38 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



February 3, 1906. 



COTTON INDUSTRY IN ST. VINCENT. 



The following is an extract from a letter from the 

 Agricultural Superintendent at St. Vincent, to the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, dated January 

 20, 1906 :— 



The first large shiinnent of 140 to 1-4.5 bales will go 

 forward by the Direct Line S.S. 'Sarstoon,' which is due to 

 leave here on Wednesday, .January 24. . . This shipment, 

 I think, will be the best, so far, sent from here ; I mean as to 

 quality, as all the lint is first class. 



To date, 47,141 lb. of lint have been ginned at the 

 •central cotton factory. The iiercentage weight of lint to 

 weight of seed-cotton on four estates was, respectively, 26"7 

 per cent., 2.5'S per cent., 2-5 per cent., and 27'1 per cent. 

 These percentages, with the exception of the last, are all 

 somewhat lower than last year. I have gone into the 

 (juestion with the manager of the cotton factory, and it is 

 thought that, in most cases, the .seed-cotton has been too 

 tightly packed in the bags received, and not sunned and 

 opened enough on the estates. As a result, some of the 

 unopened .seed-cotton passes through the seed-grids of the 

 gins and is lost, thereby lowering the percentage of lint 

 obtained. The growers' attention has been called to these 

 points and they have been recommended not to pack more 

 than 100 lb. of .seed cotton in the bags (sugar bags, etc.) sent 

 to the factor}'. Of course, even by attending to these points 

 the percentage of lint to seed-cotton may not equal last 

 year's results, but should be better than those given above. 



The machinery at the factory is runniag well, and on 

 two days, .January 16 and 17, 3,632 Itj. and 3,628 11). of 

 lint, respectively, were ginned. 



SELECTION OF COTTON SEED IN THE 

 WEST INDIES. 



In an editorial note in the Agricultural iYeu'.s 

 (Vol. IV, p. 385), a brief outline was given of a scheme 

 of cotton seed selection to be adopted in the West 

 Indies. In the following memorandum bj' Mr. Thomas 

 Thornton, A.R.C.S., Travelling Inspector in connexion 

 with Cotton Investigations in the West Indies, particu- 

 lars as to the method of examining the cotton from 

 individual plants are described : — 



The scheme [iroposed to be adopted in working out 

 the results of the individual plants which have been selected 

 on the different estates is as follows : — 



(1) Determination of length of staple, minimum 4.5 

 mm. or 1^ inches ; (2) determination of percentage of lint to 

 seed, minimum 27 per cent. (3) determination of proportion 

 of weak fibre, maximum 30 per cent. ; (4) determination of 

 diameter of fibres ; (5) total yield of lint ; (6) number of bolls 



to plant ; (7) silkiness, best St. Vincent (1905) used as grade 

 1 ; (8) fineness, best St. Vincent (1905) used as grade 1 ; 

 (9) size of seeds, determined by number in 50 grams. 



In working out the above scheme, all sanqiles which do 

 not come up to the minimum standard of length will be 

 discarded and not submitted to any further examination. 



Samples which fulfil the required standard in length 

 will then be further examined, and those producing less than 

 27 per cent, lint will be discarded. All .samples fulfilling the 

 requirements of length and percentage of lint to seed will be 

 examined for the proportion of weak fibre, and all samples 

 will be discarded which produce more than 30 per cent. 



The plants fulfilling all the above conditions will then 

 be submitted to an examination with reference to all the 

 other factors. 



This scheme will sinqilify matters considerably as much 

 time will be saved by discarding at once those plants pro- 

 ducing lint too short, the proportion of lint to .seed too low, 

 and the proportion of weak fibre too high. 



The results can then be tabulated, and the reason why 

 any plant has been discarded will be seen at a glance, as 

 well as the qualities which recommend the others for 

 consideration. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON IN THE WEST 

 INDIES. 



In reference to the note in the Agricultural 

 Xcivs (Vol. IV, p. 392) regarding a report published 

 in the [^.»S'. Monthly Consular Reports, for September 

 last, on the above subject, the following letter from the 

 Secretary, Department of Commerce and Labour, 

 Washington, to the Imperial Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture for the West Indies, is published for general 

 information : — 



I liave tlie honour to acknowledge j'our letter of 

 December 12, in which attention is directed to a statement 

 made in Constdar and Trade Rtports. I verj' nnich regret that 

 anything published in coiuiexion with efforts that are being 

 made in your section to grow cotton should be regarded as 

 injurious. The introductory paragraph to Consul Clare's 

 report is based not entirely upon that report, but upon 

 reports from various sources, mostly British, which set forth 

 the results of the very laudable efforts that are being made 

 in different sections of the world to grow cotton. There was 

 certainly no intention to misrepresent or injure the enteri)rise 

 in the West Indies, and I am thankful to you for calling 

 attention to it and for furnishing an extract from the annual 

 report of the British Cotton-growing Association for the 

 year ending August 31, 1905, of which good use will be 

 made. 



