342 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 28, 1911. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholtne and HoUmd, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date Octobers), with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



Since our last report, about 400 bales of West Indian 

 Sea Islands have been sold at steady prices; they include 

 St. Croix, Nevis, Anguilla, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Antigua, 

 St. Kitts, at ]M. to 16(/, a few Montserrat at lid., and 

 St. Vincent ITJrf. to 2 2d. 



Carolina Islands are being held for '20d. and over, with- 

 out finding any buyers. On the other hand, the best 

 Florida which competes with the lower qualities of We.st 

 Indian, is Ijcing sold freely at 13(/. 



The report of Messis. IJcnry W. Frost & Co., on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending October 7, is as follows: — 



The receipts during the week have been 81 bales, making 

 the total amount to date 104 bales. This cotton lias not yet 

 been sampled or put on the market for sale. During the 

 coming week it is possible that the Factors may think well 

 of putting on sale some of the cotton. In this event they 

 will sample the receipts and admit of our seeing the quality 

 of the crop. The old crop cotton held over from last year is 

 practically withdrawn from the market, being held at extreme 

 prices. 



RECENT SPECIAL MERITING OF THE 



BRITISH COTTON GROWING 



ASSOCIATION. 



The following information comcniing a .'■pecial meeting 

 of the Council of the British Cotton (Jrowing As.«ocialion, 

 held in Manchester on September 1.'?, for the purpose of meet- 

 ing Dr. Francis Watts, C.M.(!., Imperial Commis.sioner of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies, and Professor P. Carmody, 

 F.I.C , F.C.S., Director of Agriculture, Trinidad, is abstract- 

 ed from the Manchester Courier for Thursday, September 14, 

 1911. 



The object of the meeting was to consider the special 

 needs of the Lancashire spinning trade in regard to the finer 

 qualities of cotton gniwn at present in the West Indies, and 

 to give the visitors information concerning future rcciuire- 

 ments, as well .as to obtain from them information in relation 

 to the progress of cotton production in the West Indies. 



In the absence of the President, Lord DerViy, the visit;- 

 ors were welcomed by Mr. A. J. Hutton, Chairman of the 



Council of the A.ssociation, who stated that the members of 

 the latter always appreciated the opportunities lo: holding 

 similar conferences. It was their desire to gain information 

 concerning the cotton industry in the West Indies, and at the 

 same time there was no doubt that the visitors .were in want 

 of information! such as could be given by the Association. 

 Mr. Hutton referred to the damage done to cotton in South 

 Carolina by the recent storm, and gave the assurance that 

 whether this was as great as had been reported, or not, it 

 WMS likely that prices for West Indian cotton would be good. 



Dr. Watts expressed equal appreciation, on behalf of 

 himself and his colleague Professor Caruiody, of the opportun- 

 ity that the conference gave for obtaining direct informa- 

 tion. The object was to create interest, and by obtaining 

 assurance that the standards set for cotton growers were 

 quite correct, to assist them in gaining the best market 

 for their produce. He referred to the part taken by 

 St. Vincent in producing nearly all the superfine typo 

 of Sea Island, in the West Indies, and thought that 

 St. Vincent should continue to supply this part of the 

 industry, while it would be best for the other colonies to 

 confine their attention to the grades of .Sea Island lower than 

 this — that is to say, to grades which he included under the 

 designation Dixon Type. In continuation, I)r. Watts dis- 

 cussed, with statistics, the jn'oduction and the possibilities of 

 development in ilontserrat, St. Kitt.s, Nevis, Antigua and the 

 Virgin Islands, giving information concerning the way in 

 which cotton is produced under the dili'erent conditions, and 

 referring to the work of the Officers of the Department of 

 Agriculture, particularly in relation to the provision of assist- 

 ance to the small producer. After answering questions and 

 taking part in a discussion of details, Dr. Watts expressed 

 his thanks for the information that had been given, and 

 again emphasized the inqiortance of the possession of reliable 

 information asito the standards of cotton that are required 

 by spinners. 



The means taken to encourage cotton-growing in Trinidad 

 and Toliago were then discussed by Professor ( armody, who 

 made special reference to the work in connexion with cotton 

 |)roduction that had been done by Mr. T. Thornton, an expert 

 of the British Cotton ( irowing Association, who bad been 

 formerly attached to the Inqierial Department of Agriculture. 

 Many questions were answered by l^rofcssor L'armody, and 

 after a general 'discussion had taken place on the cost of 

 producing the finer qualities of raw cotton, the conference 

 adjourned for a complimentary luncheon to the visitors. 



After li'.ncheon, .Mr. Hutton, in submitting the health of 

 Dr. Walts and Profes.sor Carmody, emphasized the importance 

 of increasing the areas supplying cotton to Lancashire. He 

 referred to the .spread of the boll weevil in the United States, 

 and the likelihood of its eventually reaching tlio Atlantic 

 coast, when Sea Island cotton would be no longer available 



