688 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



from Dutch Guiana was 2,015,505 florins or approximately $900,000. 

 Since the beginning of the year balata gathering has been taken 

 rather seriously. Many large expeditions left Paramaribo for 

 the several districts and should the weather be favorable the crop 

 for 1920 will be a record one. There is everything at hand to 

 make the crop of 1920 a success ; the provisions from the United 

 States are pouring into the country regularly now ; the men to 

 operate the trees are there ; the money to pay them for their 

 work is in the bank and, last but by no means the least, the trees 

 from which the balata is gathered are in abundant evidence. 



CHICLE GUM IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



.Vnnouncement has been made in a report submitted by Consul 

 McCunn of the discovery of chicle-producing trees in British 

 Guiana. Prospecting expeditions sent into the interior have 

 recently returned to Georgetown with fully 600 pounds of chicle, 

 and preparations are now being made by the discoverer, who 

 holds a concessional right over 6.200 square miles of territory, to 

 send out four prospecting parties in order to cnntinue investiga- 

 tions and ascertain the capacity of the tract. Territory thus far 

 examined is reported to be capable of yielding 200,000 pounds 

 of gum annually. 



THE PRESENT STATUS OF LONG-STAPLE COTTON. 



SOME INTERESTING iNFORM.^TioN On the long-staple cotton in the 

 United States is imparted by the Department of Commerce 

 in Bulletin No. 140 of the Census Bureau on "Cotton Production 

 and Distribution." The years given are generally the "growth" 

 years for cotton, which lap over the following calendar year. 



The need of long-staple cotton for the manufacture of thread, 

 automobile tires, and high grade fabrics has caused the demand 

 to far exceed the production. There was a time when the long- 

 fiber Sea Island cotton grown in the West Indies formed the 

 greater part of the cotton used in Europe; the whole world 

 product of this variety at present, about 50,000 bales, is com- 

 paratively insignificant. The quantity of long-fiber cotton pro- 

 duced in Egypt last year was about 900,000 bales, and the quan- 

 tity of upland and American-Egyptian cotton with a staple of 

 I'A inches or more in length produced in the United States was 

 1,394,000 bales. Long-staple cotton is also produced in relatively 

 small amounts in India, Brazil, Peru, and some other countries. 

 The amount of long-staple cotton, that is, cotton having a fiber 

 of 1^ inches or more in length, produced in the world in the 

 growth year 1918 probably did not exceed 2,500,000 bales. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON. 



The Sea Island cotton crop of 1918 amounted to 52,208 bales 

 or 20,450,000 pounds gross weight, being 40,411 bales less than 

 the previous crop and 65,351 bales less than the 1916 crop. The 

 reduction is due to the ravages of the boll weevil and to the 

 consequent reduction in acreage cuhivated on that account. 

 Where they stick to cotton, the farmers plant early maturing 

 upland varieties instead of Sea Island, which takes long to 

 ripen. The best Sea Island in the United States is grown on the 

 islands off the coast of South Carolina; it is also grown in 

 Georgia and in Florida. 



AMERICAN.EOYPTIAN COTTON. 



The imports of Egyptian cotton into the United States in the 

 fiscal year ended July 31, 1919, amounted to 100,006 bales of 500 

 pounds each, compared with 114,580 bales for 1918, 199,892 bales 

 for 1917 and 350,796 bales for 1916. The demand for Egyptian 

 cotton led to its being grown in the United States,' and its 

 culture has been established in Arizona and California. The 

 Department of Agriculture reports on its cultivation : 



"The production of -American-Egyptian has greatly increased 

 owing to the decline in the production of Sea Island cotton, 

 caused by the ravages of the boll weevil in the southeastern 



states. While not as fine as the best Sea Island fiber, .American- 

 Egyptian of the Pima variety is fully equal to most of the Sea 

 Island crop in the length of staple and in average breaking 

 strength. It seems to be a satisfactory substitute in making the 

 classes of goods for which Sea Island was formerly used. The 

 increase in the manufacture of automobile tires and the difficulties 

 in the importation of Egyptian cotton, point to a strong demand 

 for American-Egyptian and a corresponding increase in pro- 

 duction." 



During the calendar year 1918 about 80,000 acres of irrigated 

 land in .Arizona and California were planted with this cotton and 

 the crop amounted to about 40,000 bales of 500 pounds which was 

 sold at an average price of 56 cents a pound. At least 80 per cent 

 of this was Pima, which has an average length of staple of from 

 IVe to U4 inches. The acreage planted in 1919 is about 90,000 

 acres, nearly all located in the Salt River \'alley, Arizona, and 

 almost all of it is Pima. 



LONG-STAPLE UPLAND COTTON, 



The long-staple upland cotton was formerly grown only in the 

 Mississippi delta. The increased demand has caused successful 

 attempts to be made to grow it in other parts of the cotton belt. 

 In 1918 there were grown 1,359,000 bales of upland cotton, V/i 

 inches or more, as compared with 1,354,000 bales in 1917, 1,009,- 

 000 bales in 1916, and 832,000 bales in 1915. The increase in 

 long-staple production is due, first, to the high prices paid for 

 it in recent years, and second, to improved varieties, which, on 

 the right soil, are showing themselves equal in yield and in 

 early maturity to the short-staple cotton. It was found that 

 1.5 per cent of the crop was over 1J4 inches in length, the per- 

 centage in Mississippi being 5.4. The yield per acre is put at 

 190 pounds of lint above l;4 inches in length, and 182 pounds 

 from lli to 114 inches, compared to the 157.5 pounds of short- 

 staple under 1% inches. The long-staple varieties are grown 

 only on better soil and by farmers who give their crops special 

 attention. The states which produced the most long-staple up- 

 land cotton in 1918 were Mississippi, -Arkansas, Texas, and South 

 Carolina. 



CANADIAN NOTES. 



The -Ames-Holden Rubber Boot Co., Limited, the new sub- 

 sidiary of the Ames-Holden-McCready System, Montreal, Quebec, 

 will locate its factory at Kitchener. Ontario, where it has acquired 

 the Orphanage property at the corner of King and Wilmot 

 streets and adjoining land, opposite the plant of the Ames-Holden 

 Tire Co., Limited. T. H. Rieder is president of the new concern. 



The B. F. Goodrich Co. of Canada. Limited, has opened a new 

 branch at 44 Princess street, Winnipeg. Manitoba, and another at 

 Dewdney avenue and -Angus street, Regina, Saskatchewan. 



K. & S. Tire & Rubber Goods. Limited, Weston, Ontario, 

 will locate its new plant on Paton road, Toronto, Ontario. New 

 machinery of the latest type will be used, especially in the rubber 

 sundries department where production is especially desired to 

 meet the increasing demand. The company also e.xpects to build 

 a new structure at an early date, in addition to those already 

 acquired in Toronto. 



The Dunlop Tire & Rubber Goods Co., Limited, has obtained 

 a permit to build a $15,000 brick factory at the corner of Queen 

 street and Booth avenue, Toronto. 



.At the Shoe, Leather and .Allied Trades Fair, to be held in 

 Montreal July 13-17, 1920, the following rubber companies and 

 concerns in allied lines have secured booths: Ames-Holden- 

 McCready, Limited, Montreal; Canadian Consolidated Rubber 

 Co., Limited, Montreal; Columbus Rubber Co., Limited, Mont- 

 real; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Limited, Montreal; Scholl 

 Manufacturing Co., Toronto; and the United Shoe Machinery 

 Co. of Canada, Montreal. 



R. W. Ashcroft, director of publicity for the Ames-Holden- 

 McCready System, has been elected president of the Montreal 

 Publicity .Association for the ensuing year. 



