.>08 Journal op the department o^ AgrioultureI. 



farmers, but these different varieties were not always picked 

 separately, and even when i)ieked separately were sometimes mixed at 

 the gins. The result was that a quantity of mixed seed was issued to 

 farmejs. 



(b) As long as the lint from the hesi of ijicse varieties was kept 

 separately, our cotton was sjjokeji of very hig'hly, but as soon as the 

 different varieties were mixed this Mas no longer the case. 



(c) The industry devtdoped so rapidly during the past few seasons 

 that the supply of good seed was altogether inadequate. Farmers 

 were crying out for jjroper seed, but there was none to be had. As 

 a result they had to take anything that was offered them. 



(d) Cotton was a new crop to most of the farmers, and as they did 

 uot know their varieties and what qualities to look for, very little seed 

 selection was done, and consequently the seed degenerated. 



{e) Some ginneries are not yet grading their cotton, and middling 

 cotton is still being baled with fully good middling, and so on. 

 Practically no distinction is nuide between the longer and shorter 

 staples, and very often lint of J inch is baled with lint of I-4 inch. 



Reviedies. — The points raised above must be solved before we can 

 reasonably expect the industry to make any further headway. The 

 remedies necessary are obvious. They are : (1) Better seed and (2) 

 proper grading of our cotton. 



It is not the inteution of the writer to go into detail in regard 

 to the second remedy, beyond pointing out the tremendous harm being 

 done, not only to a young and very promising industry, but to South 

 Africa as a whole, by those people who are not properly grading the 

 lint after it has been entrusted to their care. The Department of 

 Agriculture has recently secured the services of a cotton grader, and 

 as he will be at the disposal of the ginneries, the difhculty of grading 

 the cotton should now easily be overcome. Not a single bale of cotton 

 should leave the country unless properly graded by an ofhcial grader, 

 otherwise South African cotton will not find a ready market, and will 

 be looked upon with some suspicion. Nobody can blame the manu- 

 facturer, for under the present system he is not sure what he is going 

 to get. 



As to the first question, that of better seed, we can attain our 

 purpose by either of the following two methods, viz. : (1) Im})ortati(»n 

 of pure seed; (2) selection from the best varieties already grown in 

 the country. 



I mportatioii of Piiic Seed.—Thv Ihitish markets require a staple 

 of about one and three-sixteenth inch in length. If any seed is to 

 be imported, it woidd seem advisable to import varieties which will 

 produce a stajjle of at least this length, as it commands a higher 

 price. 



The luost likely countries from which such varieties can be 

 obtained are Uganda, Egypt, or Ameiica. There would be no 

 difhculty in obtaining enough of this seed for our requirements, but 

 unfortunately there are such tremendous dangers (in the form of 

 insect pests) attached to the importation of cotton seed, especially to 

 a young industry, that the risk run in importing seed is too great. 

 In Egypt they have the pink bollworm, and there are strong suspicions 

 that it has alreacty Avorked its way down as far as Nyasaland. In 



