Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-07-09
SOUTH in NO DANGER
OF IMMEDIATE COMPETITION FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN
PRODUCTION OF COTTON. ELABORATE RE.
PORTS GOVERNMENT BUREAU or COMMERCE.
nus in the tropics Of Mexico ="
Free From Boil Weevil


eh the tree and another from Santiago
carter are enclosed by the ccasul gen.
efai. Both are very favorable 10 the
tree and both claim that it is not af-
fected by the boil weeyil or anv other
insect pest Mr. Carter SAYS that he
believes the tree. planted fifteen fee,
apart, would produce a bale or more
to the acre cn good soil In concluding
his report Don Cuevas says: ''In view
OF the fact that the staple cf the cot
ton tree is equal to the staple of the
ordinary cotton and the expense of
planting. cultivation and care of the
tree is SO much less than in the case
Ct the ordinary plant. while UP to date
no enemies have appeared, and as the
worlds supply of cotton is not equal
to the demand, it would appear that
the cotton tree should command the
attention of the haciendas of the re
public
The consul general transmitted sew
eral samples of cotton grown on the
tree and these were tested by II. J.
Webber in charge of the plant breed
ing labratory of the department Cf
agriculture. Mr.. Webber's report is
given in the publication just issued
by the department of commerce and
labor as follows:
sample No. staple IA inches
in length; somewhat variable but
manufacture not to be very great; a
fairly good. fine staple. which seems
to possess good spinning qualities:
would probably command from to 3
cents per pound more than American
upland cotton.
sample No. 2-Staple l to IA
inches in length; strong, rather silky,
with good spinning qualities. though
tco variable in length. as we'll as
scanty on seed: would probably sell
fer about / cent pound more than
American short staple cotton.
sample No 3-Staple I to | Is
inches long: very scanty on seed; of
fair quality and would probably spin
we'll: would rank with ordinary Amer
ican short staple cotton.
Sample No. 4-Staple "a to l IA
inches long: too variable in this sam
pie; would give a large percentage of
waste: fairly fine and strong and
would probably spin we'll; value
about the same as that of medium
grades of ordinary short staple Amer
ican cotton.
Sample No. 5-Staple l to l IA
inches long: considerable short fiber.
which would give some loss in spin
ming; fairly fine and strong: would
compare favCrably with ordinary
short staple upland and sell at about
the same price.
Sample No. 6-Staple Is to l IA
inches in length: fairly strong and
rather coarse; would probably spin
we'll; estimated value. about l cent
per pound above ordinary American
short staple; this is similar to the
Peruvian cottons imported to some
extent and used in mixtures with
wool.
All of these samples shcw the lint
very scanty on the seed and also a
considerable quantity of short fiber.
which would reduce the value of the
cottons to scme extent; in all but No.
the fiber is fine and silky and slight
ly longer than ordinary American up
land.
Trees Are Perennial.
''In Judging the probable utility OF
these tree cottons for cultivation in
the United States, it must be remem-
bered that they are perennial, requir-
ing several years to reach maturity
and could not be expected to produce
crop in a single season. They
would have tc' be hardy enough to en-
dure the winters in this country. which
are. of course. quite severe through
out most portions of the Gotten belt
All cf the cottons cultivated in the
United States, which really are per
ennials. are grown as ANIMALS. and
are sufficiently short in season so that
they mature a good crop before they
are killed by frost. 1t is not propaeie
however, that any of the Mexican cot
ten trees have been sufficiently re
duced in season to give paying ylelo
in the United States. The department
of agriculture has grown a number
of cotton trees from Mexico in Soutf