July, 1909.] 



Fibres. 



been paid by the Association towards 

 the sinking fund for the ultimate re- 

 payment of the Company's capital. This 

 latter amount is invested in first-class 

 securities as shown in the Balance Sheet, 

 and the interest therefrom will be paid 

 to the Association. 



As stated in the last Report, the Coun- 

 cil did not feel justified in continuing 

 the expenditure on canvassing. The 

 total amount of shares subscribed for 

 on December 31st, 1908, amounted to 

 £261,195. Although the financial resources 

 of the Association are sufficient for the 

 present commitments, the Council are of 

 opinion that additional capital will 

 shortly be needed, more especially in 

 view of the rapid extension of cotton 

 growing in Uganda and of the immense 

 field which will shortly be opened when 

 the Northern Nigeria Railway reaches 

 Kano. 



The Council regret exceedingly that 

 the depression in trade, following the 

 financial crisis in the United States, has 

 had a most serious effect on the transac- 

 tions of tlu Association during 1908, and 

 this was much aggravated by the dis- 

 pute in the Lancashire Cotton Industry. 

 During the latter part of the year es- 

 pecially, cotton was difficult to sell and 

 could only be disposed of at low prices. 

 It is to be feared that this may have the 

 effect of discouraging, and will certainly 

 cheek for a time the development of 

 new cotton fields. There are, however, 

 distinct signs of improvement in trade, 

 and it is to be hoped that the present 

 depressing conditions may soon dis- 

 appear, and that there may shortly 

 arise a steady demand for cotton goods 

 and consequently for raw cotton. 



The work of the Association continues 

 to grow in every direction, and hardly a 

 day passes without requests for advice 

 and assistance from some part of the 

 Empire. The following statement of 

 the letters despatched during 1908 will 

 convey the best idea of the almost over- 

 whelming extent of the work : — 



United Kingdom 24,783 



West Indies 3,380 



West Africa 1,639 



East Africa ... ... 124 



Nyasaland ... ... 58 



South Africa ... ... 56 



Australia ... ... 28 



France ... ... 77 



Germany ... ... 23 



Sundries ... ... 91 



Total 30,259 



This represents an average of over 100 

 letters per working day, and, as a simi- 

 lar number of letters are received, over 



200 letters have to be dealt with every 

 day by a staff of only fifteen in number. 



The engineering portion of the work 

 has increased so largely that it has been 

 found necessary to add a competent 

 engineer to the Head Office Staff, and 

 the Association are now able to give 

 expert advice to planters and others 

 when ordering ginning and other machi- 

 nery, and to supply plans and detailed 

 estimates. No charge is made for this 

 beyond an agency commission of 2 per 

 cent, on the cost of any plan ordered 

 through the Association. Arrangements 

 have been made for supplying planters 

 with baling materials and other stores, 

 which, owing to the Association's ex- 

 ceptional buying, can be supplied on the 

 lowest terms. Arrangements have also 

 been entered into for insuring cotton 

 and seed at moderate rates, and policies 

 can be effected whereby cotton is covered 

 against all risks, fire and marine, from 

 the time it is weighed in at the planter's 

 store up to delivery at the warehouse 

 at Liverpool. The commissions for 

 these services and also on the sale of 

 cotton it is hoped may eventually cover 

 the whole cost of the administrative 

 charges in England. 



The Association have beeu carrying 

 out some very important experiments 

 with cotton seed as fuel for gas engines, 

 and two experimental plants have been 

 sent out, one to Lagos and the other to 

 Mombasa. If these experiments are 

 successful they will have most important 

 results in Northern Nigeria, Uganda, 

 Nyasaland, the Soudan, and other dis- 

 tricts where the cost of coal is pro- 

 hibitive and seed is at present of little 

 or no value, as they will prove that 

 cotton seed will be the most economical 

 fuel for providing power, not only foi 

 ginning and baling factories, but also 

 for other works, such as railway repair- 

 ing shops, pumping stations, etc. 



In view of the great difficulty of 

 obtaining trained agricultural experts 

 with a knowledge of cotton and other 

 tropical products, repiesentations have 

 been made to the Government urging a 

 system whereby suitably trained men 

 should receive a further practical train- 

 ing in the West Indies, Ceylon, and else- 

 where, and the Council are glad to 

 report that a start has been made in 

 this direction. The Council has urged 

 the establishment of agricultural scholar- 

 ships, and the proposal is still under 

 consideration. 



Following the resolution passed at the 

 Conference with the delegates from the 

 West Indies, representations have been 

 made to the Government urging the 

 formation of a Bureau for Tropical Agri- 



