The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-07 00:00:00

COTTON SUPPLY ASSOCIATION,

' At the usuel weekly meeting of the executive committee,
held on Tuesday, a letter was read, enclosing a sample cl
cotton grown in the Kennedy district of North Queensland
from Egyptian seed supplied by the association, which was
plaLted in October, and gathered in February. The writer
appears to have been the first
Person who has tried to intro-
: duce cotton cultivation at Port Denison, and he states that
his experiment has succeeded well. The Victorian Cotton
Company at Moreton Bay has furnished a small quantity of
Sea Island seed for distribution, with a view to test the soil
and climate of different parts of the northern district of the
colony. The sample sent is remarkably good, and valued
at 2s 3d per lb. A letter was received from Queensland,
describing the excessive rains and consequent floods, which
have inflicted considerable damage upon the cotton crop,
and the liability to which at
a critical stage of the growth
will, it is feared, prove a serious hindrance to the cultiva-
tion et cotton in Queensland. The writer forwards a small
sample grown under peculiar circumstances from some seeds
which had fallen with rubbish upon rough ground, the plants
from which were afterwards transferred to the garden. He
has now some acres planted with cotton about 15 miles from
Brisbane, on South Pine River, and the fact that the plants
are producing the second year seems to indicate that they
are perennial, The sample, though too small for an accurate
estimate. was valued at 2s 10d to 3e per lb. Another sample
of Sea Island cotton from
Queensland was valued at 3s 9d
to 4s per lb. The letter accompanying it states that it has
been been grown by some emigrants on their own farm at the
T Junction Pens,
Ipswich, from seed granted to them by the
association in March, 1863,
and that they entered upon their
land in, the following August. A letter from Buenos Ayres
reports, as the result of actual inspection, that this year's
cotton crop in Paraguay will probably produce 3,000 bales,
and there is every reason to expect
that next year 100,000
bales will be obtained from that country. Another corres-
pondent at Buenos Ayres' referring to the efforts which the
c of Paraguay is making to extend
the growth of cotton, states that the crop this year is ex-
pected to amount to 4,000 arobas. A sample grown in Huy-
mayta, Paraguay, has been forwarded for inspection. Im-
mense progress has been made inthe provinces of Mendoza,
Entre Rios, and Catamarca, as also in Cordova, but parti-
cularly in Catamarca, vehica'proreises to be the best in the
Republic. The Minister of the Interior has addressed a
circular to the governor of each province, calling attention
to the subject of cotton cultivation, and urging that no efforts
should be spared to insure success. The severe drought of
the past season has done some harm, but not so much as
was expected. A letter from Rio Grande, accompanying
various samples, states that the people are beginning to be
fully alive to the importance of
growing cotton, and that a
considerable quantity will be produced next season. A letter
from St. Thomas, West Indies, represents that cotton pro-
mises to be more remunstative than sugar under existing
circumstances, and that many
parties are entering into the
cultivation. There are extensive tracts of land in the fertile
Island of Vieques
(Crab Island), which could be made
available if capitalists could be found to make the necessary
advances. A letter from the Governor of Quilirnane,
Africa, was read, stating that he has made a proposal to
the Portuguese Government which, if accepted as he ex-
pen's, will authorise him to grant land for growing
cotton at tho low f rate of 10 rein (one halfpenny) per
hectare, and to provide agricultural labourers, to
the extent of 0,000 persons, at is per day, The importation
of seed, machinery, tools, and cattle for agricultural pur-
poses will also be free of duty for 10 years, as also the ex-
portation of the cotton produced by the new undertaking.
Letters were received from Natal, stating that various pri-
vate individuals are planting cotton on a small scale, who
will extend their operations should their present experi-
ments prove satisfactory. The great uncertainty of labour
has hitherto been the principal hindrance, and makes it
doubtful whether the cultivation of cotton can be depended