The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-10-21
Continued From Page One.)


through the cotton belt of the southern
States, in which he had visited all the
principal cotton, growing areas.
The principal thing the chamber
would like to know, he thought, would
be what the cotton outlook is as it
appears on the mainland, as that is the
only way of getting any idea of the
marketing possibilities.
Prospects Are Bright.
1.-THE cotton industry he said,
"now looks better than it ever has
before for any country where pests and
the labor problem are not too severe.
| travelled through the South was buy
ing cotton stock. Everybody down
there who, is not afraid to talk at all
is talking cotton, and they all say that
the outlook for cotton is better than
ever before. -
This is due. the doctor said, partly
to the fact that the United States pro-
duces nearly all the cotton that is.
grown. OF the total worlds crop last
year of 100000 bales, the United
States produced 100000 bales.
Production Decreasing.
The production of cotton in the
United States is falling off year by
year, and has for some years been de-
creasing about half a million bales a
year This will continue for some time
to come. The yield in other cotton
producing countries, such as South
Africa and Cuba, is not increasing as
it was expected it would.
The falling off in the amount of cot
ton produced in the United States is
due largely to the boil weevil, which
is worse now than it has ever been
before. And there appears to be abso-
utely no possibility of checking its
spread. The only thing that had any
appreciate effect on it this year was
the high temperatures experienced in
some parts of the country. For in
stance, it was pretty well killed out in
Texas, but this was because the Their
mometer went as high as ia degrees
and the weevils were literally cooked.
But such temperatures are not to be
expected regularly. In few years the
boil weevil viii be in the sea island
cotton district along the coast of the
Carolinas and Georgia, and will mean a
diminution of the crop in that section.
Cotton Wilt Spreading.
The cotton wilt, so called, is also
getting worse in the sea island cotton
district, and large areas of the plants
are absolutely dead. In one district in
Louisiana, DR.. Wilcox said he saw an
area of 1000 acres killed this year by
cotton wilt.
DIR. Wilcox stated that he had found
that while some growers in the South
Sea district were receiving fancy prices
for their product on account of its ex-
cellence, others were getting much less
because they were not adopting proper
methods. Some growers were getting
as much as seventy cents a pound,
while others, not mile from them,
were selling their cotton for nineteen
cents. Good ideas, said the speaker,
are not taken up very readily. The
growers who are getting the fancy
prices select their seed; the others do
not.
There is nothing that Hawaii can
learn from the standpoint of cultiva-
ton, said DR.. Wilcox, by going into
the South. Cotton needs thorough shall
low cultivation. The speaker advised
that no one should go into cotton I'M
less he has soil that can be SO cult
waited.
Want Hawaiian Seed.
DR.. Wilcox stated that all the growers
who looked over the samples he took
from Hawaii wanted to get some of
our seed. eve want no seed from
outside, - said the speaker. E'We can t
get any better Sea island or Caravonica
cotton than is produced here And,
besides, in getting cotton seed from
outside, there is always the danger
of importing the boil weevil, which
would be the end of the cotton bust
ness in this country. There is also
the danger of getting cotton wilt. My
recommendation is that every man who
wishes to go into cotton get his seed
right here"
Japanese Picking Poor.
DR.. Wilcox described at some length
the method of handling and curing
cotton in the South. 1--WE need, - he
said, ''tO brace up here in picking -
The japanese do not do as good work
as the negroes in the South. The ne
groes are not particularly good work
men, yet they are able to pick sew
enty, ninety or one hundred pounds
a day"
The speaker also gave the advice
that every man growing cotton should
have at least a hand gin, so that he
could select his seed.
Cotton in Hawaii yields great deal
more to the acre than it does in the
nr VI
than double what they do. If they get
one hundred bolls to the plant, they
think they are doing well.
Cotton Markets.
Regarding markets for the product,
DR.. Wilcox stated that the principal
cotton markets are Charleston, Paris.
London, Liverpool and Germany. though
the German field is practically I'M
touched by American shippers Sea Is
land cotton is largely used in Paris