COTTON 327 



ingly poverty-stricken condition, the mode of life of the 

 inhabitants was extremely low, and annual grants in 

 aid of the Dependency from Antigua funds were always 

 necessary. With the advent of cotton growing conditions 

 have materially improved, employment has been provided 

 for the population of about 800 souls which the island 

 possesses, and there is a substantial balance to the credit 

 of the enterprise. 



St. Kitts. St. Kitts lies about 60 miles to the west 

 of Antigua and has an area of 68 square miles. The 

 industry has established itself very firmly in the island, 

 while the quality of the cotton grown has attained a 

 high reputation. 



The greater part of the crop is planted intermediately 

 between two crops of cane; after the first picking has 

 been reaped the trees are pulled up and either burned or 

 buried, and the land planted with cane. This system 

 enables the cultivation to be carried on very cheaply and 

 has given excellent results; a certain amount of cotton 

 is also grown as a main crop. The soils of the island 

 as a whole are particularly adapted to cotton growing; 

 in the south-western area the conditions are almost 

 ideally suited to the crop, in the north-eastern district 

 the heavier rainfall renders the crop more uncertain. 



On the whole cotton growing may be said to have 

 attained a more uniform degree of success in St. Kitts 

 than in any other island in the West Indies, and has 

 greatly added to the prosperity of the community. 



At the present time from 1,500 to 2,000 acres are 

 planted each year. 



There is a large ginnery at Spooner's, on the wind- 

 ward coast, the property of Messrs. Sendall and Wade, 

 the equipment of which includes plant for crushing- 

 cotton seed and extracting the oil therefrom; the bulk 

 of the crop of the island is handled at this institution. 

 There is also a smaller privately owned ginnery on the 

 leeward side of the island. 



No peasant-grown cotton is produced in St. Kitts. 



Nevis. Nevis lies south of St. Kitts and is separated 

 from it by a channel a mile wide at its narrowest point; 

 the total area of the island is 50 square miles. 



