54 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



February 24. 1917 



COTTON, 



THE)BRITISH COTTON GROWING ASSOCI- 

 ATION AND WEST INDIAN 

 PLANTERS 



We publish for general information the following letter, 

 received by the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the 

 West Indies, from the British Cotton Growing Association 

 relative to the sale of West Indian cotton: — 



SEA ISLAND COTTON MARKET. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date January 22, 1917, with 

 reference to the sales of West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton: — 



All descriptions ot Sea Island cotton have remained 

 very firm since our last report, and sales of Montserrat cotton 

 have been made at 3id. to 36'i. 



Buyers are anxious for a larger supply, and we anticipate 

 that all shipments will be eagerly purchased on arrival at 

 good prices. It is very doubtful if there is enough Sea 

 Island cotton to go round. 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending January 27, 1917, is as follows: — 



ISLANDS. With the absence of demand the market 

 remains dull and nominally unchanged. The factors are 

 holding their limited ofl'erings of previous prices, hoping that 

 in a short time a demand will spring up admitting of their 

 selling without having to make any great concession to do so 

 Under these circumstances we have only to repeat our last 

 quotations, viz: — 



Fully Fine 53c. = 55c. landed. 



Fine 50c. = 52c. 



Fine, slightly off 48c. = 50c. 



GEOEGIAS AND FLOEiDAs., There has been some inquiry, 

 and 'sales have been made of a few small lots, which were 

 probably placed at some concession in price. Howe%'er, there 

 is no general demand, consequently the markets are very 

 quiet, with the holders of cotton showing more disposition to 

 sell, and are becoming less hopeful of disposing of their hold- 

 ings at the high prices which were current. Consequently, 

 with orders in hand some lots can be bought at concessions. 



We quote viz: — 



GEOEGIAS AND FLORID.\S. 



Extra Choice to Fancy 50c. = 51|c. landed. 



Choice to Extra Choice 48c. = 49|c. ,, 



With orders in hand we can buy occasionally Ic. to 2c. 

 lower. 



The exports from Savannah for the week were, to North- 

 ern Mills 293 bales, and to Southern Mills 217 bales, and 

 from Jacksonville to Northern Mills 200 bales. 



The United States Census Bureau reports cotton ginned 

 to January 16, as follows: — 



South Carolina 3, 2 5 f< bales! 



Georgia 76,32s „ 



Florida 35,877 „ j 



Against last year 90,736 „ 



.. „ 1915 79,484 „ 



„ 1914 76,188 „ 



„ 1913 70,760 „ 



makinga total of 115,463 bales. 



Total crop 85,278 „ 



78,857 „ 

 85,544 „ 

 66,169 „ 



Manchester, 



January 19, 1917. 



Dear Sir. 



We have been informed that certain statements 

 have recently been made in the West Indies which seriously 

 affect the character and reputation of this Association. 



2. These statements may be briefly summarized as 

 follows: — 



(i) That planters will do better by selling their cotton 

 direct to the spinner, as this Association purchase cotton on 

 their own account and make a profit on the transaction. 



(ii) That some of the Lancashire spinners are of 

 opinion that the Association are not doing their best to 

 encourage the cotton-growing industry in the West Indies- 



(iii) That planters will do better by selling their cotton 

 through other agencips than the Association, as these agents 

 will be able to sell cotton to spinners with whom the Associ- 

 ation have no commercial relations. 



3 We should be much obliged if you would contradict 

 every one of these statements. 



4. As regards the first statement, we beg to inform'you 

 that we have not bought a single bale of West Indian cotton 

 on our own account, and that we have always paid the 

 planters the full price which we have actually received less out 

 of pocket charges and the usual brokerage of one per cent. 

 We must also insist on the fact that the Association have only 

 one object in view, viz. theextension of the cultivation of cotton 

 throughout the Erai)ire. We are of opinion that the best 

 method of attaining this object is to pay the planter the best 

 possible price which the market will allow, so as to encourage 

 him to continue the cultivation of cotton, and to increase the 

 acreage under cotton as much possible. 



5. There is no foundation whatever for the second 

 statement. The Association have nothing to gain by reducing 

 the price, rather the contrary, whereas it is to the interest of 

 the spinner to buy his cotton as cheaply as possible. 



6. The third statement is also untrue, for the Association 

 are in close touch with all spinners who use West Indian 

 cotton not only in England but also in other countries 

 in Europe. 



7. We should be much obliged if you would pub- 

 lish this letter, and also if you would at the same time 

 inform planters that we shall be verj- grateful if they will 

 send us — either confidentially or otherwise — any informatioa 

 which will enable us to put a stop to these libellous statements, 



Vours faithfully, 



(Sgd.) J. ARTHUE HITTTON, 



Chairman, British Cotton Growing Association, 



