May, 1909.] 



Fibres. 



resistant selection has been successfully 

 accomplished in the Sea Islands, where 

 " wilt" disease threatened to extinguish 

 the industry- The experiments were 

 conducted on the plantation of Mr. 

 Rivers, James Island, by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington. At 

 the time of the visit to this plantation, 

 less than one per cent of the plants were 

 affected with "wilt" disease, although 

 many of the surrounding plantations 

 had over 25 per cent, of the crop 

 destroyed by it. 



Root Rot Fungus (Ozonium omni- 

 vorum).— This disease is indigenous to 

 Texas, and there is little hope of its 

 extermination, as no cotton is able to 

 resist it. The root rot attacks lucerne 

 as well as cotton, and frequently destroys 

 25 per cent, of the crop even when grown 

 for the first time on virgin soil. The 

 disease generally manifests itself when 

 the crop has reached the period of matu- 

 ration, and is characterised by rapid 

 decay of the root and that part of the 

 stem which is covered by soil. It is 

 easily distinguished from the " wilt" as 

 the stem above the ground is never dis- 

 coloured, the disease never spreading 

 into the vascular tissue of the stem, as 

 in the case of the wilt disease of the 

 eastern section of the cotton belt. Crops 

 growing on clay and heavy alluvia 

 always suffer most, the disease being 

 favoured to a large extent by anaerobic 

 conditions. Deep winter cultivation and 

 soil aeration are the most effective 

 remedies, and have been known to re- 

 duce the disease from 95 per cent, of the 

 total crop to 5 per cent. It is estimated 

 that 7 per cent, of the cotton grown in 

 Texas is destroyed by this disease. 



Anthracnose (Oolletotrichum gossy- 

 pii). — This is a disease found throughout 

 all the cotton fields of America, affecting 

 the bolls and rotting them when they 

 are practically mature. The severity of 

 the disease varies according to season, 

 being most active when there is much 

 rain and little sunshine. The lower bolls 

 always suffer most, and a close-planted 

 crop, beset with weeds, is more liable to 

 injury than a wide-planted crop. The 

 disease causes most damage in the rich 

 river-bottom lands of Texas and Missis- 

 sippi, but is less injurious on the red 

 clays of Georgia and Alabama. The 

 principal remedies are rotation, drainage 

 and wide planting, 



Cotton Boll-weevil (Anthonomus gran- 

 dis). — The cotton boll-weevil is the 

 greatest pest of the cotton belt- It was 

 first noticed in the State ot Texas in the 

 year 1894, and since then has travelled 

 northward and eastward at the rate 

 of fifty miles a year. In 190(3, when it 



reached the west bank of the Mississippi, 

 it was thought that the river would 

 prevent its onward march, but now in 

 1908 it is forty miles over the river on 

 the east side, and strongly established 

 in the State of Mississippi. It is calcu- 

 lated that seven years hence it will be 

 in every State of the cotton belt from 

 Texas to the Atlantic. 



Should the boll-weevil reach the Sea 

 Island cotton, it will do more harm than 

 it does to Upland cotton, as it is much 

 more severe on the more delicate varie- 

 ties. It is even probable that the weevil 

 may exterminate the Sea Island cotton 

 industry, and that most of the island 

 farmers will turn their attention to the 

 cultivation of early vegetables for the 

 New Y-ork market. At the present time 

 " wilt fungus" has caused many of them 

 to grow asparagus instead of cotton, and 

 market gardening on the islands is a 

 growing industry. 



One large landowner in Texas, who 

 lets his land to negro tenants and takes 

 part of the crop for rent, informed me 

 that in 1901 three thousaud bales were 

 produced on his estate, whereas, in 1907, 

 after the weevil reached the district, 

 three hundred bales was the total out- 

 put. The cottou boll- weevil has done 

 much to stimulate the Southern farmer 

 and lead him to improve his methods of 

 cultivation. It is probable that this will 

 result iu the introduction of mixed 

 farming and rotations, and prevent con- 

 tinuous cotton-growing, which has ex- 

 hausted much of the best soil. It is of 

 the greatest importance that every 

 possible precaution should be taken to 

 prevent the introduction of the boll- 

 weevil into Africa.-- -Bulletin of the 

 Imperial Institute, Vol. VI., No. 4, 1908. 



SISAL HEMP IN THE BAHAMAS. 



From the Annual Report of the Curator 

 of the Botanical Gardens in the Baha- 

 mas (Mr. W. M. Cunningham, formerly 

 of Hope Gardens), we take the follow- 

 ing:— 



"The export of sisal fibre for the 

 year shows a total value of £40,140, 

 The average selling price of machine 

 and hand-cleaned sisal fibre during the 

 financial year was 3^d. per lb. The 

 most important industry is the raising 

 of sisal fibre, used for making binder- 

 twine, ropes, bags, matting, brushes, 

 &c Its profit can be judged from the 

 prosperity of the Out Island?. Un- 

 affected by heat, drought, storm or in- 

 sects, the sisal crop is certain, and the 

 price is staple, The Bahamas fibre is 



