300 COTTON 



greatest assistance to West Indian planters, for it enabled 

 them to commence, without delay, the cultivation of the 

 crop along the best lines. Besides, during his visit Sir 

 Daniel Morris secured a large supply of seed of the best 

 " Rivers " type produced on the seaboard of South 

 Carolina. This type was first planted in 1904, and to-day 

 is still largely grown. Other fine types were obtained 

 from seed supplied by the British Cotton Growing Asso- 

 ciation and others, and these also have proved most 

 valuable. 



In the year 1905 the American growers of the finest 

 types of Sea Island cotton, fearing West Indian com- 

 petition, combined to prohibit the exportation of seed. 

 It was at first feared that this action might make it 

 difficult to maintain the quality of the cotton grown in 

 the West Indies, but it was soon seen that with careful 

 selection the quality could be readily maintained and in 

 many instances improved, with the result that to-day the 

 finest and strongest cotton in the world is produced in 

 certain of these islands. 



This, then, is a brief historical review of the fine Sea 

 Island cotton industry of the West Indies. 



The average annual output of British West Indian Sea 

 Island cotton for the past three years is 2,352,755 lb., 

 equal to 5,882 bales of 400 lb. each. 



Last season, 1912-13, the quantity and value of the 

 exports from each island were as follows: 



Weight Estimated value 



lb. 



St. Vincent ... . 443,878 ... ... 35,141 



St. Kitts ... . 374,594 ... ... 23,645 



Barbados ... ... . 424,392 ... ... 23,223 



Montserrat ... ... . 292,182 ... ... 18,478 



Antigua ... ... . 249,433 15.676 



Nevis . 166,477 ... ... 10,513 



Anguilla ... . 112,138 ... ... 7, 009 



Jamaica ... ... . 59, 606 ... 3,571 



Virgin Islands ... .. 3'>775 ... 2 ,95 



Total . 2,154,475 .. ... 139,351 



It will be seen that the chief British islands exporting 



Sea Island cotton are St. Vincent, St. Kitts, Barbados, 

 and Montserrat. It might be mentioned here that this 



