100 BRAZILIAN COTTON 



Pirapora the river was very shallow and sandy. Whenever the 

 steamer went aground, which occurred pretty frequently — mostly 

 during the night, the sailors, all powerful men nearly all of the negro 

 type, jumped overboard with crow-bars and bodily levered the steamer 

 off. These men worked very hard and were always full of humour and 

 pleasant. After a few days journey, the water-level became so low 

 that we had to stop during the nights. The navigation is almost 

 entirely done according to the appearance of the surface of the water. 

 On nearing Joazeiro there are some difficult stretches to navigate on 

 account of hidden rocks coming within a few inches to the surface 

 and often covering almost the width of the river, indeed in some 

 cases the open passage between these rocks is very limited and the 

 current extremely swift. Before this part of the country can be 

 properly opened up a great quantity of the hidden rocks will have 

 to be removed, as navigation is too precarious. 



Similar rapids are also on the Lower Sao Francisco, when 

 approaching the Paulo Affonso Falls. 



On this river journey we had the pleasure of the company of 

 Dr. Octavio Carneiro, the chairman of the Companhia Industria e 

 Viagdo de Pirapora, one of the many enterprises of Mr. S. V. Trajano 

 de Medeiro. 



Sao Francisco was our first port, 229km. from Pirapora and 

 1,140km. from Joazeiro. It has 3,000 inhabitants. There is one gin 

 with 25 saws which had not been sharpened for three years though 

 every year fully at work. 



There is a great confusion of names of the various cottons. What 

 was known in Pirapora and the rest of Minas by " Creoula " is here 

 called " Inteiro " or " Rim de boi," etc. Only one price is paid for 

 all cottons, whether long, short, dirty or clean. The growers did 

 not know that the length of fibre, cleanliness, strength, etc., contributed 

 any value to the cotton. 



One bale screw press worked by hand, similar to the one shown 

 in accompanying illustration, was the only press used. Indeed this 

 kind of press is typical right through the interior. The best cotton 

 in all the mixture was the small black seeded cotton, spoken of in 

 this place as " Quebradinho," measuring 34mm. All the cotton was 

 very dirty. 



There are two markets in the town for the sale of the produce 

 and for weighing purposes, but cotton is not sold there. I suggested 

 that town authorities should induce the growers to sell their cotton 

 in the market ; that proper regulations on the lines of the Indian and 

 Egyptian cotton markets should be established. 



The American kind " Big Boll " is much affected by ants, whilst 

 Creoula legitima (Quebradinho) withstands them. The season for 

 picking was just beginning (end of May). The seed is planted October, 

 November and December. All the cotton is grown mixed with Indian 

 corn. Land is held by families ; the value of land is estimated at 

 anything from 10 to 80 $000 per alqueire of 48,400 square metres, but 

 when buying a large estate, land can be had much cheaper ; in fact, 

 some little distance away from the river, land can be had at a nominal 

 charge. Probably the lawyer's expenses would be as much as the 

 value of the land. 



