August 5, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



187 



equivalent to payment at the rate of about 

 lid. per lb. for the lint in the Liverpool 

 market. The prices obtained for the Sea 

 Island cotton have been highly satisfactory. 

 One recent consignment from Barbados was 

 valued at from 16d. to 17d. per lb., another 

 averaged just under 15d., the highest price 

 being 16jd., and the lowest 13d. Prices cur- 

 rent exhibited in Barbados at the same time 

 showed that Sea Island cotton was being 

 quoted in Savannah at from lOd. to 12jd., 

 but this was evidently the price for common 

 lint, as the last crop on the Sea Islands 

 brought from 30c. to 35c. — this, of course, 

 representing the result of 30 odd years of care- 

 ful selection and cultivation. The figures 

 given are sufficient to indicate that West In- 

 dian cotton, grown from Sea Island seed, is 

 capable of yielding a return quite equal to the 

 finest product of America. It is calculated 

 that, the yield of lint being assumed to be 

 2041b. per acre — the average in America — and 

 the total cost of placing it in the Liverpool 

 market 7d. per lb. for cotton fetching 12d. 

 per lb., the net profit would be at the rate of 

 £5 2s. per acre. Labor is cheaper in the West 

 Indies than in the Southern States; the cotton 

 gin expert referred to was amazed at the low 

 value of the labor in Barbados. 



Sir Daniel Morris, the head of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, is of opinion that 

 the only cotton that should be grown in the 

 West Indies is the Sea Island variety, which, 

 it is well known, is a native of these islands. 

 Other varieties are therefore being eliminated. 

 Some planters favor the Upland, and even the 

 indigenous varieties which are still found 

 growing wild, but it will tindoubtedly prove 

 more advantageous to devote attention only 

 to the highly cultivated long-staple Sea Island 

 cotton. The area throughout the world suit- 

 able for the growth of Upland is unlimited; 

 that able to produce Sea Island is strictly 

 limited. The latter fetches double the price 

 of any other cotton, and like Blue Mountain 

 coffee, will remain unaffected by future fluctu- 

 ations of the market. A sample of the native 

 cotton of Jamaica has been sent to England 

 and pronounced very fine, being valued at 14d. 

 per lb. It is a cotton which appears to resist 



insect pests, and many think that a first-class 

 variety might be evolved from it. The experi- 

 ments in the island, however, are being made 

 with Sea Island seed, and it will probably be 

 found wiser to begin where the Sea Island 

 planters have left off than to engage in experi- 

 ments which may not prove successful. 



Many difiiculties have naturally been en- 

 countered in establishing the industry, owing 

 largely to the inexperience and ignorance of 

 the growers, the most formidable being the 

 attack of the cotton worm. Remedies were 

 not at hand, and loss was sustained, but the 

 planters are now forearmed, and they believe 

 themselves able to cope with any similar 

 emergency. Every assistance is rendered to 

 growers by the Imperial Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, which has published and circulated an 

 extensive literature on the subject. One of 

 Sir Daniel Morris's latest ideas is to send the 

 ofiioers of the department to the various 

 islands to deliver popular lectures on the in- 

 dustry with magic-lantern illustrations. He 

 recommends, however, that only capable plant- 

 ers should go in for cotton-growing at present, 

 and advises those who wish to come out to the 

 West Indies to embark on planting on a large 

 scale, to pay a visit first to St. Vincent, and 

 study the conditions and opportunities there. 

 Great credit is due to him for his indefatigable 

 efforts to promote the industry during the 

 past four years. West Indian planters are not 

 very ready to strike out on new lines, and, but 

 for the steady persistence and influence of the 

 department, aided by practical assistance from 

 the British Cotton Growers' Association and 

 West Indian Committee, it is doubtful whether 

 the present important results would have been 

 achieved. 



DECENNIAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNI- 

 VERSITY OF CHICAGO. 



Most of the eighteen volumes originally 

 planned as decennial publications of the Uni- 

 versity of Chicago have been issued. The 

 University Press announces the following as 

 among the volumes that may be expected 

 shortly : 



Lectures on the Calculus of Variations. By 



OSKAR BOLZA. 



