TRANSACTIONS OF SEOTION I, 657 
The work of the Association is confined to the British Empire. In India, in 
conjunction with the Government, efforts are being made to improve the methods 
of cultivation, so as to increase the quantity grown and to improve the quality, 
Seed farms should be established for educational purposes and to supply selected 
seed for native cultivators, These should be nearly self-supporting. Seed and 
machinery have been sent to the West Indies and financial assistance has been 
given. Large quantities of Sea Island cotton, ranging in value from 11d. to 16d. 
a pound, have been grown, and there is every hope of a large cultivation being 
established. In Egypt Proper the Government and people are fully alive to the 
advisability of increasing the growth. In British East Africa and British Central 
Africa there is an excellent prospect, and the work is well advanced in the latter 
colony, and 5,000 bales of Egyptian cotton will be marketed this season. In 
British West Africa there isa large area—500,000 square miles—and a large popu- 
lation—10,000,000. Cotton equal to average American has been grown in large 
quantities, and there is no reason why the whole of West Africa--British and 
foreign—should not at some future date grow 20,000,000 bales of cotton. Seed 
has been supplied, experts been sent out, and seed farms are being established. It 
is felt that the best policy is to establish cotton-growing as a native industry, as 
the climate is unsuitable for Europeans. The British Cotton-growing Association 
have undertaken an enormous task, and have proved that sufficient cotton for 
Lancashire’s needs can be grown in British possessions. Their work, if successful, 
will enrich the colonies and increase the demand for manufactured goods. 
Addendum. 
Abstract of Memorandum hy Professor Dunstan, 
As a rule cotton can be successfully grown in countries within a region 40° 
north and south of the equator, provided that the soil is appropriate and that the 
rainfall or irrigation is sufficient. Within this region the following British 
Colonies and Dependencies are included :—British Honduras, the West Indies, 
British Guiana, Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Lagos and Nigeria, East 
Africa and Uganda, South Africa, Mauritius, the Seychelles, India, the Straits 
Settlements, the Federated Malay States, Australia, New Guinea, and Fiji, Egypt, 
Cyprus, and Malta must also be included. 
Professor Dunstan went fully into the necessity of supplementing practical 
work by scientific investigation on the following points :—(1) Chemical analysis 
of soil, (2) rotation of crops, (8) selection of varieties most suited to the soil and 
climate, (4) educational supervision of native cultivation, (5) selection of seed. 
He drew attention to the value of the scientific work which is being carried on 
by the United States, Egypt, Germany, and other countries, and strongly urged 
that experimental stations should be established in the various colonies under 
Government supervision, and that these stations should be co-ordinated with a 
central institution in this country, so that the work may be conducted on a general 
plan, and the information gained at each of the stations may be collected and made 
available for the benefit of all. At present no organisation of this kind exists, 
although a portion of the work is being conducted by the Imperial ‘Institute in 
conjunction with the Colonial Office. 
He then dealt very fully with the results so far obtained and the future 
prospects in different parts of the Empire, and it is most gratifying to find that 
with two exceptions the prospects are most hopeful and encouraging. These 
exceptions are the Straits Settlements, where the climatic conditions are unfavour- 
able, and the Australian colonies, where the difficulty of obtaining cheap labour 
seems to render successful cotton cultivation an impossibility. His inquiries have 
extended from Borneo on the one side to the West Indies on the other, and from 
Malta to South Africa. 
1904. UU 
