358 



THK AUiaCULTUllAL NKWS. 



XOVEMBEE 11, 1911. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolsteiiholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date October i^.S, with reference 

 to bhe sales of West Itidi.ui Sea Island coiton : — 



Since our last report, about 100 bales of West Indian 

 Sea Lslands have been sold, including Raibados \6d. to I7c7.. 

 St. Vincent 19t/,, Jlontserrat 16(/. to 16^<7., and St. Croi.v 

 I5d. to 17d, ali-o about 50 Stains at 8'/. to 9d. 



The marktt has been firm, chietiy owing to the sboit 

 supplies, but the tendency of American tjea L^lands is 

 downward. 



The Carolina crop is expected to tuin out rather more 

 than previous estimates and will probably reach about 

 G,000 bales, against an average of 10,000 to 12,000. Prices 

 of Carolina are quntaVily about Id. down and Floridas and 

 Georgias are decidedly easier, the best Floridas being obtain- 

 able at 12c/. pa- lb. 



The report of ]\Iessrs. lienr)- W. Frost & Co., on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending October 21, is as follows: — 



The receipts for the week were 10-5 bales, against 'Mo 

 bales last year. They are composed chiefly of off cotton. 

 There have been no sales, consequently the market has not 

 yet opened and w-e have to omit quotations. 



THE BRITISH COTTON GROWING 

 ASSOCIATION. 



The following is taken from an 



iceount received 

 of a recent meeting of the British Cotton (iiowing 

 Association: — 



The ninety-second meeting of the Council of the IJritidi 

 Cotton Growing Association was held at the Olliccs of the 

 Association, 15, Cross Street, Manchester, on Tuesday, Octo- 

 ber 3. In the absence of the President (the liight Hon. the 

 Earl of Derby, G.C.V.U.), .Mr. -T. Arthur Hutton occujiied 

 the chair. 



WHsT iNoiKs It was reported that Dr. Watts, the Impe- 

 rial (^."onimissioner of Agricidture for the West Indies, hail 

 expre.ssed the wish tliat the Association should be represented 

 at the Agricultural Conference to beheld ne.xt year in Trini- 

 dad, and it is h(i|)ed that Mr. John W. McConnell. of the Fine 

 Cotton Spinners' Association, and ^Ir. William .Maislaiid, of 

 the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners, 

 will be able to attend as Delegates from the Association, and 

 as the respective representatives of employers and operatives. 



WEST AFKiijA. The cotton seed which has been distributed 

 has now all been planted, and the Association's staff has been 

 busy touring the principal cotton- growing districts; their 

 reports show that the districts round [bad.Tn and Lafenwa in 

 Lagos are suffering somewhat from thought, which is retard- 

 ing the growth of the young plants 



In order to encourage planters to cultivate a better type 

 r.f cotton, the Director of .\gricultuie for Southern Xigeria 

 is pioposing to give out seed to a nund>er of approved planters 

 in the neighbourhood of Ibadan, with a view lo their carry- 

 ing out e.xperiments on a larger scale under the su|iervi.sion 

 of the Government, and the Association has guaranteed to 

 purchase all the seed-cotton ]jroducedin this manner at a pre- 

 mium of Id. per lb , wliich is equal to nearly Id. per lb. of 

 lint cotton. 



The total purchases of cotton in Lagos ' to the end of 

 September amount to 5,332 bales, as compared with 5,514 

 balls for the same period of last year, and 1 1,762 bales for 

 1909. 



uoAND.\. Reference was made to the difficulties in the 

 transport of cotton in Uganda, more especially in the districts 

 round Lake Choga, where an enormous quantity of cotton is 

 being produced, and it is impossible for the lake steamer and 

 the present railway service to (-arry more than a small per- 

 centiige of the cotton grown. The attention of the Govern- 

 ment has been called to this matter, and steps are being taken 

 with all po.ssible despatch to order at least one more steamer 

 and additional lighters for service o'n Lake Choga. 



The crop last year in Uganda amounted to about 

 15,000 bales; it is,estimated that the 1912 crop may be from 

 25,000 to 30,000 'bales, and that the 1913 crop may reach 

 50,000 bales. In order to deal with the rapid increase, the 

 .Association is taking measures to provide additional ginning 

 facilities and it is proposed to spend about £25,000 on 

 additional machinery and plant 



It was reported that the cable between Mombasa and 

 Zanzibar was bro,ken on .July 11, and had not yet been 

 repaired; further, that the same cable was broken for 

 a period of three or four weeks earlier in the year. The break- 

 down of the cable service has proved a very serious matter, and 

 re'On)mendations have been made urging the Government to 

 c'lnstruct a line of 107 mi'e.s lo connect Xiniule (the present 

 terminus of the Uganda telegrapli) and Gondokoro (the 

 terminus of the telegraph line in the Sudan) in order to 

 provide an alternative service. 



SUDAN. It was reported that the experiments which 

 are being made in the Sudan to prove whether cotton can be 

 planted and harvested within the time that I'^gyjit will allow 

 the Sndan to use water from the Xile have .so far been 

 very successful. It was decided that the Chairman (Mr. J. 

 Arthur Hutton) should visit the Sudan during the coming 



