COTTON 3 O1 



cotton is also cultivated to some extent in the foreign 

 West Indian Islands. 



St. Vincent, besides being the premier cotton-gro wing- 

 island, produces the most valuable cotton, but is closely 

 followed by St. Kitts, where some exceptionally fine 

 cotton is grown under somewhat similar conditions of 

 soil and climate as those of St. Vincent. 



It is proposed in this paper to refer more particularly 

 to the St. Vincent industry for the following reasons : 

 (fl) The British Cotton Growing Association now strongly 

 advise growers to cultivate for fineness of lint in view of 

 the fact that certain Egyptian and American cottons are 

 successfully competing with some of the Sea Island 

 cotton produced in the West Indies, but not with that of 

 St. Vincent; (b) the methods adopted in the production 

 of cotton in the Colony and the measures taken for the 

 protection of the industry have been under closer Govern- 

 mental control than in any other island; and (c) the 

 highest degree of success has been attained in the pro- 

 duction of fine cotton. 



In other islands a great deal of most valuable work 

 has been done by the Agricultural Departments and 

 planters under conditions often very unfavourable, and 

 the results so far achieved bear striking testimony to the 

 care and attention devoted to the crop, so that it must 

 not be inferred from what has been stated above that it 

 is only in St. Vincent that the industry is carried on to 

 advantage and along the most approved lines. 



The Island of St. Vincent is eighteen miles in length, 

 with a greatest breadth of eleven miles, and a total 

 estimated area of 150 square miles. A central backbone 

 of mountains extends throughout its entire length with 

 a large number of radiating valleys. The lands all slope 

 from the mountains to the sea, and the drainage is good. 

 Cotton can only be successfully grown on the lands at a 

 fairly low elevation near the coast. The soil is of volcanic 

 origin throughout, and may be classed as a dark, sandy 

 loam. The subsoil is usually a compact tuff. 



In St. Kitts the soils are also volcanic sandy loams; 

 whilst those of the other Sea Island cotton growing 

 islands are, as a rule, heavier in character, and range from 

 loams to clay. 



