152 BRAZILIAN COTTON 



farm is one of the usual reservoirs, and no doubt the water from this 

 filters through and supplies moisture to a portion of his crop. 



This farmer has no need to take his crop to the market : the 

 buyers come to his farm, and he always gets a premium over local 

 rates. 



The ginning outturn is now 26 per cent., but before the pink 

 boll- worm came it was 30 per cent. This farmer says that many farmers 

 do not trouble to get back their own seed from the ginnery, and in some 

 places, we are told, a man can take his seed cotton to the gin, receive 

 at once the equivalent lint and seed of someone else's lot. As all 

 cottons are alike in their estimation, such procedure saves time of 

 waiting. 



At this farm we saw 17 plants of Sea Island cotton growing as an 

 experiment. The length of the fibre was from 50mm. to 55mm., strong, 

 fine and silky. 



I feel that the information obtained from Mr. Fco. Raj^mundo is 

 quite reliable ; this man made a very favourable impression on all 

 of us. 



AcARY. This was our next stopping place and from there we 

 visited the valley of the Rio Acauan. The town of Curraes Novos 

 is situated on this river. 



At Gargalheira, close to Acary, the river passes through a narrow 

 valley which lends itself for the building of a dam, and here the 

 Barragem Gargalheira is being constructed. Work is proceeding 

 there under a contract with Messrs. C. H. Walker & Co., Ltd., of 

 London. It is intended to have the walls of the dam 25 metres high 

 with three sluice gates. The top distance from one side to the other 

 of the walls of the dam is 120 metres. It is estimated that 7,000 

 barrels of cement will be used. This reservoir is intended to be used 

 for irrigation purposes, but from the nature of the undulating country 

 behind each one of us felt doubtful whether this was a technical 

 feasibility. Certainly tunnelling of many of the hills would be neces- 

 sary to carry the water to irrigation canals. 



At a farm on the way to our next halting place we were told that 

 on " Taboleira " land " Moco " had yielded 282 kilos lint per acre, and 

 " Riqueza " had given the same yield. The ginning out-turn was 

 given as 28|^ per cent. 



We met another agent of one of the large cotton exporting firms 

 who said he was paid two per cent, commission on the value of his pur- 

 chases for the firm. 



Jardim do Serido (280 metres above sea-level). This little 

 town is beautifully situated with a grove of tall palms at its entrance. 

 It is probably the most important of the municipalities in the Serido 

 district. 



Mr. Felinto Elysio, the political chief of this town and a land 

 owner, accompanied us through the rest of the Serido. He showed 

 us some very nice samples of his " Moco " cotton, 40mm. and strong. 

 He makes a regular selection of seed and insists that all his pickers 

 carry two bags, one for clean cotton and the other for dirty cotton 

 and dead fibres. 



