COTTON: ITS CULTIVATION IN AUSTRALIA. 
all the cotton is sown, cultivated, and picked by whites. The black labour 
employed is not much over half the total. At the same time the proportion 
of hired white labour is small. 
(d) Cost of Production—The main cost is that of picking. The present 
rate of wages (white and black being paid exactly the same) is $1.25 per 100 lbs. 
of seed cotton. The seed is mechanically drilled at a cost of $3 to $7 per 
acre sown. It takes from 25 to 40 acres of fair average quality land to 
support a man and his family, the average production per acre being from 
about 185 to 190 lbs. of lint cotton. It takes 3 lbs. seed cotton to produce 
1 lb. lint cotton, and there remains over 2 lbs. of seed, worth 3 cents per Ib. 
The price of lint cotton with l-in. staple is 27 cents per lb. 
(e) Spinning—The expert of the Bureau thought that Australia mighé, 
perhaps, make a commencement with low-grade articles, like twines and 
ropes, in the manufacture of which the processes are simple and the machinery 
cheap. The successful manufacture of a wide range of articles could only 
come after a long period of experience, and when a market exists for the 
disposal of diverse goods. 
16. Mr. Braddon states that, in his opinion, no mechanical picker is likely to 
be discovered for picking cotton of good crops. His opinion is based on the fact 
that the crop does not ripen simultaneously, and, in the process of picking, 
selection by eye of the riper pods is a necessary factor. 
17. Whilst the Commonwealth Board of Trade does not consider that the 
present prospects of substantially increasing the production of cotton are very 
encouraging, in view of the importance of the matter, they are obtaining informa- 
tion as to the requirements of the Department of Defence and the Australian 
Woollen Mills. 
18. The Board of Trade has also suggested to the Under Secretary, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture and Stock, Brisbane, that he and his Departmental Adviser 
might confer with the Board in Melbourne in regard to the best means of develop- 
ing the industry. 
The important requisites for industrial research are often 
unconsidered by manufacturers, who, in endeavouring to select a 
research chemist, are likely to regard every chemist as a qualified 
scientific scout. The supply of men capable of working at high 
efficiency as investigators is well below the demand; and chemists 
having the requisites and spirit of the researcher are indeed 
difficult to find by ones experienced in the direction of research. 
All research professors know that the finding of a skilled private 
assistant—one who possesses not only originality, but also sound 
judgment and intellectual honesty—is not easy, because it frequently 
involves the gift of prophecy on the part of the searcher. It has 
been truly said that the “seeds of great discoveries are constantly 
floating around us, but they only take root in minds well 
prepared to receive them.” E 
—RAYMOND F. BACON. 
“The Administrator of Industrial Research Laboratories.”” 
173 
