Miscellaneous, 



348 



October, 191 1. 



at Georgetown and the Linley and 

 Cumberland Valleys ; the nursery at 

 the Botanic Station has, however, been 

 maintained. 



The Agricultural Instructor has con- 

 tinued closely to watch the cultivations 

 and give advice and instruction to the 

 growers in regard to manuring, pruning 

 and other matters, and his assistance is 

 now much appreciated. 



The progress made with cacao 

 cultivation may be said to have 

 been somewhat slow ; still it should 

 be mentioned that, under local con- 

 ditions, cacao is rather a difficult 

 crop to grow. The soils are, as a rule, 

 too light and shallow, and it is only in 

 sheltered places where there is a good 

 depth of rich soil, and the rainfall is not 

 excessive, that cacao thrives. Again, 

 the small holders lack capital, and there 

 have been no means by which they 

 could obtain loans at a low rate of inter- 

 est to establish cultivations ; besides, 

 they have not forgotten the disastrous 

 hurricaneof 1898, which destroyed nearly 

 all the cacao plantations in the island. 

 Under these circumstances, it is not to 

 be expected that many of them, even 

 it they had the money, would care to 

 incur the expense and take the risk of 

 planting, on any considerable scale, a 

 crop which takes about seven years to 

 leach a paying stage, since they are able 

 to raise crops which give a quicker and 

 more certain return on their outlay and 

 for their labour. 



From the experience gained, it is not 

 considered desirable that the Agricul- 

 tural Department should insist on any 

 large extension of cacao planting, but 

 should rather endeavour to induce the 

 small holders to practise more intensive 

 methods ot cultivation of the plots that 

 are already established and are promis- 

 ing well. 



Excellent progress has been made with 

 the cultivation of Sea Island cotton as an 

 annual crop at Clare Valley-Questelles 

 and part3 of the Linley Valley and 

 Richmond Hill estates. On these estates 

 there are open lands near the coast. 

 Unfortunately, the lands of the other 

 estates are not suitable for cotton cultiv- 

 ation, so that the area available is 

 limited. 



Although the industry was introduced 

 in 1903, it was not until 1906 that a serious 

 attempt at cotton-planting was made 

 by the small holders. In that year 48 

 acres was planted, but since there has 

 been a progressive annual increase in 

 the area cultivated, which during the 

 present season has reached 290 acres. 

 Of this total, Clare Valley-Questelles 



is represented by no less than 236 acres, 

 and it is on this estate, therefore, that 

 most progress has been made. 



The details for the several years are 

 as follows :— 



Area of cotton planted, 

 Season. Clare Valley-Questelles. 



Acres. 



1906- 7 ... 1H 



1907- 8 ... 50 



1908- 9 ... 96* 



1909- 10 ... 151 



1910- 11 ... 236 



The yield per acre for each season has 

 been satisfactory. This is in no small 

 measure due to the advice and instruc- 

 tions givenby the Agricultural Instructor 

 in regard to the crop. 



It is estimated that the value of the 

 present season's cotton crop grown on 

 the Land Settlement estates will exceed 

 £2,000, or an all-round gross value of 

 over £10 per acre. 



During the last season the Govern- 

 ment inaugurated a system whereby 

 seed-cotton is purchased from small 

 growers throughout the Colony on a 

 profit-sharing or co-operative basis at 

 the Government Cotton Ginnery. This 

 has had an excellent effect, for besides 

 ensuring that growers get a fair market 

 price for their cotton, it induces them 

 to put forth their best efforts in the 

 cultivation of their lands, and has led 

 to an extension of cotton-planting. 



The system of purchasing cotton may 

 be briefly described as follows :— 



Seed-cotton brought for sale is first of 

 all graded, and then a price is paid 

 which is equal to one-fifth of the esti- 

 mated value of the lint, less 2c. per lb. to 

 cover freight ar.d other charges. For 

 instance, if the market value of first 

 grade white lint is 37c. per lb., the price 

 paid for seed-cotton is 7c. per lb. The 

 seed is not returned to the grower, but 

 retained to cover the cost of ginning and 

 baling the lint ; but should the proceeds 

 of the sale of the seed exceed lc. per lb., 

 the amount of the excess is added to the 

 bonus distributed at the end of the 

 season. The bonus distributed has been 

 equal to four-fifths of the net profits 

 made. 



This is calculated on a percentage basis 

 on the amount paid on account to the 

 growers. For example, if £1,800 is paid 

 on account for seed-cotton, and at the 

 end of the season it is found that the 

 net profit made by the sale of lint and 

 seed is £450, the amount available for 

 distribution would be £360, which is 

 equal to a bonus of 20 per cent, or 4s. 

 for every quantity of seed-cotton sold 

 worth £1. 



