118 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 21. 1917. 



COTTON. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON MARKET. 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending March 24, 1917, is as foHows: — 



ISLANDS. There has been a demand for the few Planters' 

 crops remaining unsold, re.suUint; in the sale of them for 

 export: consequently the entire crop has now been disposed 

 of and quotations are based only on last sale made, viz: 

 Extra Fine odd bags 58c. = 60c. landed 



Fine to Fully Fine .550. = 57c. „ 



<;eorgias and floridas. The market remains strong 

 ■with active demand for all offerings, which are now much 

 reduced and consist very largely of the lower grades, viz.: 

 Common to Choice. The .=ales in Savannah were limited to 

 these lower grades, but some lots were sold in the interior 

 markets on a bat is of average Extra Choice at GOc. .Since 

 the active demand during the last three weeks, resulting in 

 large sales, aggregating over 10,000 bales, prices having 

 advanced in all about 9c., the stocks everywhere are reduced 

 and firmly held for even further advance. The unsold portion 

 of the crop is now estimated at about 6,500 bales to 7,500 

 bales. 



This urgent and excited buying on account of the 

 Northern Mills is due to the difficulty of getting Egyptian 

 cotton, the English Government having put an embargo on 

 all such shipments from Liverpool. 



We quote, viz: — ^ 



GEOEGIAS AND FLORIDAS. 



Extra Choice to Fancy 60c. = 6 lie. landed. 

 Choice to Extra Choice 59c. = 60|c. „ 



Fine and Extra Fine 58c.=59|c. ,, 



Common 53c. to 55c. = 54i to 56|c. 



The exports from Savannah for the week have been, to 

 Northern Mills 1,-32.3 bales, .Southern Mills 84 bales, and 

 from Jacksonville to Northern Mills 1,430 bales. 



On March 20, the U. S. Census Bureau made its final 

 report of cotton ginned to March 1, viz: 



South Carolina 3,486 bales | 



Georgia 77 966 ,, -makinga total of 117,544 bales. 



Florida .36,092 „ ) 



Total crop 85,278 „ 



78,857 „ 

 85,544 „ 



Against last year 91,920 

 1915 81,.598 

 „ 1914 77,490 



1913 7.3,641 



66,169 



LONG-STAPLE COTTON IN 1915-16. 



In addition to the wealth of statistics and other infor- 

 mation characteristic of previous reports of this nature. 

 Bulletin 1 34, recently issued by the Department of Commerce, 

 Bureau of the Census, entitled 'Cotton Production and 



Distribution, Season of 1915-16', contains considerable 

 information of interest to manufacturers of automobile tire 

 fabrics. .Several quotations selected from various sections of 

 the Bulletin have been pieced into the following continuous 

 narative: — 



The limited supply of cotton having a long staple, and 

 the world-wide demand for cotton of this character in the 

 manufacture of thread and the higher grade fabrics, and 

 recently of automobile tires, have given such varieties an 

 importance seemingly out of proportion to the amount 

 produced. While at one time hmg-fibre Sea Island cotton 

 grown in the West Indies pmvided a large part of the total 

 used in Europe, the world's production of this variety at the 

 present time is comparatively insignificant, averaging less 

 than 100,000 bales per annum. The quantity of long-fibre 

 cotton produced in Egypt last year was less than a million 

 bales, and the quantity of LTpland cotton with a staple of 

 li inches or more in length produced in the United States 

 from the crop of 1915, according to the estimate of the 

 Department of Agriculture was about 825,000 bales. Long- 

 staple cotton ■ is also produced in comparatively .small 

 quantities in India, Brazil, Peru, and several other countries. 

 Altogether the total ^if long-staiile cotton — that is, cotton 

 having a fibre of 1 J inches or more in lengtli — jiroduced 

 throughout the world from the crop of 1915 did not, in all 

 probability, exceed 2,000,000 bales. 



The 1915 crop of Sea Island cotton is given as 91,844 

 running bales, divided as follows: Georgia, 57,572; Florida, 

 28,094; South Carolina, 6,178. Of this total 5,824 bales 

 were exported. The 1916 exports, however, were only 

 .3,580 bales. 



It might be [iresumed that the jjrices generally received 

 for Sea Island cotton would cause a large increase in the 

 acreage, but attempts to grow it in other parts of Georgia, 

 Florida, .South Carolina and other States have been sn 

 unsatisfactory that practically all efforts to raise it outside of 

 certain well-defined areas in the States named abr.ve havi> 

 been abandoned. 



Of the total consumption' of cotton in the United States 

 during the year ending July 31, 1916, amounting to 

 6,397,613 running bales, 82,645 were Sea Island and 

 316,995 foreign. A very large proportion of the foreign 

 cotton consumed was Egyptian. Imports of Egyptian cotton 

 by American manufacturers have led to efforts to grow in the 

 United States cotton having its characteristics, and some 

 encouragement has been given the movement by the success 

 attending its culture in Arizona. 



The status of the cultivation of the Egyptian varieties 

 of cotton in this country is presented in the following 

 statement, prepared by the Department of Agriculture. 



The abnormally low prices of 1914 caused a greatly 

 diminished acreage to be planted in Egyptian cotton in 

 Arizona in 1915. The total production last year amounted 

 to only about 1,100 bales of 500 B). each. This small crop 

 sold at a much better price than in 1914, and consequently 

 the acreage planted in 1916 increa.sed to about 7,000 acres. 

 A crop of about 4,000 bales is anticipated this year. The 

 improvement in methods of production which is taking place 

 as the fanners of Salt Kiver Valley become better acquainted 

 with this crop will probably result in larger average yields 

 per acre than have previously been obtained. In view of 

 the strong demand for the type of cotton (Sakellarides) with 

 which the Arizona product is most nearly in competition, 

 the prospects for the permanent establishment of the 

 Egyptian cotton industry in that State are better than ever. 

 (India Rubber World, March 1, 1917.) 



