3^10 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



SeptembEe 30, 191L 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date September 1] , with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



Since our last report, a moderate business has been clone 

 in West Indian Sea Islands, chietly Barbados and St. Kitti^, 

 at prices ranging from 16d to Md. 



Prices are firm, but buyers are awaiting further news 

 from America as to the growing crop before purchasing freely. 



A serious storm has damaged the Carolina Island cotton, 

 •where about 10,000 bales are grown; but we understand that 

 it has not affected Georgia and Florida, where the crop 

 usually amounts to about 90,000 to 100,000 bales. 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending September 9, is as follows: — 



In consequence of the recent severe storm throughout 

 the Sea Island section, the marketing of the crop will be very 

 much delayed, and it will probably not be before the middle 

 or the end of October that the receipts will be sutticient to 

 admit of any offerings. 



The stock of the old crop cotton held over from last year 

 has been temporarily withdrawn from the market, as the 

 Factors are anticipating very full prices for any well matured 

 sound lots. Under these circumstances, no bright cotton 

 of the old crop is offered under 40c., equals 22d. 



CONTAMINATION IN EGYPTIAN COTTON. 



Work that is being done in connexion with the introduc- 

 tion of the growing of Egyptian cotton into the United States 

 has led to the consideration of the fact that this is likely to 

 be contaminated by the inclusion of an undesirable type of 

 cotton, possessing a short, weak fibre, and called Hindi cotton. 

 The matter is dealt with in IJuUetin No. "210 of the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, entitled Hindi Cotton in Egypt. It is pointed out 

 in this publication that the presence of Hindi cotton plants 

 in fields, in Egypt, causes the production of hybrids, and the 

 consequent obtaining of a cotton mixed in character. In that 

 country, the possession of skilled and cheap labour has ren- 

 dered possible the careful sorting of the cotton by hand, before 

 baling, so that Egyptian cotton possesses a high reputation 

 for uniformity. In the United States the circumstances are 

 different, and the lack of cheap skilled labour makes it neces- 

 sary to give careful consideration to the existence of Hindi 

 cotton in Egyptian varieties, when it is desired to introduce 

 this cotton into that country. 



In pursuance of the matter, the conclusions reached in 

 the bulletin to which reference is made state that the prospects 

 of introducing the growing of Egyptian varieties into the 

 United States are dependent upon the possiljility of obtaining 

 a uniform crop, and at the same time avoiding the necessity of 

 sorting the lint after picking. Notwithstanding the care that 

 is employed in Egypt in regard to the removal of Hindi plants 

 from the field at the time of thinning, there is rarely any 

 complete elimination of the undesirable plants. This is partly 

 because many of the hybrids, when young, do not possess 

 visibly the hybrid characteristics, though later they exhibit 

 these by possessing white flowers, bolls jiale green in colour, 

 or a scant yield of inferior lint, or a relative or complete ster- 

 ility. It is supposed that the Hindi contamination of Egyp- 

 tian cotton 'has increased in recent years, and this would 

 cause a decrease in the yield and quality of the crop, inde- 

 pendently of any of the other causes that have been alleged as 

 being responsible for the lessened production in that country. 

 This supposed increase may be due to the fact that Hindi 

 cotton possesses naked seeds, which consecjuently germinate 

 more reatlily than those provided with fuzz, and give plants 

 which are thus reckoned as the most hardy when the time 

 coujes for thinning out. There is the additional possibility 

 that the characters of this cotton are prepotent over those of 

 the Egyptian, as is the case in regard to the later generations 

 of Egyptian Uj)land hybrids. 



The means suggested for adoption in the States for 

 producing a uniform Egyptian cotton is that of particular 

 attention to the external characters of all the plants in the field, 

 and the r(Mnoval of those which are undesirable, before the 

 time of flowering. It is expected that reversion to the Hindi 

 characters may continue to occur in small amounts, even under 

 the most careful selection, just as plants with naked seeds are 

 found to occur in rigidly selected Upland varieties. The 

 experiments -that have been made so far indicate, however, 

 that these reversions are not likely to produce any large degree 

 of contamination, in the event of the employment of the 

 proper methods of selection. 



Owing to the heavy rainfall in St. Vincent during 

 August, some damage has been done to the cotton cultiva- 

 tion in the inland, and difliculty has been found in keeping 

 the fields clear of weeds. The condition of the arrowroot 

 and cacao crops in St. Vincent is fair. The report of the 

 Government Veterinary Surgeon for August shows that 

 among fifty-seven deaths of stock there were no cases of 

 anthrax; in iwo instances t lie cause of death was not ascer- 

 tained, but ijp suspicion was entertained that anthrax was 

 present. 



