178 JoiiriKil of Agricultiir< , Victoria. [10 March, 1917. 



COTTON GROWING IN AUSTRALIA. 



A very large area in the nortlieni parts of Australia has a climate 

 suitable for the growth of cotton; indeed, it has been estimated by 

 experts that this area is greater than that suitable for cotton in the 

 United States, where, at the present time, two-thirds of the world's 

 supply is produced. 



That high-class cotton can be grown in Queensland was conclusively 

 proved at the time of the American Civil War, when, owing to the 

 inducement offered by the high price of cotton, that State exported 

 26 million pounds of giinied cotton, worth £1,300,000. The industry 

 was subsequently a-lmost abandoned, but partially recovered on the estab- 

 lishment of a cotton mill at Ipswich, which, however, eventually had 

 to close down. 



Authorities in Queensland consider that the best way to overcome the 

 labour difficulty is to encourage farmers to grow small crops, say, 

 10 acres, of cotton, in addition to their other crops. It is calculated 

 that a family of four persons could easily pick the cotton produced on 

 this area without extra help. 



It has also been suggested that if the Government intend to provide 

 ready-made fai-ms for settlers in Queensland after the war, cotton would 

 be the best crop with which to start. It is estimated that a ready-made 

 farm, comprising 80 acres of land, with a substantial bungalow-house, &c., 

 would cost for clearing, fencing, planting crop, and erecting house, from 

 £125 to £250, according to the nature of the vegetation on the land to 

 be cleared. 



Cotton waste, a by-product of the spinning mills, is one of the chief 

 raw materials used in the present manufacture of cordite. As the result 

 of an article by Mr. G. S. Hart, entitled " N"o Cotton, ISTo Shells," 

 publi-shed in the Bocl-hampton Daili/ Becord. a meeting was held at 

 Mt. Morgan, presided over by the mayor. This meeting resolved : — - 



" That a Munitions Cotton League be now formed, to press 

 forward the production of cotton in Australia, so that it may be 

 available for the manufacture of munitions." 



The meeting was widely advertised in Queensland papers, and the 

 Department of Agriculture undertook to deliver free seed to the nearest 

 railway station. The Queensland Government also guaranteed to pur- 

 chase seed cotton at lijd. per lb. About 300 growers obtained seed, and 

 about 800 acres were planted. Unfortunately, the season was unfavor- 

 able, and some of the seed available was not of very good quality, 

 nevertheless, a considerable number of tlie crops gave high yields. The 

 Queensland Department of Agriculture is importing enough of the best 

 American cotton seed to plant an additional 1,000 acres next season. 



Though the annual peace time requirement of prepared cotton waste 

 for the manufacture of cordite in Australia is only 60 tons, yet it is 

 obviously of great importance that Australia should be self-contained 

 in the matter of the production of munitions. In England the cotton 

 waste is specially treated in Government works and is supplied as a 

 product of exceeding uniformity. Before Australian-grown cotton could 

 be used for the manufacture of sorvice cordite it would have to undergo 



