Vol. V. No. 110. 



THE AGKICULTUKAL NEWS. 



215 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholiue and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 report as follows, under date of June 12, in regard to 

 West Indian cotton: — 



We have had quiet market.s for Sea Island descriptions 

 since our last report owing to the Whitsuntide holidays, and 

 very little business has been done. The tendency of prices 

 is in favour of buyers. 



The sales include Antigua cotton at 1.5 |c/. to 16(/. and 

 St. Kitt's at lid. to I6d. 



Sliinners are not disposed to buy except at easier prices. 



I 



COTTON SEED FOR PLANTING. 



It is well known that cotton seed frequently fails 

 to germinate after planting, and consequently a larger 

 quantity of seed is sown than would be required if all 

 the .seeds were capable of germination. Often much of 

 the seed that fail.s to germinate is diseased, and, as the 

 value of the next year's crop depends largely upon 

 whether the best and' healthiest seed is selected for 

 planting purposes, a simple method for separating good 

 seed from bad has been sought for. 



It would be expected that if a sample of seed vvere 

 thrown into water the bad seed would float and the good sink 

 to the bottom. 



With a view to ascertaining whether such a simple test 

 is reliable, a series of experiments has been conducted in the 

 mycological laboratory of the Imperial Dejiartment of Agri- 

 culture, of which the following may be mentioned : — 



(1) A sample of Barbados cotton seed was thrown into 

 a dish containing clean water. These were stirred and, at 

 the end of three minutes, the floating seeds were picked ott' 

 and sown for germination tests. The following results were 

 obtained : ' light ' seeds gave 90 per cent, germination, 

 'heavy' seeds, 92 per cent. 



(2) The above experiment was repeated and gave the 

 following results : ' light ' seeds, 87 per cent.; ' heavy,' 9:? per 

 cent. 



A long series of experiments of the above kind was 

 carried out and gave results that varied from 1 to 10 per cent. 

 in favour of the heavy seed. Moreover, it was noticed that 

 some seeds floated immediately, while others came up each 

 time they were stirred, and it was thought that the fuzz on 

 the ginned seed seriously affected the results. 



In the next series all the fuzz was carefully removed by 

 hand. Of these experiments the following is typical : — 



(.3) Six hundred cleaned seeds were put into water, 179 

 swam immediately and gave a germination of 78 per cent.; 

 304 more swam after half an hour and gave a germination 

 of 93 per cent., while, of the remaining 117, 94 per cent, 

 germinated. 



It was noticed throughout that the germination tests 

 were slightly in favour of the 'heavy' seed, and the longer 

 the sample was left in the water and the more the seeds were 

 stirred, the greater the number that floated. It could not 

 be stated that the ' fuzz' influenced these results, as it was 

 all carefully removed by hand. 



From the .above results it is shown that the dift'erence 

 between good and bad seeds cannot, in Barbados, at least, be 

 obtained by the ' floating' test, and therefore it is advisable 

 carefully to hand-pick all seed before planting to remove 

 those that show signs of disease. 



With reference to this testing of cotton seed, it is 

 interesting to note that Mr. H. Maxwell-Lefroy, M.A., in the 



Afjrindtural Journal of India, Vol. I, Part II, p. 174, gives 

 figures which show that, after removal of the lint, the 

 floating test for Indian cotton seed is reliable and aftbrds 

 a ready means of obtaining sound seed for planting purposes. 

 This is contrary to the results obtained with Barbados cotton 

 seed, and may possibly, in some way, be accounted for by the 

 fact that Indian cotton seed is injured by cotton stainers, 

 whereas in Barbados these insects are very rare and cannot 

 be considered as pests. 



THE CITRUS INDUSTRY OF SICILY. 



The following information on the citrus industry 

 of Sicily is extracted from the Consular Report for 

 1905. A similar review for the previous year appeared 

 in the Afjrtcidtand Neivs, Vol. IV, p. 228 : — 



MESSINA. 



Oranges and lemons. — The oranges and lemons exported 

 in boxes during the years 1904 and 1905 amounted to 

 52,085 and 65,359 tons, respectively. 



Citrate of lime. — In 1905 the exports of citrate of lime 

 were 3,043 tons, whilst those of 1904 were 3,649 tons. 



Lemon juice and essential oils. — The export of lemon 

 juice declined in quantity in 1905. The amount shipped 

 was 1,107 tons, against 2,059 tons in 1904. There was, 

 however, an increase in the export of the essential oils as 

 compared with 1904, when the amount was 391 tons against 

 413 tons in 1905. 



Citrons in brine. — The exports of citrons, halved, in 

 brine, amounted in 1905 to 385 tons, whilst those of 1904 

 were 2,369 tons. This falling off is due to the almost 

 complete failure of the Calabria crop. 



The average price of citrons has been about £1 6s. per 

 cwt., against about £1 during the previous five years. 



Bitter oranges. — The crop of bitter oranges has also been 

 short and of very inferior quality. The heavy rains injured 

 the fruit both in appearance and keeping qualities. It is 

 e.stimated that the crop will be from 35 to 40 per cent, below 

 the average. 



CAT.\XIA. 



Oranges and lentous. — About 2,000,000 boxes of oranges 

 and lemons were exported to foreign countries during the 

 season 1904-5. Austria-Hungary took about 1,280,000 

 boxes, Russia about 235,000 boxes, and Germany about 

 215,000 boxes. The prospects for 1906 are good owing to 

 damage by frost in Spain. 



SYKACUSE. 



Oranges and lemons in boxes. — The export of oranges 

 and lemons in boxes from Syracuse during the year 1905 

 amounted to 219,084 boxes, against 226,945 boxes shipped 

 in the preceding year. Twenty-nine thousand, six hundred 

 and sixty-seven boxes were shipped to various ports of the 

 United Kingdom, 175,147 boxes to Austria-Hungary, and 

 14,163 boxes to Catania for transhipment to foreign countries. 



Pickled oranges and lemon peel. — The total number of 

 casks of pickled oranges and lemon peel exported during the 

 year 1905 was 5,750, and all to the United Kingdom ; of this 

 amount 2,453 were casks of Seville oranges (halved) in brine. 



Lemon juice and essential oils. — The total Cjuantity of 

 concentrated lemon juice shipped during the year 1905 was 

 490 tons. The amount of oil of lemon and orange produced in 

 the province of Syracuse is difficult to obtain, as it is all sent 

 by railway to Messina. The total quantity is estimated to be 

 about 80,000 11). 



Citrate of lime. — The export of citrate of lime in 1905 

 was 11 tons. 



