SECTION IV: VAR. MARITIMA 285 



should be not only long, but fine and silky. It is well known that 

 the yield of floss is less from this than from any other species, and 

 hence must be compensated for by the price realised, but to obtain 

 high prices purity and uniformity are as indispensable as length of 

 staple. 



But production is necessarily restricted by climatic and soil con- 

 ditions, so that wherever this cotton can be satisfactorily grown it 

 should be preferred to all others, and the conditions and qualifications 

 indicated earnestly observed. It is freely admitted, however, that 

 with Sea Island, far more than with any other cotton, it is easier to 

 produce low than high grades, so that a tendency to degenerate is Tendency 

 ever present, and can only be guarded against by systematic selection 

 of stock, and doubtless also fresh hybridisation will be found equally 

 effectual. Still the demand for the finer counts increases, and the 

 prices realised continue to keep pace with extended production. On 

 this subject Morris and Bovell (' West Indian Bull.,' vol. iv. p. 291) 

 observe : ' It is improbable that the comparatively limited quantity 

 of Sea Island cotton likely to be produced in the West Indies will 

 seriously affect the market for long-staple cottons. The production Total pro- 

 of Egyptian cotton is about 500,000 bales, of Sea Island cotton from sea 1C 

 South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida about 50,000 bales annually. Island. 

 If we assume that in the West Indies, at the end of five years, about 

 30,000 acres will have been placed under cultivation in Sea Island 

 cotton, the return from this area (at the rate of 300 Ibs. of lint per 

 acre) will not exceed 18,000 bales. Taking into account the increased 

 demand that will, in the meantime, have arisen for long-staple 

 cotton, there need be little, if any, apprehension as to the price of 

 Sea Island cotton being maintained at such figures as will prove 

 remunerative to the growers.' 



It has been stated that of all the West Indian Sea Island cottons Barbados 

 recently imported into England that from Barbados was the best. supp y> 

 Further, Mr. Atkins (Secretary of the British Cotton-Growing 

 Association) says that ' a minimum of 9d. a pound, and probably 

 more, can always be relied upon.' Recently the prices for Sea 

 Island have ruled high, as much' as 13d. for medium, 21<2. for 

 extra fine grades, while Upland cottons fetch only Qd. to 8d, a 

 pound. 



Hybridisation. The botanical study of this plant, it may be con- Hybridis- 

 fidently affirmed, necessitates belief in hybridisation as, at least, one of 

 the influences in its racial production. But in further pages (333-5) 



