El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-03

W. West Indies? This question
is being asked daily through
out the long stretch of islands extend
ing from the British Virgin group to
British Guiana on the mainland Of
South America Backed by the in
fluence of the British government. all
the resources of science and the wealth
of the English spinners and dealers, the
planters in the islands believe they can
answer the question in the affirmative.
Enormous Shipments.
Sea Island cotton was introduced in
the West Indies as an experiment in
the first years Of the present century.
tention until 1904. Then shipments
totaling 55.625 pounds of high grade
cotton from St Kits and Nevis caused
the American raisers to take notice.
From that date the increase in West
India cotton has been the talk of the
English manufacturers In 1905 the
crop for a few islands was 263, 77S
pounds. a phenomenal advance. and in
1906 the crop was 326.456 pounds. more
than a quarter million pounds over
what is was two years before.
These figures made such an impress
sion upon the minds of the American
planters that they are said to have
reached a decision not to let the West
Indies have any more of their seed
There is the cruX Of the situation and
the English planters are waiting hope
fully to learn whether they can con-
tinue on their present prosperous way.
or whether in the course of time their
transplanted seed will become vitiated
and they will be at the end of their
rope for lack of fresh stock
Department Experiments
Scientific propagation of all obtain
able varieties for producing seed has
been under way in Barbados for several
years. and the planters of St Kits and
other places are now buying their seed
there, paying "A cents per pound But
while the Barbados seed is giving ex-
cellent satisfaction there is the Hnger
ing suspicion that some day that also
will weaken under the strain of in
breeding or over development
The imperial department of agricul-
ture is doing a splendid work It's
speciality is botanical gardens where an
incessant effort is made to acclimatize
the native products of one section of
the empire in another. It is constantly
growing new things in strange places.
and because of the world wide extent
Of its feeders in colonies in every cor
ner of the globe. it has exceptional OPP
portunities for experiments in trans
planting
The botanical garden AT Dominica in
richness and completeness. is said to
stand second only 10 the famous one in
Ceylon.
Special Varieties.
Cotton was eagerly seized upon by
the department and is being treated
along practical lines. Not only do the
government experts watch with minute
care the crops they are growing in the
official garden, but they go into the
plantations
When they see particularly hardy
plant with desirable individual char
acteristics, they mark il. From this
time the plant is watched closely and. if
at the time of picking, il seems better
and more hardy than its fellows it is
set apart and its seed planted over and
over again TO discovered whether il was
merely sport" or useful. perma-
nent variation
BY such methods it is hoped TO de-
velop special varieties for every island.
exactly suited to the conditions under
which they first appeared.
Land Becomes Valuable.
The spread of Sea Island cotton was
largely due to work of P Wade of Lon
don, who began in 1904 with a planta-
ton in Montserrat that was $50, 1000 in
debt Today it is said to be free of all
membranes and to be paying hand
acres in St Kits cleared $4,000, largely
because of cotton.
Estates that 10 years ago could have
been bought for song are now rated
like corner lots in boom town. The
boom eventually will strike its normal
level, but If the cotton does not de-.
teriorate the land will still remain
enormously valuable
There are few plants so thorougsiy
dependent upon the location of the
ground in relation to the ocean
as Sea Island cotton. and. the differ
ences in quality and quantity in areas
sharply bounded are astonishing. For
instance. St. Vincent. in the Windward
group. four degrees south of ST Kits.
Is said to produce the finest cotton in
the West Indies. grade that sells from
IL cents to IS cents more than the ST.
Kits product.
In ST. Kits there is an area about
three miles square which produces as
high as $50 pounds of lint per acre.
This is an especially favored spot on the
south side of the island. protected from
the northeast gales. A yield OF 25O
pounds is obtained in other spots on
this island where it will grow profit
ably al all. Nevis. 10 miles from ST
Kits, gets a paltry hundred pounds