278 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



September 8, 1917, 



COTTON. 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON MARKET. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date August, 7, 1917, with 

 reference to the sales of West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton: — 



The business in West Indian Sea Island lias been con- 

 fined to Stained Cotton at 20d. 



There has been a g<jod demand for the better qualities, 

 but unfortunately, there is no stock. Spinners aie eagerly 

 awaiting the new crop. 



THE SEA ISLAND COTTON CROP OP 

 1916-17. 



From Messrs. Henry W. Frost & Co. 'a circular, dated 

 August 4, 1917, we take the following statements of the Sea 

 Island cotton crop of 1916-17 in the States of Carolina, 

 Georgia and Florida. The Carolina crop is 3,573 bales 

 against last year's 6,211 bales. The Georgia and Florida 

 crop is 109,-536 bales against last year's 79,067 bales. The 

 amount exported to England and the Continent was only 

 1,469 bales, the balance of the crop being taken by American 

 mills. The prices reached in March and April, when an 

 embargo was put on Egyptian cotton, advanced from 5.5c. to 

 70c. On this basis nearly the whole remainder of the crop 

 was disposed of. This was on the Savannah maiket. The 

 Islands' market, opening in October, advanced from 50c. to 

 57c. and 65c. Every bag of this crop was sold. The extra 

 fine planters' crop was .shipped to England, but the balance 

 of the crop was taken by American mills. 



In Carolina there has been some increase in acreage 

 for the forthcoming crop, and the reports are of distinctly 

 favourable expectations. The conditions of the crop in 

 Georgia and Florida, taken as a whole, are good. Unfortu- 

 nately boll weevil is rendering planters apprehensive in some 

 sections. Some damage has been done already, and there is 

 fear of further damage to the crop later on. 



AEROPLANE CLOTHS. 



It has been officially said that the Government is 

 supplying the seed to grow the flax needed for the wings of 

 its aeroplanes. Cotton is not unserviceable for the purpose, 

 but the perference for linen is marked, and does not arise 

 solely out of a desire to utilize material grown in Great 

 Britain. Cost can have very little to do with the matter, as 

 the difference in price between one fabric and another is the 

 merest trifle in the total cost of an aeroplane. The advantage 

 possessed by linen is that of strength, traceable chiefly to 

 the much greater length of the individual fibre. Weight for 

 weight, linen is decidedly stronger than cotton, and it can be 

 woven into cloth of a suitable lightness of, say, 4 oz. per 

 square yard. Lightness ia an important element in all 

 accessories of aviation. Before being flown, the sails of an 

 aeroplane are painted with a mixture known to airmen as 

 dope. Cotton and linen both contract after doping, but it is 

 reported that ramie does not. The trouble about ramie is, 

 however, that it is brittle and weak at the joinings, although 

 its strength across the wings is extraordinary. (Journal of 

 the Royal Society of Arts, August 3, 1917.) 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



ST. VINCENT. The Agricultural Superintendent (Mr. W. N. 

 Sands) reports work of a general routine nature in the Botanic 

 Gardens during the month of July. Plant distribution 

 included 400 cane cuttings and 23 R). Bengal beans. 



The weather during the month was wet, rain being 

 recorded daily. Good progress, however, was made in the 

 planting of crops. Cotton seedlings required a few days of 

 sunshine; corn and peas looked promising in most districts. 



Work was continued in connexion with the destruction 

 of cotton stainers. From an attached report of the cotton 

 Inspector thereon, it appeared that a considerable amount of 

 work wa,s performed by this officer during the month. No 

 fewer than thirteen estates were visited, and arrangements 

 made for trapping cotton stainers, and destroying silk-cotton 

 trees. The cotton stainers were destroyed in some cases by 

 means of cotton seed placed in heaps in the neighbourhood 

 of fallen silk-cotton trees, and pouring boiling water on them 

 when they were collected; in others by means of the kerosene 

 torch, described in the previous number of the Ayt icultural 

 News (Vol. XVI, No. 400, p. 267). The absence of stainers 

 on some of the estates visited, which had previously been 

 severely infested, bears testimony to the etficacy of the 

 measures taken for the destruction of these pests, and to the 

 importance of the work, which cannot be overestimated. 

 Regarding other pests, the sugar-cane moth borer is reported 

 as giving trouble on several estates. 



The Assistant Agricultural Superintendent (Mr. S. C. 

 Harland) returned from three months' leave on the 27th. 

 The prohibition of the importation of seed-cotton and cotton 

 seed into the Colony was gazetted. This precaution was 

 taken against the possible advent of pink boll-worm. The 

 rainfall at the Botanic Station for the month was 20'42 

 inches; at the Experiment Station 16*91 inches. 



VIRGIN ISLANDS. Dry weather interfered with cultural 

 work in the Experiment Stations during the month of July, 

 writes the Curator, Mr. W. C. Fishlock, Varieties of beans 

 were sown, sweet potatoes planted out, and the work of 

 reconstructing the nursery commenced. The following 

 plants and .seeds were distributed: potato cuttings 300, coco- 

 nut plants 6; banana slips 58; pine-apple slips 12; cDtton 

 seed 68 lb. vegetable seeds 12 packets. As regards staple 

 crops, cotton appeared to be in fairly good condition. Much 

 attention, says Mr. Fishlock, has been paid to the planting 

 of food crops. No serious pests were reported. 



The weather, as is noted above, was dry. Rain fell in 

 measurable quantity on twelve days of the month, the total 

 precipitation being 1'82 inches. The average rainfall for the 

 month for the previous sixteen years was 4'31 inches. This 

 is said to have been the driest July since weather records 

 have been kept in Tortola. 



Among the practical suggestions made by the advisory 

 Committee appointed by the British Board of Agriculture to 

 report on technical questions of poultry management and 

 feeding, are, according to The Field of June 23, 1917, that all 

 hatching should cease for 1917, that old stock cocks should 

 be killed at once, that, with the exception of certain hens 

 selected fur breeding stock, all hens hatched in 1915 that go 

 broody, or show signs of moult should be cleared, as well as 

 any 1916 hens that indicate by their appearance that they will 

 not be profitable, that as soon as possible all 1917 hatched 

 cockerels ncjt required for stock purposes in 1918 should be 

 killed. 



