120 BRAZILIAN COTTON 



Sergipe is the smallest State : it is shaped in triangular form, the 

 eastern side being open to the Atlantic Ocean ; the western side has 

 Bahia as a boundary and the north-eastern portion connects with the 

 State of Alagoas, the river Sao Francisco forming the natural boundary. 

 Aracaju, the city and seat of the Government, is the principal port. 

 The coastal region is low but the interior has mountains and plateaus. 



This State is practically dependent on sugar and cotton ; Indian 

 corn, beans and rice are also grown, but sugar and cotton are the 

 staple crops and the Government fully realise this fact and have 

 organised a special Cotton Department which has been instrumental 

 in bringing into force an excellent decree for the protection of cotton 

 (No. 270, 4th March, 1921). 



The General Secretary of the Cabinet — Dr. Alvaro Silva — awaited 

 the arrival of our special train at the station of Aracajii and with us 

 visited two cotton mills of that city. We then paid our respects to the 

 President of the State, His Excellency Engh°. Col. Pereira Lobo. 



The whole Cabinet understands the cotton question and they are 

 prepared to do what is in their power, but as both sugar and cotton 

 have fallen in price considerably the State has had very reduced 

 incomes as its only source is the export tax on cotton which for 1921 

 was fixed at 8 per cent, ad valorem. Until the previous year this tax 

 was 9 per cent. ; it was reduced by request of the Cotton Department 

 of the Federal Government. 



It has been recognised that the export tax is an impediment in the 

 fostering of cotton exports, but where the State has no other revenue 

 it will be almost impossible to abolish it or even reduce it considerably 

 unless a new system of taxation is evolved. 



The Government have recently built a fine entrepot-warehouse 

 where the cotton of the whole State will shortly be classified. At 

 present only a small portion enters it because the organisation is not 

 yet complete. The cotton is weighed there and graded into three 

 classes by a coloured gentleman. No regard is taken of the length of 

 fibre in this classification, he merely takes into consideration the 

 cleanliness of each lot. We were shown a lot of cotton, some of which 

 was graded into classes 1, 2 and 3, and I took the samples and mixed 

 them up from the order in which they were given to me, then asked the 

 classer to say which was class 1 and which was class 2. His first guess 

 was wrong. I asked for the standard samples according to which the 

 cotton was graded, but there were none in existence. We drew the 

 attention of the Government officials, including the Governor, to these 

 shortcomings, and they promised to introduce the necessary reforms. 



The small amount of exports of cotton from Sergipe is due to the 

 fact that the eight cotton mills in the State, containing 52,710 spindles, 

 consume almost the whole of the production of cotton. 



In 1920, 59,680 tarefas = 17,145 hectares grew cotton, and gave 

 a crop of 65,000 bales of 75 kilos lint, Avhich works out to a yield per 

 acre of about 1751bs. lint. Here again it is a question of mixed culti- 

 vation with other crops, otherwise the yields would be higher. 



The cotton Avhich we have seen in this State is very uniform, more 

 so than in any other State so far visited. Generallv it was 28mm. 



