CH. X] FIBRE- YIELDING PLANTS 111 



two directions, in the trial of cottons from other countries, 

 and in the breeding of new varieties of longer-stapled cotton 

 suitable to India. The latter efforts must of course take a long 

 time, but in the meantime the Egyptian cotton grown in the 

 Sind district of Bombay has just been sold in Lancashire at 

 tyd. a pound, a very good figure. 



In the West Indies, on the other hand, it has been found 

 that the climate and soil are excellently suited to the growth 

 of the Sea Island cotton, Gossypium barbadense, which indeed is 

 originally a native of the islands, but which has for a great many 

 years been almost solely cultivated upon the Sea Islands of South 

 Carolina. By careful treatment and good cultivation this crop 

 yields from 200 to 300 Ibs. per acre, worth from Is. to Is. 6d. 

 per Ib. so that the maximum return per acre may be as much as 

 22. 10. Od. against about 2 for the Indian, a vast difference, 

 and one sufficient to make a profitable return to anyone putting 

 capital into the cultivation. Sea Island cotton has a special 

 market, and brings the highest prices of any cotton, and as it 

 has as yet only been found to succeed in the very limited area 

 of the Sea Islands and the West Indies, there seems good 

 reason to expect that the prices will keep at a high level. 

 This kind of cotton has to be ginned with the roller gin, and 

 is packed in bags containing about 400 Ibs. 



The very serious rise in the price of cotton, some years ago, 

 brought considerable trouble to Lancashire, and resulted finally 

 in the formation of a British Cotton-growing Association, whose 

 avowed object was to encourage the growing of cotton within 

 the British Empire, thus rendering Lancashire comparatively 

 independent of the American supply and of the ''manipula- 

 tions" of American dealers. The consumption of cotton in 

 America itself is also growing rapidly, and tending to reduce 

 the amount available for Lancashire. The efforts of this Asso- 

 ciation have on the whole, considering how short a time it has 

 been in existence, been wonderfully successful. Already the 

 West Indies, small though they are, have become an important 

 source of Sea Island and other cottons, West Africa is growing 

 much cotton, and experiments have been successful in India 

 and Ceylon. 



