Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-11-08
PERUVIAN COTTON.

More Valuable Than Other Grades. the
 Supply Being Constantly Inadequate.
 Herodotus mentioned, with some ap- parent doubt in his own mind, that among the productions of India was a kind of wool which grows on treea This description of cotton seems to ap- ply with peculiar force to a variety which is becoming noted in commerce as the special product of the depart ment of Piura in Peru. It first came into the market as result of the high prices caused by the civil war in Amer ica, when the shipments of Piura cot ton rose from SS6, 900 pounds in 1862 to 4,OS4, ,O00 pounds in 1865. Since then, owing to its sing ular qualities, the de- mand has constantly outdistanced a continual increase in its production, and the indications are that an enor- nous development of this industry will take place in Piura within the next few years, aided by irrigation works and systemat tic colonization. This cotton Is of the ''long staple" variety, the fbers, however, being of an extraordinary length, and in structure and in their crlnEly character possessing so close a resemb blance to wool that a microScopi- cal examination must be supplemented by chemical tests to distinguish one from the other. It is this quality which has made the fame of Piura cotton, since it is an invaluable adulterant for high grade woolen goods. When com bined with wool in the warp 1t gives additional strength without affecting the texture of the cloth in any way. This being its sole use, the price of this cotton hunctuates not with the cotton market, but with the value of wool, and on an average it may be said to com
 mand from four to five cents pound more than the highest grades of other cottons.
 Piura is in the extreme northwestern part of Peru and is drained by the rivers Piura and Chira. The country is semi desert, similar to the entire western \ coast of Peru but the rivers rising ir the Andes carry down an immense vol
 ume of water to the sea. Once in every seven years, with phenomenal regular
 ity, heavy rains visit this region, caus
 ing an inundation of large tracts in the river valleys, and in these years the production of cotton is increased tc double its usual amount. Like southern California, the land is naturally of i'm mense fertility, and only water is needed to render it correspondingly productive Feeble attempts at irrigation have beer made along the valley of the Chira which have served, however, to show what may be done when this matter ii taken up in large way. It has beer demonstrated that within two year: after planting 200 acres will yield a ne annual profit of not less than $4 4,OO( gold. The Peruvian government has had surveys for irrigation works in these valleys made at different times, ant Alfred T. Sears has obtained 8 con cession to carry out these plans SC far as they relate to one section com | prising an area of 1000, ,OO0 acres. This work, based upon the estimates of al American engineer, will involve a max | imum outlay of S1,O0O, 1000. There is al | opportunity, however, for several sep \ arate irrigation undertakings in thes' | valleys, which cannot fail of becoming \ immensely remunerative. It is a goot ! thing which cannot be overdone, fo | the demand is constantly growing fo | this cotton, and it cannot be raised else 1 where than in Piura- Efforts hav
 been made to grow cotton from Piuri
 seed in the other valleys along the yves coast, but the quality of the cotton re
 verts to that of the ordinary varieties l Evidently this great difference in it
 character is due to the peculiarities o \ the soil in Piura
 Prior to 1885 the principal market fo
 this cotton was in Liverpool, but sine
 then the shipments to New York hay
 been increasing until there is a fai
 prospect that this country will consum
 the larger part of the entire crop, an
 this has taken place in spite of a differ
 ence in freight of s11 per ton in favor c
 Liverpool, under normal conditions
 while more recently the rates hay
 been SIP to Liverpool, as against S2S t
 New Yorl1-N. Y. Post.