EDITORIAL. ~ 
seed cotton varied from 1 dollar 6 cents in Alabama, where there 
was a short crop and plenty of labour, to 1 dollar 98 cents in Oklahoma. 
Prices in the same State often varied considerably; depending largely 
upon the supply of labour available and the urgency of the work. 
Frequently a cotton planter who was in a hurry to harvest this crop 
before winter would pay a higher price for the work than his neighbours 
who were not in such a hurry. At the close of November, 1919, cotton- 
pickers in the States of Texas: and Oklahoma were receiving from 3 
dollars to 84 dollars for picking 100 Ibs. of cotton seed. Weather con- 
ditions in these States early in the season kept pickers from the fields, 
and the farmers, realizing that wet weather in that section was approach- 
ing, willingly paid higher prices. It is customary in picking cotton 
to go over the field twice; some planters are said to give their fields 
a third and in some cases even a fourth picking, but usually two are 
sufficient. 
AMOUNT OF COTTON PICKED. 
It appears from the evidence obtained from various sources that 
a good hand will average from 200 lbs. to 300 lbs. of seed cotton a 
day, and some will pick as high as 500 lbs. during that tinie. The work 
is not especially arduous, and women and children as well as men 
engage in it; children are said to make especially good cotton-pickers, 
on account of their spryness. Along the States of the Mexican border, 
such as Texas, many Mexicans are employed. In the other States the - 
work is done almost entirely by negro labour. Pickers work from 
“sun to sun.” The season lasts, on the average, about 90 days, but 
in sections like the Mississippi Delta, where the average yield is heavy, 
it often lasts six months. Here, however, because the bolls are usually 
more or less rotten, the worker cannot pick as much late in the season 
as in the beginning. The skill is soon acquired. A picker will learn 
with slight practice to pick an entire boll with each hand.. A man 
can rest himself while picking by crawling for a while on his knees; 
the sack which holds the cotton being attached to his. shoulders and 
dragged behind. In fact, many pickers do two rows at a time, crawling 
on their knees. between them and protecting their knees with cotton 
pads. 
CATTLE TICK DIPS. i 
With the co-operation of the Governments of New South Wales 
and Queensland, the Institute of Science and Industry proposes to 
initiate at an early date investigations into cattle tick dips. Although 
‘the present official formula used in Queensland and New South Wales 
has proved to be efficient and generally satisfactory, it is considered 
possible that the same parasitical results might be maintained, and 
the ill-effects that sometimes occur obviated, by alteration of the com- 
position of the agent. There is evidence that solutions containing a 
lower arsenical content than officially stipulated are effective in the 
hotter parts of Queensland. It is possible that it will be found that 
the strength of the parasiticide used may with safety be varied accord- 
ing to the time of the year and the climate of the locality where it is 
used. With a view to determining the limitations, a special committee 
has drawn up a programme of work to be carried out in the Burleigh 
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