduction of cotton in different parts of the area where it is 

 grown. It is of interest that, in the district where Sea Island 

 cotton {G. harhadense) is raised, the production varies between 

 38fi lb, and 442 R. per acre, while the Egyptian varietj-, Mit- 

 Aflifi. in this and other districts, has given a yield of 500 lb. 

 to 830 B). per acre. As is pointed out, these figures show 

 that the yields of cotton in Peru are much greater than those 

 of other countries. Piactically, one may take as an average 

 of Peruvian production per acre, 484'4 lb , against the highest 

 average in the U.Si A. of 308 lb., in Egypt of 390-4 "?.,., and 

 in India of 7t) It)., per acre. 



The growth of the cotton industry in i'eru is shown by 

 the fact that the e.Kportation of 1903, which was 7,651 tons 

 of lint, value £29-5,719, was nearly trebled by 1909, the 

 exfiort for tliat year being 21,370 tons, having a value of 

 £1,211.0S1. The amount of Full Rough and Moderate 

 Peruvian shipped in 1903 was 2,473 tons, value £103,869; in 

 1909 it was 7,041 tons, value £378,831. The similar figures 

 for Smooth Peruvian are 1,906 tons, value £17(),640, and 

 13,793 tons, of a value of £795,496. The statistics again 

 show a matter of particular interest, in the West Indies, in 

 the fact that 535,000 lb. of Sea Island cotton, valued at 

 £36,752, was exported in 1909, whereas in 1903 the exjiort 

 was 271,000 lb., worth £15,209. 



The growth in the production of lint has been accom- 

 panied by an increase in the exportation of cotton seed and 

 cotton cake. Thus in 1903, the export of cotton seed was 

 5,348 ton.s, value £13,371, and in 1909, 7,761 tons, value 

 .£15,522. As regards cotton cake, the ox|>ort for 1903 was 

 2,247 tons, valued at £8,989, while in 1909 it was 4,528 

 tons, valued at £22,840. 



The extent of the cotton-growing industry of Peru may 

 be estimated by coinbining the total exportation given above 



