296 COTTON 



a measure without legislation. Though such legislation 

 would undoubtedly in the long run be in the interests of 

 cotton cultivation, it is feared by some that it might for 

 the time being cause a set-back in certain districts. 



The natives of Ilorin seldom cultivate cotton by itself, 

 but generally in conjunction with yams, the cotton being 

 considered as of quite secondary importance. Our results 

 in Ilorin this year certainly tend to 'justify this practice, 

 as the yields so far observed are not large enough to 

 warrant the amount of labour involved in treating it as 

 a main crop. 



At Zaria the results were much more positive, and 

 though the yields are not large when compared with those 

 of other countries, they must be regarded as a satisfactory 

 beginning. The best acre of cotton on the farm yielded 

 627 Ib. of seed-cotton. This plot was well manured, and 

 was planted with Allen's Improved seed from Uganda. 

 It was not part of the variety test. 



Durango turned out to be the poorest of the exotic 

 varieties, not only in yield, but also in strength of lint. 

 It was chiefly remarkable for the immense size of its bolls. 



The Allen's Improved and Nyasaland were both very 

 satisfactory in the earlier pickings, but the later pick- 

 ings were in every case weak. This weakness is almost 

 certainly due to the fact that during the harmattan a 

 noxious wind which blows from the desert during the 

 dry season the plant dries up before it has time 

 thoroughly to mature the bolls which set after the 

 rains are finished, and consequently, though such bolls 

 ultimately open, their lint consists in reality of dried 

 immature fibres. The smallness of the yield of Nyasa- 

 land Upland as compared with Allen's Improved 277 Ib. 

 against 391 Ib. may largely be accounted for by the 

 irregular germination of the Nyasaland seed, which 

 resulted in an uneven stand of plants. It is anticipated 

 that with locally grown seed this apparent shortcoming 

 will disappear in the next crop. Several natives have 

 already agreed to grow these two varieties in 1914 from 

 seed raised on the Zaria farm in 1913, and we hope by 

 this means to get 750 acres of long-staple cotton under 

 cultivation this year. It is proposed to have the whole 



