54 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Febriiary 17, 1906. 



r^hl.iliinitimCS'--'^'*^v^'S. 







GILBERTS SEA ISLAND COTTON. 



'I'ho vnriotv ot' Sea Island cotton known as 

 'Gilbert's cotton' has boon e;nnvn at Antigua and in 

 some of the other islands in tho West Indies. As 

 the lint ju-odnced bv ])lants of this variety appears to 

 possess good (|ualities and is being tried in several 

 localities, it may be useful to jiublish tlu' t'oUowing 

 account of its origin, as given by 1 >r. Watts in a letter 

 to the Imperial Coinniissinnrr of Agriculture dated 

 January 29 last :— 



When in luiglaml in IDO.'i, 1 reoei^oil ni>i>lications for 

 supplies of cotton seed for Antigua. At my reipicst, tho 

 Britisli Cotton-growing Association forwarded ■') bags of 

 Sea Island cotton seed to Messrs. A. J. Coniaoho & Co., by 

 the Itojal ^bul steamer sailing on .Tuly 22. A portion of 

 this .seed came into the hands of Jlr. Anderson of Knglisli 

 Harbour, who rai.sed from it a crop of lint which fetched 

 a good price, so the seed was saved. In 1904, Gilbert's 

 estate obtained seed from "Wx. Anderson, and cotton grown 

 both by J[r. Anderson and by Gilbert's estate from tins 

 seed was found to be of excellent quality. Seed from this 

 crop at Gilbert's was saved and distributed to the llotanic 

 Stations in the otiier islands under the name of 'CJilbert's 

 seed.' A considerable quantity was also sown in Antigua. 

 This season, IDOr), tlic lint from Gilbert's seed appears to 

 retain its good iiualitics. 1 have been favourably inqiressed 

 with the evenness of the staple in some samples which 1 have 

 examined In addition to tins, it possessed good length of 

 staple, and oilier good qualities. 



COTTON IN BRITISH HONDURAS. 



Tlic Giircrnment Gazette of British Honduras 

 for December ;^0, 100.5, contains a report by the 

 Director of the Im])erial Institute on four samples of 

 cotton sent from British Htuubiras on September 

 <s, l!K)-i. Extracts from the Director's report are as 

 follows: — 



The .samples have been exannned in tlie Scientilic and 

 Technical Department of the Inqierial Institute and are 

 described below. A portion of each sanqtle was ginned in 

 the Department by means of a Platfs Macarthy gin, and 

 was submitted to experts for commercial valuation. 



Samjile Xo. l,lahelled 'cotton, "King," (Uiiland class), 

 Corozal station,' was reported to be worth about Gi/. jicr It;.; 

 middling' American cotton being quoted at .")'78.7. per It), on 

 tlie same date. 



Sample Xo. 2, labelled 'cotton, "Peterkin," (l'i>land 

 class), from Corozal station,' resembled No. 1 in appearance 

 but was of sliortor staple and worth about .5'75<^. per lb., 

 with ' nnddliug ' American at ^rlSJ. per R). 



^^ 



Samiile Xo. .'5, labelled ' " Itussell Big Boll," (Upland 

 class), from Coro/.al Station,' was reported by conuncrcial 

 experts to resendilo sanqile X'^o. 1, lint to be more lustrous 

 and worth (i'lO'^. per Iti., with 'middling' .\merican at 

 .5'78(/. per. lb. 



Sanqile No. 4, stated to have been grown from 

 Egyptian seed in the Corozal district, was reported to be 

 nuich stained and discoloured, and to contain a good deal of 

 perished cotton. It was strong, but would sutler considerable 

 waste in the process of manufacture. The la-oduct was 

 valued at ^)\d. to 5A(f. i)er lb., ' fully good fair brown Egyptian ' 

 Ijeing (pioted at S';(/. per ft. on the .same date. 



Tlie re.sults of this examination show that the American 

 cottons were of very good quality, and would be readily 

 saleable in the English market. Tho Egyptian cotton, 

 however, was less promising and was decidedly inferior to 

 the average qualities of this proibict grown in Egypt. It 

 appears, therefore, that if the American cottons could be 

 grown satisfactorily on a largo scale, their cultivation might 

 in-ove renuniorative. At present, however, cotton cultivation 

 in British Honduras must be regarded as experimental, and 

 attention should bo directed to a consideration of the questions 

 of rainfall and climate, and to well-directed experimental 

 cultivation on a small scale. 



SELECTION OF COTTON SEED. 



The t'ollowing is an extract from a circular letter 

 addressed by the Imjterial t^'ommissioncr of Agriculture 

 to ottieers of the Dejiartment, in reference to the 

 assistance proposed to be ottered to planters who desire 

 to use the cotton seed grown on their own estates for 

 ]ilanting purposes during the coming season : — 



It would ajipear that many planters are anxious to use 

 the cotton seed grown on their own estates for ne.xt general 

 plantiiii;. 



This matter, as you are aware, is one of very great 

 importance, as the quality of the cotton reaped will depend 

 very nuich on the seed that is planted. 



Ordy seed which is known to have been produced on 

 lilants yielding a high quality of lint should be planted. 

 Up to the lu'csent, the nundier of the estates producing this 

 high cpiality of lint is comparatively small. 



Where desirable, samples of seed-cotton (not less than 

 S oz. in weight) nnght bo obtained from those who intend to 

 use their own seed, and forwarded to this ottice where they 

 conld be exannned, and a report ]irepared as to their relative 

 merit. 



15y .such means, it is probable that the Deiiartment 

 would afford valuable assistance in the selection of the best 

 seed for planting during the coming season. 



