Fibres. 



308 



[April, 1910. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIII.. 

 No. 197, November 13, 1909.) 



Messrs. Wolstenholine and Holland, of 

 Liverpool, write as follows, under date 

 October 25, with reference to the sales of 

 West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



Since our last report, no business is 

 reported in West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton, owing to the absence of stock. 



Amerian Sea Island cotton of all des- 

 criptions continues to harden gradually. 

 For ' Fine ' Island they are asking IQ^d. 

 and ' Fully Fine ' llhd., but no business is 

 passing at these rates, buyers' ideas being 

 rather lower. The best Floridas are 

 worth 13|c?. to 14d. 



The report of Messrs. Henry W. Frost 

 & Co., on Sea Island cotton in the 

 Southern States, for the week ending 

 October 23, is as follows ;— 



The market has been quiet throughout 

 the week, without any sales being 

 reported. There was some demand at 

 the prices at which the opening sales 

 were made, viz , Fine 28c, Fully Fine 

 30c, and Extra Fine 32c, which if factors 

 had consented to accept would have 

 resulted in fairly large sales ; but factors 

 advanced their prices 2c, which buyers 

 refused to pay. Should the market 

 remain quiet, with no demand at the 

 advance asked, with the accumulation 

 of stock, factors may in time have to 

 recede from their advanced views. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



MANURIAL EXPERIMENTS WITH 

 CACAO IN GRENADA. 



(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIII., 

 No. 197, November 13, 1909.) 



Interesting details of experiments in 

 connexion with the manuring of cacao 

 that have been conducted by Mr. W. M. 

 Malins-Smith at Diamond estate, St. 

 Mark's, Grenada, have been received 

 from him. The results are given here 

 for the benefit of readers of the Agri- 

 cultural News. While this is done, 

 the Department does not hold itself 

 responsible for the statements which are 

 made with respect to any proprietary 

 chemical manure, 



The inauu rial treatment (according to 

 the table supplied by Mr. Malins-Simth) 

 on the different sections was as follows : — 



Section 1 : 1907. --Basic slag, 8 cwt. 

 (April) ; sulphate of potash, 2 cwt. (May) ; 

 sulphate of ammonia, 2 cwt. (September). 



Section 2: 1907.— Swift's tropical man- 

 ure, 10 cwt. (June). 



Section 3 : 1907 .—Sheep manure, 2| tons 

 (April). 



Section 4 : 1907.— Wood ashes, 4 hogs- 

 heads (April); sulphate of ammonia, 2 

 cwt. (September). 



Section 5 : control ; no manure. 



Section 6 : 1907.— Lime, If hogsheads 

 (April). 1908.— Pen manure, 20 tons (May). 



Section 7 : 1907.— Lime, If hogsheads 

 (April) ; sulphate of ammonia, H cwt. 

 (September), 1908.— Basic slag, 4 cwt. 

 (May). 



SectionS: 1907.— T.S.G. cacao manurei 

 10 cwt- (June). 



These experiments in manuring were 

 begun in 1907 for the purpose of testing 

 the relative value of several complete 

 manures and combinations of fertilizers 

 on large areas of excellent bearing cacao 

 which had not been manured or forked 

 for several years, and which at the time 

 was giving a yield of 5 bags of 180 lb. 

 each per acre. 



In March-April, 1007, the plots were 

 carefully forked and all dead leaves, 

 weeclings, etc. were buried. The manure 

 was then applied broadcast on the 

 surface, evenly distributed throughout 

 the plots. The trees were then carefully, 

 but lightly, pruned, the prunings being 

 left on the ground to serve as a mulch 

 over the manure. In June, the plots 

 were weeded and all dead leaves and 

 prunings were carefully buried near the 

 surface of the soil. From June to 

 September all suckers were removed 

 from the trees and the drains in the 

 field cleaned out. In 1908, the manurial 

 treatment was not repeated, and the 

 only manure applied that year was that 

 used in completing the combinations in 

 sections 6 and 7. Cultural work done in 

 1908 comprised the burying or ' bedding ' 

 of all weedings, dead leaves and prunings 

 in the month of June; light pruning; 

 removing suckers ; cleaning drains ; 

 weeding, etc. These plots were estab- 

 lished on a basis of equality in cost of 

 manures and area. Each plot was care- 

 fully measured to one acre ; they are all 

 adjacent to one another. A sum of £5 

 was spent in manures on sections 1, 2, 3, 

 and 8. 



The wood ashes applied to section 4, 

 being a by-pioduct of the estate, cost 

 nothing. The same may be said of the 



