328 
while finally a general review is given of conditions affecting 
the stability of the industry and its future prospects. 
The natural conditions obtaining in many of the islands are 
well adapted to the cultivation of Sea Island cotton. 
The industry dates from the year 1902 and at present is 
carried on in Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, 
Montserrat, and the Virgin Islands. It is conducted both as 
an estates crop and also as a peasant industry. 
Development has been assisted by the Government through 
the medium of the Agricultural Department and by the 
British Cotton Growing Association. The assistance rendered 
has taken the form of grants in aid of purchase of machinery, 
of skilled advice on the treatment of the crop, and of the 
provision of market facilities. 
The soils on which the crop is grown include a very large 
variety of types ranging from non-calcareous volcanic sandy 
loams and loams to highly calcareous soils. 
The annual rainfall in the cotton-growing districts ranges 
from 30 to 7o in. 
The total area at present under cultivation is estimated to 
range from 8,000 to 10,000 acres annually. 
The total exports from the Colony for each year since the 
development of the industry are given in summarized form 
below : — 
Year Exports of lint in pounds Year Exports of lint in pounds 
1902-3 50,480 1908-9. 697,423 
1903-4 . 152,160 1909-10 690,154 
1904-5 . 382,477 1910-11 1,371,307 
1905-6 526,382 IQII-12 1,073,794 
1906-7. . 702,910 IQI2-13 . 1,149,189 
1907-8 . 1,127,126 
At an assumed value of 1s. 6d. per lb. for lint it will be 
seen that during the past three years the value of the exports 
has ranged between £75,000 and £100,000 per annum, while 
the total value of the exports for the entire period during which 
the product has been cultivated exceeds £500,000 in value. 
The importance of maintaining the quality of the strains of 
seed cultivated is very great. Seed of high quality was intro- 
duced into the Colony from the Sea Islands of South Carolina 
in 1904 through the agency of Sir D. Morris, then Com- 
missioner of Agriculture for the West Indies; this has formed 
the starting-point from which the majority of the strains at 
present cultivated have .been derived. At the present time 
large-scale selection work is carried out by the, Agricultural 
Department in every Presidency, and many of the strains of 
