262 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



August 25, 1917. 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



COTTON. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON MARKET. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date July 10, 1917, with 

 refereiice to the sales of West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton: — 



West Indian Sia Island cotton is eagerly t-nquired for and 

 prices continue to harden. Good, clean Leeward Island 

 cotton is worth 48c? per tt)., and Barbados is also worth this 

 figure. 



THE INDUSTRIAL USES OF COTTON. 



The industrial use.s of cotton are rivalling its use for 

 clothing and household fabrics. Twenty years ago the use of 

 cotton in industry was scarcely dreamed of; to-day, excluding 

 explosives, some 4,000 000 bales are probably taken up for 

 purpo.-ies outside the clothing business 



The manufacturers of motor tyres in America alone, 

 it is stated in the India Ruhher Journal of .Tune 9, 1917, 

 are consuming .500,000 bales of long staple cotton a year, 

 while belting, fire hose, and electrical insulation will call for 

 as much more. There are many industrial uses for cotton 

 cloth and heavy canvas, such as aprons and elevators for 

 harvesting machines, bags for grain, cement, sugar, and flour, 

 tarpaulins and canvas for steamships, its nse as insertion in 

 a large variety of rubber goods, and the railway uses for 

 airbrakes, upholstering, and other purposes, that will 

 appro.ximate 2,000,000 bales Cordage takes 100,000 bales. 

 In normal years the estimate for absorbent cotton and surgi- 

 cal bandages is li'>,(lOO bales. There are no available 

 figures for the present con.sumption. 



One cannot touch industry at any point without coming 

 in contact with cotton in some form or other. The celluloid 

 and artificial silk industries, and the artificial leather industry 

 are ail dejiendent on it. 



Foreign Islands and British Agriculture.— 

 At a meeting of the St Troix Colonial C'ouncil, held 

 on June 1 1. permission was given, as stated in the i'vsof 

 June 13, 191". for the introduction and discussion of Council 

 Bill, No. -0, granting an amount not exceeding $50<) to defray 

 the travelling expenses of a commission of two, one a planter 

 the other an engineer, to visit Antigua for the purpose of 

 investigating the erecti'>n and working of a corn mill, and 

 for other purposes in connexion with the raising of food 

 stuffs in the island for the account of St. Croix Immigration 

 Fund. In the discussion on the Bill, which was passed, it 

 was explained that the Government had requested the 

 Planters' As.sociati<iQ to find means in time for providing 

 the islands with foodstuffs, and, as the main foodstuff of 

 St. Croix was corn nuid, it had been recommended by that 

 body that the first step to be taken wa.s for a Commission to 

 visit Antigua to study the working of the corn mill which 

 had been e.stablished with good results in that island. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



DOMINICA. Beyond plant distribution, which consisted 

 of 4,.52.'> lime seedlings, 71 budded citrus, .5 grafted mangoes, 

 4-50 shade tr^es, .50 Congo coffee, 28 nutmegs, and 54 mis- 

 cellaneous, together with 372 packets of vegetable .-^eeda 

 .sold, the report of the Curator, Mr. .Joseph Jones, for the 

 mouth of .June supplies little for comment. The pros- 

 pects of the lime crop are said to be good, and a visit 

 by Mr. W. Xowell, Mycologist on the Staff of tUe Imperial 

 Department, on June 28, to investigate the prevalence of 

 bracket fungi on lime trees, is recorded. Rainfall for tha 

 month was 1 5-34 inches. 



NEVIS. Mr. W. ,r Howell, the Agricultural In.structor, 

 in his report for the month of June, states that the crops on 

 the plots in the h^xperiinent Stations made good progre.ss in 

 consequence of the favourable showers. A supply of Paris 

 green had been secured, and stored at the Experiment Station 

 for sale to peasant cotton growers. An importation also of 

 •5 toes of Paris green had been made by Mr. Wildy for 

 general local sale. Plant distribution during the month 

 included the following : cotton seed 306 lb., sweet potato 

 cuttings -"il bags, cassava cuttings 400. 



The young canes throughout the island had much 

 improved since the rain.", but some of the fields were .some- 

 what irregular. About 2,500 acres of cotton were planted 

 during the month. The germination, on the whole, was good 

 and the fields were all doing well. In some localities 

 difficulty was experienced in keeping the fields clean on 

 account of shortage of labour. Cotton worms made their 

 appearance in a few fields, but very little damage was done, as 

 they were kept in check by the use of poi.son A fairly larna 

 acreage of sweet potatoes and peas was planted during th« 

 month, and the outlook, on the whole, was favourable. At 

 a meeting of the Agric^iltural and Commercial Society held 

 on June 14, the (piestion of transportation of canes across to 

 St. Kitts was discussed, but it is not likely, .says Mr. Howell, 

 that anything will be done to meet the 1918 crop. Th« 

 rainfall for the month was 6-73 inches; for the year to date, 

 1924 inches. 



• :i;kn-ah. From reports of the Agricultural Instructors 

 tor the month of May, recently received at this Office, it is 

 seen that the usual visits to the country districts were made, 

 and instruction to the peasants continued on similar lines a* 

 heretofore, occasion being taken to impress the necessity of 

 increasing the cultivation of ground provisions and nativs 

 food crops generally. With a view to meeting the po.ssibility 

 of a food crisis^to which the peasantry are said to be as 

 wideawake as they can be —more lands are being brough* 

 under cultivation than for many a year past. 



As regards the crops cacio trees were blossoming, sugar 

 manufacture w.is still in progress, the estates in some 

 districts closing operations with a marked decrease on last 

 year's output Ground pi-ovisions of all descriptions were 

 scarce; live stock continued to be scarce also, and there 

 appeared to be no organized effort to increase the number in 

 the community. 



A satisfactory number of entries were made in the 

 provision gardens competitisn in the parishes of St. David, 

 St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, and in the cotton competition 

 in Carriacou. 



Regarding pest« and diseases, canker ami thrips wer« 

 reported on estates in St. Patrick's and .St. David's, res- 

 pectively. 



