Vol. V. No. 100. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



55 



GINNING SEA ISLAND COTTON. 



The attention of cotton growers has fre(iuently been 

 called to the necessity for great care in harvesting iSea 

 Island cotton, in order that the best quality of lint may be 

 produced. It may be useful at this time to indicate the 

 ways in which the lint is liable to injury in the process of 

 ginning. This should be of especial interest considering 

 the number of ginneries at present in operation under 

 different managements in the West Indies. 



Cotton is liable to be damaged in the ginnery in two 

 principal ways:(l) the breaking of the fibres, and (2) tlie 

 breaking of the seeds. 



The broken fibres are shorter than the general length of 

 the staple, and are all combed out when passing through the 

 combing machine in the spinning factory. If these are 

 present to any considerable extent, they are a very prominent 

 source of loss to the spinner. 



When the seeds are broken, it is very difficult to 

 separate the pieces from the lint. They pass between the 

 •stationary blade and the roller with the lint ; and, although 

 a person is always engaged behind the gin to clean the lint 

 as it passes through, it is impossible to take out all the 

 broken seed, when the machines are not in good working 

 condition. 



There are many causes which may be resiionsible for 

 these defects. Broken fibres may be caused by : — 



(a) either of the blades being bent so that they come in 



contact ; 



(b) the blades being set too close together ; 



(c) the knife being too hard pressed against the roller ; 



(d) the movable knife rising too high ; 



(e) anything getting fa.st between the blade and the 



roller. 

 Seeds may be broken by : — 

 (a) the blades being set too far apart so that the seeds 



get between theni ; 

 (h) either of the blades being bent so that the seeds get 



between them ; 



(c) the roller being worn at one or more places, allowing 



the seeds to get between the roller and the blade ; 



(d) the grooves in the roller being too deep, i.e., those 



which have been made to enable the roller to hold 



the cotton and draw it beneath the blade. If these 



grooves are too deep the seeds will get into them and, 



passing partially beneath the blade, will be broken, 



and the fragments will pass on with the lint. 



All machines should be regularly overhauled, and if any 



defects are seen they should be at once remedied. Nasmitli 



in Tlie Student's Cotton Sjjiiiiiin;/ speaks of broken seed 



being mainly caused by lack of care in ginning, and the 



result of a forced production at the ginning factories. To 



the same cause may be attributed broken fibre and stringy 



cotton. There is also caused in the ginning jirocess a good 



deal of ' nep.' It should be remembered, that it is not 



desirable to overload the gins at any time. 



There is no difficulty in detecting the broken seeds in 

 the lint, but it is not such an easy matter to detect the 

 broken fibres. These can be detected only by microscopic 

 examination. To examine a sample of lint in order to see 

 if the fibres are being broken, it should be taken right acro.ss 

 the gin and not at any one place ; otherwise, at one or more 

 points, cou.siderable damage might be done without being 

 detected. 



The sample should be divided into portions, and each of 

 these drawn out and redrawn until all the fibres are parallel. 

 The long fibres can then be removed by drawing out those 

 which reach the ends. It will not be necessary to examine 



these, for it is obvious that they cannot be broken. After 

 removing the long fibres, the ends of the short ones should be 

 brought as nearly as possible parallel with one another, and 

 then examined under the microscope. Short fibres are 

 not necessarily broken ones. If unbroken, both ends will 

 be seen intact. The end which was attached to the seed is 

 usually of a darker colour, more or less roughly pointed or 

 rounded, but never jagged, while the other end is a long- 

 pointed one. If the fibres have been broken, jagged ends 

 are seen besides the normal ends just descril>ed, which 

 indicate that something is wrong. When these are found, 

 no time should be lost in trying to discover the cause and 

 in putting it right. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON MARKET. 



The Sea Island Cotton Report of Messrs. Henry W. 

 Frost & Co., of Charleston, South Carolina, dated 

 January 13, 1900, contains the follo^ving: — ■ 



Islumh. — There has been a better demand this week, 

 resulting in sales of u]iwards of 700 bags, odd bags on 

 a basis of fine, 22c.; and extra fine, 2.5ic. to 26c. There 

 was also a further demand for fully fine at 23e., which the 

 factors are still holding at 24c. Besides the above, four 

 planters' crop lots, aggregating about 110 bags, have been 

 sold at 32c. to 33c. The buying has been general for 

 England, France, and the North. 



The report, dated January 20, 1906, reads as 

 follows : — 



Islands. — There was a better demand this week for the 

 odd bags classing fine, fully fine and extra fine, resulting in 

 sales of about 1,000 bags, on a basis of fine, 22c.; fully fine, 

 23ic. to 2Ic.; extra fine, 25ic. to 2Gc.; the buying being for 

 England and the Northern Mills. 



The odd bags classing fully fine and extra fine have 

 been largely disposed of, and the stock of them now consists 

 of about 1,000 liags, classing fine and below. 



The planters' crop lots which are held higher than the 

 odd bags, have not been in demand, and as there is more 

 anxiety to sell, we can, with orders in hand, buy at some 

 concession. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON INDUSTRY. 



The following is an extract from a letter of the 

 Hon. Francis Watts, C.M.G., D.Sc, in reference to the 

 cotton industry in the West Indies : — 



There is every reason to hope that the cotton industry 

 is now firmly established, and this assurance is continually 

 growing. At the same time, however, it becomes more and 

 more clear that the industry is a highly specialized one, 

 and that the skilled a.ssistance of a Department of Agri- 

 culture is es.sential to its stability, for without this skilled 

 assistance (including the services of an Agricultural Superin- 

 tendent, and a Mycologist, and Entomologist) it is probable 

 that the high quality of the lint cannot be maintained, nor 

 the numerous pests successfully dealt with. 



Sale of Cotton Act, 1906. An Act of great impor- 

 tance to the cotton industry in Barbados has recentlj' been 

 passed by the Legislature. It is entitled the 'Sale of Cotton 

 Act, 1906,' and provides for the triennial appointment of 

 Cotton Inspectors by the Vestries of each parish and for their 

 due payment ; for the registration of all lands under cotton 

 cultivation ; for the issuing of certificates to sellers and the 

 granting of licences to purchasers ; and for the penalties to 

 follow on a breach of its regulations. 



