Vol XVI. No. 39.",. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



COTTON GROWING IN THE BRITISH 



EMPIRE 

 A notiible paper was read by Mr. J. Arthur Hutton, 

 Chairman of the Council of the British Cotton Growing 

 Association last February, before the Manchester Athenasum 

 on the question of the development of the cotton-growing 

 resources of the Empire. 



Mr. Hutton first proceeded to give some idea of the 

 enormous value of the cotton trade in Great Britain by 

 quoting figures showing that cotton goods form nearly 

 one-third of the value of all the e.xports of manufactured 

 goods from England. It is stated that the capital engaged 

 in or directly dependent on the cotton trade of Lancashire is 

 approximately £510,000 000. Ciiriou.sly enough, the cotton 

 trade is the only industry in Great Britain which depends 

 almost entirely on the export trade. The value of the 

 British home trade in cotton goods is estimated at only 

 one fifth of the whole trade. In another sense the cotton 

 industry is dependent on the import trade, in so far as it has 

 to import all its raw material. 



The danger of the situation lies in the fact that the 

 cotton trade is not merely dependent on outside sources for 

 .suppl}', but largely dependent upon a foreign country. That 

 country is the United States which produces annually some 

 14,000,000 bales, of which several million go to Lancashire. 

 It is therefore evident that America dominates the cotton 

 ■world, and the price of middling American cotton is the best 

 index of the relation between supply and demand. 



But it is not the fact that Great Britain is dependent on 

 the ignited States for cotton alone that matters; there is 

 the fact that the United States produces long staple cotton 

 — intermediate between Sea Island and short staple — 

 for which the demand is greate.st in the Lancashire mills. 



A great deal has been said concerning the possibility 

 of the supply of cotton in India, but this will not remedy 

 the situation, Mr. Hutton points out. unless India produces 

 long staple and not short staple cotton as she is doing at 

 present. 



One reason why it is so importantto giveimmediate atten- 

 tion to the production of more cotton within the Empire isthat 

 the American home consumption is rapidly increasing. In 1913- 

 14 the percentage of the American crop consumed in thit coun- 

 try was 37-8, wliile in 1915 16 it rose to 53'0. It is therefore 

 obvious that the enormous amount of capital invested in 

 Lancashire is not secure in face of this encroachment of the 

 American manufacturer Jlr. Hutton looks forward, unless 

 something is done immediately, to short supplies for Great 

 Britain, particularly as regards the finer cottons. The Lan- 

 cashire trade is being gradually forced into the spinning and 

 weaving of finer qualities which at present are beyond tlie 

 capabilities of Lancashire competitors. It is therefore mo.st 

 imperative that this should be supplied and the only way to 

 do that is to increase jtroduction in the British Empire of 

 fine staple cotton. 



The finest cotton in the world is produced in the 

 AVest Indies and in the American Sea Islands, but the 

 production is a mere dro]! in the ocean compared with the pro- 

 duction of long and short staple cotton. It seems to be clear 

 that the Sudan must be looked to for an extension in the grow- 

 ing of ordinary long staple cotton. Mr. Hutton attaches very 

 great importance to the Sudan as a cotton country, and refers 

 to the Gezira Plain proposition as being the most practical and 

 important yet put forward in connexion with the situation. 

 The Gezira Plain contains over 5,000,000 acres of land, and 

 when the irrigation works now in hmd are completed, will 

 produce more cotton that the whole of Egypt, which at present 

 produces something like 1,500,000 bales. Mr. Hutton states 

 definitely, that the Gezira scheme is the only proposition which 



183 



offers any prospect of producing an appreciable quantity of 

 high class cotton in the immediate future. This scheme, he 

 states, IS a certainty, whereas all other propositions ' for 

 growing long staple cotton are to a certain extent problem- 

 atical. It must not be forgotten that Lancashire is most in 

 need of cotton of good quality. 



Referring to Uganda. Mr. Hutton states that the 

 industry in this Protectorate has made rapid progress, but 

 since the war it has suffered a severe set-back. It may be 

 noted that since the war Uganda has been selling long 

 staple cotton to India, and the British Cotton Growing 

 Association consider that an attempt should be made to 

 furnish freight facilities, as far as possible, in order that this 

 cotton may go to Lancashire instead. 



In regard to Nyasaland, the present crop though small 

 IS of a type most useful to Lancashire. It is very nearly 

 equal in quality to Uganda cotton, and is worth in normal 

 times about \d. to 2d. per h over middling American. Mr. 

 Hutton states that in Nyasaland, as in the Sudan, there has 

 been no .set-back in regard to cotton cultivation, in fact Uganda 

 IS the only country in which the industry has been seriously 

 injured by the war. Reference is made at considerable length 

 to cotton production in Nigeria and in India. Mr Hutton 

 gives a ^ood deal of attention to the Indian question, and 

 clearly indicates the nature of the Lancashire demand in his 

 statement that-, if he bad to choose between an increa.sed 

 production of 500,000 bales of short staple cotton and 

 100,000 bales of long staple cotton, he would unhesita- 

 tingly take the latter What Lancashire needs most in India 

 is an increase in the production of long staple cotton, even if 

 it meant a reduction of the area under short staple. 



Looking into the future Mr. Hutton considers that the 

 constructive activity of the British Cotton Growing Associa- 

 tion in its present form and power and financial status has 

 reached aculminating point;the magnitudeof the Association's 

 wurk is such that it now exceeds the capabilites of its pro 

 moters. Three possible alternatives are mentioned: (1) that 

 a Government Department should be formed to take over 

 the work of the Association; (2) that the Association .should 

 be reconstructed as a public trust with Government assist- 

 ance and under Government control: (3) or that the work 

 might be left for development to ordinary commercial 

 enterprise. 



All will agree that the last alternative mu.st be ruled 

 out. The concensus of opinion is likely to be that the best 

 would be served by forming a Government department with 

 colonial representatives in it to secure an increased produc- 

 tion of long staple cotton. The very drastic reconstruction 

 that is being carried out in regard to British agriculture, 

 described in an article in the next issue, will no 

 doubt cause public opinion and the Governmiint itself to 

 wake up to the seriousness of the situation, and take definite 

 action to secure the existence of England's chief industry. 



Relative Oil Yield of Florida Oranges.— 



From a study of the commercial possibilities of the manufac- 

 ture of orange oil from Florida cull oranges, a wide variation 

 in the yield of oil of oranges under different climatic and cul- 

 tural conaitions was observed. The oil content has not reached 

 its maximum until the oranges are fully mature, but the oil 

 is present in commercial quantities before the fruit are ready for 

 harvest. The occurrence of heavy rainfall during the season 

 of harvest will cause a considerable decrease in the oil content. 

 The presence of rust mite does not decrease the percent'igp, 

 j'ield of oil of the mature fruit, but may show some etfe.it 

 early in the season. (The Experiment Stution Retxrdy 

 Vol XXXVI, No. 3 ) 



