4 2 



Usually, Sea Island cotton crops in the early part of the year, 



commencing; when 1 2 months old, with older hushes the crop can 

 be somewhat regulated by pruning and lopping, thus producing 

 2 or 3 "Hushes" in the life of the plant. I would describe Sea 

 Island cotton as furnishing a fair crop but have not figures of actual 

 yield. 



R. DERRY. 



2j(fi January, T904 



COTTON IN DUTCH BORNEO. 



A specimen- of cotton grown in Borneo was recently submitted 

 for examination to the Director of t he Industrial and Commercial 

 College at Enschede, Holland, who reported that it appeared to be 

 equal in fineness and length of fibre to the liner qualities of Egyp- 

 tian cotton. The length of the fibre was about ins., and the 

 sample was valued at 4s. per pound.* It was suggest* d that the 

 plant y ielding this cotton should be experimentally cultivated in 

 order to assertain the yield obtainable from it. 



Enquiries made by the Governor-General of Borneo elicited the 

 following information, which was published in the Indische 

 Mercuur," October, 1 901. 



The specimen of cotton is the product of a tree occasionally met 

 with on the banks of the Barito River, and known to the natives 

 as " kapas-rampit." When fully developed it attains a height of 

 13 ft. and a circumference of from 15 to 16 ins. According to the 

 natives it lives about seven or eight years. 



The tree does not occur in the wild state, but is occasionally 

 cultivated as a curiosity by the natives. Formerly, when each native 

 household wove its own cotton, the annual variety of cotton was 

 frequently planted, but the product of this is inferior, the fibre be- 

 ing much' shorter than that of " Kapas-rampit", and its cultivation 

 has, therefore, been abandoned. 



Although the " Kapas-rampit " grows vigorously in several dis- 

 tricts of Borneo, its systematic cultivation has not so far been at- 

 tempted. No information could be obtained concerning the yield 

 of cotton, but trees were noticed, which were covered with flowers 

 or were quite white with the ripe pods. 



The flowers are of a yellowish-white colour ; the pods are cylindri- 

 cal in shape, and trilocular, each division containing about eight 

 seeds. 



It is possible that this species of Gossypium is not indigenous to 

 Borneo, although it bears a native name, but may have been, in- 

 troduced by the early Dutch trading companies. 



The tree grows readily in an argillaceous soil containing a little 

 sand, and is not adversely affected by excess of moisture, which is 

 an important consideration in Borneo, where the climate is humid. 



* Possibly a misprint The price is abnormal — Editor, 



