588 FIBRES 



after the sowing, and the soil is kept well weeded until 

 the plants are flowering and thriving well and until they 

 are strong enough to withstand the weeds. 



The picking is done either by removing the raw cotton 

 from the pod after it has broken open holding the boll 

 with the left hand and then exercising a strong pull or 

 by picking all the pods and removing the husks. The 

 first-mentioned method is preferable. 



At the beginning of 1911 the area under cotton culti- 

 vation was as follows: 



Acres 

 In Java and Madura ... ... ... ... 3,/O2 



In the islands of the Archipelago adjacent to Java and 



Madura ... ... ... ... ... 18,222 



Total ... ... ... 21,924 



Trade. A very small part of this product is cleaned 

 by the natives in order to obtain seeds for planting 

 purposes. The raw uncleaned product is bought by 

 travelling Chinese and Arabs, and forwarded to the ports 

 of shipment. These petty buyers sell the cotton to 

 merchants in the ports of shipment, among whom there 

 are some export firms. These firms have machines for 

 removing the seeds before shipping* the cotton. 



The cleaned cotton is exported principally to Europe, 

 where the labour expenses are too high to make the 

 ginning of the raw product profitable; and, moreover, the 

 cost of transportation of raw cotton would be prohibitive. 



The export of ginned cotton from Palembang during 

 1905 and during the years 1909-1912 amounted (in tons) 

 to: 



Countries of destination 1905 1909 IQIO 1911 1912 



Netherlands ...... i 8 



Geimany ... ... 54 99 207 482 



Singapore ... ... 44 10 18 17 22 



Japan ... ... 7 n 



Total ... 44 64 118 231 523 



During the first ten months of 1913, 326 tons were 

 exported. 



The uncleaned cotton is exported principally to 

 Singapore, where a small part is cleaned in an up-to-date 



