142 COTTON 



is most lamentable is that the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture is not to-day in the position it was a few years 

 ago, and this is partly the fault of the West Indians them 

 selves. Each island wants to have its own Department of 

 Agriculture, and refuses to bear its share of the cost of the 

 Central Department. It will be evident to anyone who 

 takes a disinterested view of the matter, that a large central 

 and important organisation can work more effectively and 

 more economically, and will attract the highest class of men, 

 who would hardly care to join a small local department. 

 It is far better to have one or two well-paid men of high 

 scientific standing than half-a-dozen men of second-rate 

 ability. 



The Association have made several money grants to 

 the West Indies, for the payment of experts, for the erec- 

 tion of ginning machinery, and for financing crops, etc., 

 and such help is still being given. The principal assist- 

 ance they render is in marketing the cotton, and in advising 

 the agricultural authorities as to the market values of the 

 various types of cotton, and they do all in their power to 

 ensure that the grower receives the highest possible price 

 for his cotton. Sea Island is not everybody's cotton, and 

 it is not always easy to find a quick market for it. The 

 Association, however, recognise that if the industry is to 

 continue it is most important that the planter should be 

 paid a good price. In this connection I must draw atten- 

 tion to the great gratitude we all owe to Mr. Charles 

 Wolstenholme, of Liverpool, who has I know sacrificed 

 much of his time and his business in his endeavours to 

 help the planter. Thanks to the Imperial Department, 

 and thanks to Mr. Wolstenholme, some of the best cotton 

 in the world is to-day being grown in the West Indies. 



WEST AFRICA. 



In commencing operations in West Africa, the Associa- 

 tion had two difficulties facing them, viz., the huge extent of 

 the country, and lack of any properly equipped Agricultural 

 Departments. Cotton as an article of export was non- 

 existent, and there was no one to whom to apply for defi- 

 nite information as to where cotton could or could not be 

 grown, and it was impossible to say where good results 

 might be expected. Everything had, as it were, to com- 

 mence at the very beginning. 



The British Possessions in West Africa cover an area 

 of about 450,000 square miles, and the population is about 



