94 COTTON GROWING IN NYASALAND 



struction of another line from the Zambesi to Beira. 

 When these railways are open for traffic, the industry 

 will probably make rapid progress. 



The growth of the Nyasaland cotton growing in- 

 dustry is shown by the following figures giving the 

 quantities and values of the exports from 1902 to 1916. 



Year. Quantity. Value. 



Ib. 



1902 . 692 No complete returns 



1903 . 56,897 1,778 



1904 . 285,185 5,941 



1905 776,640 1 6, 1 80 



1906 . 526,119 15.345 



1907 . 403,486 I3>998 



1908 . 756,120 28,355 



1909 , 858,926 26,209 



1910 . 1,736,999 58,687 



1911 1,359,904 44,199 



1912 . 3,237,555 80,939 



1913 . 2,401,142 65,486 



1914 . 2,648,508 72,068 



1915 . 3,065,248 68,586 



1916 . 3,462,400 127,131 



BRITISH WEST INDIES 



Cotton was cultivated on an extensive scale in the 

 West Indies in the eighteenth century, and during 

 the years 1786-1790 no less than 70 per cent, of the 

 world's commercial supply was obtained from these 

 islands. Recent efforts to resuscitate the industry 

 have met with great success. Sea Island cotton is the 

 chief variety grown, but a small quantity of a native 

 type, known as " Marie Galante," is also produced, 

 especially in the island of Carriacou, the chief depend- 

 ency of Grenada ; the latter cotton has a length of 

 about i'2 1*4 inches. Sea Island cotton is usually 

 considered to be indigenous to the West Indies, but 

 the present crops are not obtained from the native 

 plant, but are chiefly derived from seed of the " Rivers ' 

 type, which was imported from the Sea Islands of 

 South Carolina in 1903 by the Imperial Department 



