COTTON 313 



St. Vincent cotton has been spun into a yarn of 400 

 " count/' which gives a length of 190 miles to the pound. 

 The usual spinning "counts" of West Indian cotton, 

 however, range from i6o's to 400*5. 

 The chief fabrics in which the yarn is employed are : 



Fancy millinery laces, Lisle gloves, 



Tulles, Shirt labels, 



Aeroplane sails, Embroidery cottons, 



Cotton cambrics, Typewriter ribbons, 



Handkerchiefs, Union cloth for umbrellas, 



Lawn and other muslins, Fine hosiery. 



This paper may be fittingly concluded with an extract 

 from the presidential address of Dr. Francis Watts, the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, delivered at the 

 West Indian Agricultural Conference, held in Trinidad 

 in 1912 : 



"As is usually the case with any new industry, the 

 cotton industry in its revival has passed through many 

 vicissitudes. In some Colonies its reintroduction has not 

 been attended with the full measure of success that was 

 looked for, but in many places its progress and expansion 

 have exceeded the most sanguine expectations, so that 

 to-day cotton growing forms the staple industry of 

 St. Vincent, Montserrat, Nevis, Anguilla, and the Virgin 

 Islands, and is a prominent feature in the agriculture of 

 Barbados and St. Kitts. Considerable interest in cotton 

 growing is taken in Tobago, while in Antigua, where it 

 has met with peculiar difficulties, the industry shows signs 

 of reviving. In Carriacou and Grenada interest in this 

 crop is increasing. 1 



" The reintroduction of cotton affords a striking 

 instance of the value of associated action extending 

 beyond the confines of any one small Colony. It is safe 

 to say that, without the almost simultaneous introduction 

 of cotton growing into a number of islands possessing 

 most diverse conditions, without the interchange of 

 information, coupled with the study of cotton pests, 



1 Increased interest in Sea Island cotton is now being taken in 

 Jamaica also. 



