1 88 COTTON. 



recent!} . A Pretoria tirm has been crushing the seed and selHng 

 seed meal ; this new enterprise is making some headway. 



Soil Suited to Cotton.— Where climatic conditions are 

 favoural)le for cotton growing — -that is to say, where low and 

 middle veld conditions prevail, and with a fair rainfall — K:otton 

 can be produced on a variety of soils, such as sandy loam, 

 black turf, alluvial, clay-loam, and calcareous soils. South 

 Africa has large stretches of country where both soil and 

 climatic conditions are favourable to the production of this crop. 

 The most progress has so far ])een made in the middle or bush- 

 veld of the Rustenburg district. 



Cotton as compared zvitli Mealies as a Droit(/lif Resister. — 

 It has been proved repeatedly that cotton is far superior to 

 mealies as a drought resister. We have a number of instances 

 on record where farmers planted a portion of their lands to 

 mealies and a portion to cotton ; the drought was so severe that 

 the mealies came to nothing, while the cotton gave a fair yield 

 of lint. Last May, I had a report from a farmer in the Water- 

 burg district, who informed me that last season he planted 400 

 acres to mealies, and. on account of the severe drought, he 

 reaped nothing. He had two acres planted to cotton, and he 

 reaped one and a half tons of cc^tton. This farmer intends to 

 plant 200 acres to cotton next season. I. have had many similar 

 cases reported. These results obtaiiicd by farmers verify re- 

 sults ol)tained at our experiment stations. 



I should like to make it clear, however, that the first few 

 weeks after the seed are sown is a very critical ])eriod. The 

 young plants must have a moist soil until they are well estab- 

 lished, after which they will stand a lot of drought, and still 

 recover to a considerable extent w'hen the rains set in again. 



Profits in Cotton Culture compared to those in Mealie Cul- 

 ture. — The average yield of mealies per acre in South .Africa is 

 al)out 4 bags ; ])lacing the value at los. per bag will give a total 

 profit of £2 per acre, or a nett i)rofit of about £1 per acre. A 

 cotton crop of only ^xx) 11 )s. <;)f seed cotton would give 200 lbs. 

 of lint ; placing an average value of 6d. per lb. on it will give 

 a gross profit of £5 per acre, and a nett profit of approximately 

 £2 los., and there are still 400 lbs. of seed left, which, if ground. 

 make an excellent stock food. Tf a larger yield of mealies or 

 cotton is obtained, the relative \alues will increase in aboiu the 

 same proportions as those given al)ove. 



I'arieties Suited lo .South Africa. — In the middle or bush- 

 veld, some of the .\merican varieties, such as Cleveland. Ban- 

 croft. I'nllnot, Ivusst'll's and Bohemian give the best results. In 

 the low veld, where the soil is very fertile, and on ])ortions of 

 the coastal belt, such as Natal and Zululand, Cook's Long Staple. 

 Nvassalanfl. .Mien's, and Sunflower have given the best returns. 

 A new variety. Taylor's Long Silk Staple, is being bred at the 

 Kustenburg .Station; this variety has a beautiful long, silky 



