THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



19 



COTTON IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



A s Ura/ilian a.nu Peruvian cotiun helped to make up the 

 •** deficiency during the war, it is worth while to examine the 

 possibilities of South American cotton. In the first place cotton 

 is indigenous to the soil of what is called Latin-America, and was 

 not introduced by the Spaniards. It is the home of the group of 

 fine cottons which are the best in the world. .All cotton roughly 

 comes under three heads : Indian, Upland or American, and 

 Peruvian, which last includes Sea Island, Eg>ptian, Peruvian, 

 Caravonica and others. The production of Sea Island and 

 Egyptian is now almost wholly outside of South America, but 

 a number of fine cottons arc still raised there, mainly in Brazil 

 and Peru 



COTTON GHOWING IN BRAZIL. 



In Brazil ihe possibilities of cotton growing arc very great; 

 already in every State along the coast from Para to Sao Paulo 

 large areas are devoted to cotton and in some cases the cultiva- 

 tion extends far inland. In Para, where rubber was the main 

 crop, cotton advanced greatly during the war, and there seems 

 to be no limit to its possibilities. In 1910 the prophecy was 

 made that Brazil might grow 20,000,000 bales ; in 1918 she got as 

 far as half a million, apparently. Until the 19th century England 

 drew her supply mainly from the West Indies and South 

 America. 



Baines. in his "History of Cotton Manufacture," states that 

 "Brazilian cotton was first imported from Maranham in the 

 year 1781, but was very dirty. Pernambuco cotton exceeded 

 even that of Demarara in fineness and goodness of staple ; it 

 was much sought after, its cultivation was extended, and it 

 brought the highest price of all cotton e.xcept Sea Island." In 

 1820 29,000,000 lbs. out of 151,500,000 imported into England 

 came from Brazil. American cotton checked the expansion, but 

 in the cotton famine of the '60s there was another spurt, and in 

 1871 Brazil imported 80,000 tons. Just before the war the crop 

 was about 400,000 bales of 250 lbs. The quality of Brazilian 

 cotton is very good, so that it is hard to understand why the 

 cotton growing industry has not developed. 



BRAZILIAN VARIETIES. 



Two main varieties are grown ; the perennial tree cotton 

 known as Creoulo or Maranhao, which yields well from the 

 second year and lives 10 or 12 years. It bears open bolls all 

 the year round. The cotton is of very fine quality, long and 

 silky, and may be the parent of all long staple cottons, including 

 Sea Island. It has been free from the insect pests that have 

 made cotton trees unpopular in other parts of the world. The 

 other kind of cotton is the "herbaceo," the annual growth, with 

 short white lint. The chief trouble with Brazilian cotton is that 

 long and short staple are mixed together, and the handling of 

 the gathered crop is very careless. Yet 1,200 lbs. of lint have 

 been raised on one acre; while in Egypt the average is 500 lbs. 



It is tantalizing to know that Brazil could produce a crop 

 of- cotton as large as the whole world turns out, or that Peru 

 could equal the amount of the Egyptian crop, but possibilities do 

 not mean that anyone will try to turn them into realities. The 

 present price of cotton may act as a stimulus. 



PERUVIAN COTTON. 



In Peru the climatic conditions are diflFerent and resemble 

 those of Arizona and California, where cotton is grown. There 

 are two varieties : Smooth Peruvian, which is about 65 per cent. 

 of the crop, has a staple not over an inch in length, but strong 

 and of good color. Rough Peruvian, which makes up the other 

 third of the crop, is a perennial or tree cotton, and lives as 

 long as 20 years. The staple is from \\4 to lyi inches long, and 

 can hardiv be distinguished from wool. The price seems to be 

 fixed independently of all other cottons. Besides these some Sea 

 Js'and and some Egyptian cotton is e;rown ; the latter often com- 



mands a higher price in Liverpool than real Egyptian. So far 

 Peruvian cotton has been immune from pests. All that was 

 raised, however, just before the war was 130.000 bales of SCO 

 pounds. The development of the crop would call for capital to 

 build irrigation works; but there seems to be no reason why the 

 expenditure should not be very profitable. 



COTTON IN OTHER COUNTHIES. 



In Argentina the cotton possibilities are also very good; the 

 conditions are as favorable as in Brazil, and the experiments 

 with Egyptian cotton were successful. The chief difficulty is 

 in obtaining sufficient labor. Little seems to have been done in 

 Venevuela, Colombia or the Guianas, where the possibilities are 

 also good. 



THE FRENCH COTTON TEXTILE INDUSTRY. 



In 1913 France imported 1,453.256 bales of raw cotton, of 

 500 pounds each, 1,101,953 of which came from the United 

 States, 130,073 from Egypt and 111,780 from British India. In 

 1917 the imports were 1,203,930 bales. The annexation of 

 Alsace should increase the normal imports of raw cotton by at 

 least 300,000 bales a year. 



French imports and exports of cotton \arn for four years, 

 up to and including 1916, the last year for w^hich official figures 

 can be obtained, were, in metric tons, as follows : 1913, imports 

 4,251, exports 9,063; 1914, imports 2,499, exports 3,802; 1915, 

 imports 37,252, exports 1,980; 1916, imports, 81,954, exports 

 3,457. 



Before the war France produced 6 per cent, of the world's 

 output of cotton fabrics. The production of cotton fabrics m- 

 creased remarkably between 1910 and 1912— from 120,000 tj 

 225,000 metric tons. In 1913 France manufactured 220,000 

 metric tons, imported 4,392 metric tons (mostly from England 

 and Germany), and exported 50,613 metric tons, of which more 

 than one-half went to the French colonies. The following tabic 

 shows the French production, imports, exports and consumption 

 of cotton fabrics for the four years up to and including 1916, 

 the latest year for which accurate figures are available : 



Production. Imports. E.xports. Consumption. 



1913 Metric tons 220,000 4.392 50,613 173,780 



1914 133,000 4.679 26,368 111.311 



1915 218.090 35.669 21,391 232,368 



1916 214,000 37.366 24,180 227,186 



Owing to the abnormal conditions which are likely to prevail 



for the rext few years- at least, it is difficult to estimate the 

 future of the French cotton-weaving industry. However, the 

 number of French looms has been increased by 46.000 by the 

 return of Alsace, making a total of 186,000 looms, if we figure 

 the previous French total at 140,000, or an increase over 1913 of 

 33 per cent. The production of cotton fabrics, if it should in- 

 crease in the same proportion, wou'd amount to 292,600 metric- 

 tons, which, allowing for Alsatian consumption, would mean 

 an exportable surplus of over 92,000 metric tons per year. 

 ("Commerce Reports," July 30, 1919.) 



A SEA ISLAND COTTON PROJECT. 



The Mermentau Mineral Land Co., Inc., whose head(iuarters 

 are at New Orleans, Louisiana, is making good progress in 

 cultivating Sea Island cotton on its 14,000-acre tract of reclaimed 

 land opposite Grand Cheniere on the Mermentau River in that 

 state. 



The first acre was planted three years ago and nearly a thou- 

 sand pounds of seed cotton were gathered. This was such a 

 good yield that the plot was extended to ten acres, with a result 

 as satisfactory. Last year five small farmers in the vicinity were 

 induced to plant from this seed, with the result that they raised 

 28,000 pounds of excellent cotton with exceptionally long staple. 

 This spring 250 acres were planted and a gin erected, and if 

 the season's results warrant, the entire tract will be devoted to 

 cotton and cattle raising. 



