The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-03-03
"A Virginian Page for Each Member OF the Family :
SEA ISLAND COTTON

I instance, ST. Vincent, In the Wind
ward group, four degrees south Of
| St kits. Is said to produce the finest
cotton In the West Indies. q grade!
I that sells from twelve to eightecnl
cents more than the ST. Kits pro-
duct In st. kits there Ii an area
about three miles square which pro-
duces as high "a $50 pounds Of Init
per acre. This liz an especially IA
vored spot on the south side of the
1 island, protected from the northeast
gales. A yield Of $50 pounds L. OBJ
tanned IN other spots on this island,
where 1t will grow probably at all.
Nevis. ten miles from St. kits, sets
but paitry hundred pounds per
acre. while MQnfserrat, forty miles,
away. gets xs0 pounds Apparently
only continued PLANTING determines
! who IL the drawer Of a lucky Local
ton In the cotton land lottery. In
st. kits the area OF maximum pro-
duction Is defined almost as sharply
as II by fence.
| The boil weevil has not reached the
islands where cotton In doing so well.
but the planters are doing a vast
amount of spraying to head of such
pests. They have horrible example
In Antigua. where. during the past
two years. the cotton bud maggot in
1ured the crop so badly that the en-
terprtse was nearly abandoned. How
ever. the landlords took heart once
more and now have 800 acres in cot
ton. This reported 10 be- doing
well. because the weather was hot
and dry in the last budding season.
condition the maggot cannot abide.
To further the war on pests. the I'm
perial Department Of Agriculture I'M
dertakes to buy and disinfect any
new seed brought into an island. and
to watch 1t afterward to see whether
the disinfectant was effective.
Tobacco and sugar were formerly
the great staples OF the Caribbean.
but tobacco growing died a natural
death and sugar was scarcely paying
when cotton doomed on the horizon.
With 1t came q providential diseev-
cry. This was that cotton is plant
ed in May and June and picked in
Noyember--the month for planting
sugar cane. Hence. no time need
be lost between seasons. The discoy-
cry again made cane a valuable as
set where cotton was raised. 1t was
a case of killing two birds with one
stone, most of the preliminary work
for the cane being incidental to the
cotton cultivation. This double till
ing is continued two years. then the
ground is planted in pigeon peas,
which are later ploughed under as
noarishment for the soil. The other
fertilizers are OF the chemical kind
and are imported from the United
States.
Ginning facilities have been pro-
vided In st. Kits and other big pro-
ducing islands, and twenty-seven dol
lars per ton Is paid for seed. The
| cotton seed oil is shipped to Barba-
dos for refining. The st. Kits bale
weighs 622 pounds. and the freight
on II to Liverpool Is about $4.37 per
bale.
The government has fostered the
enterprise in other islands by adj
vancing money to the planters. The
manner of collecting these loans was
to levy an export tax of 1 cent per
pound. But the government is now
anxious to get out, feeling that the
industry Is well enough established
to support itself. One objection to
the export duty was that 1t was a nat
rate, being the same for inferior cot
ton selling at 10 cents per pound as
on that selling at So cents.
To take the place or the govern
ment as a sort OF wet nurse to cot
ton growing, the British Cotton
EGrowingc Association has been Ancor-
porated by royal charter. 1t Is lend
ing money where assistance Is need
!, ed. Among other things. 1t under
} takes to act az q commission ana
clearing house for the crop, provides
! cheap insurance. furnishes cheap
, transportation from the islands to
Liverpool or Southampton, has agents
a who encourage the tenants and pub
= fishes timely and valuable bulletins.
II In addition to those issued by the
, government. Among the associations
i. members in council are about fifty
q of Englands biggest men in the cot
vi ton business, including spinners,
dyers. printers, weavers. representa-
: tives of labor organizations and
Il members OF the nobility. The asso-
a citation also has a West African
= branch.
q TOMORROW:
n Curing the Insane.