COTTON CULTIVATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12774, 26 January 1905, Page 6

COTTON CULTIVATION.

i : <»' , — • ■..:'. SUGGESTED TRIAL IN NORTH AUCKLAND. AN EXPERTS OPINIONS. With >.-egard to the statements of Mr. E. T. Wrighby of Ashburtou, concerning the possibilities of cotton-growing in Northern Auckland, as published in last Monday's Herald, a representative of this paper yesterday obtained the views of Mr. H. And lews upon the subject. Mr. Andrews, who has been iu this colony for the past three years, had had previously 15 years' experience in the cotton States of America, and is consequently well versed in the cot-ton-growing industry. i Asked to state his opinion on the possibilities for .the cultivation of / cotton here, 'he said :—\ "With a few exceptions I should judge that the soil here was too poor for cotton, although where climatic conditions are favourable I have known cotton to .be grown with success even on comparatively poor lands. Take the climate of Texas for instance. In the northern parts, for 100 miles around Dallas, there is summer from an Auckland standpoint for -eight months,. while for 100 miles around Waco, in the southern part, there is summer weather for nine months, with a temperature ranging from 70 to 90 degrees, and with warm nights. The soil in a great part of Texas consists of a rich, black, waxy loam, totally unworkable hi wet weather, and yet a* great producer on account of the comparatively dry climate. I know of no more laborious a crop to cultivate than cotton. It is considered necessary, for the first three months, for hands to be in the field at six in the morning, and to continue there until seven in the evening, meal times excepted, and it is a common saying in the Southern States that it takes 13 months, to grow cotton and get it to market. One must remember that there are always two pickings, and often three. The cotton plant soon gets discouraged by the presence of weeds, and will give up growing entirely, therefore it is absolutely necessary to keep the crop clear of them. About one-half of the cultivation of cotton depends upon the man with the hoe. The cotton plant will not stand any frost, and much rain is a 'great detriment. In the first place the man with the hoe cannot gel. around in web weather, and the soil gets too wet to work, and during this time, if the weeds do not choke it, the plant is running too much to wood. "In Auckland the warm season is too shcrt, the nights too cold, and the rainy season too extended—that is, if the past three years of my experience may ,be taken as a fair example. I do not know that any particular kind of soil is absolutely necessaiy for the cultivation -M: cotton. •In Georgia much of the soil is a red clay mixed with loam; in Mississippi all kinds, from the delta of the river of rich overflowed deposits, to the uplands of sandv loam. The richest and most productive cotton lands of the South are the reclaimed lands. The production of cotton in Bolivar is enormous, and it is quite common to obtain from 8001b to ICOOIb of lint cotton from each acre, while the uplands would not produce more than 300ib''per acre. Texas is not the richest cotton State, but, baing about four times as largo as any other, it is the largest producer. Acreage considered, I think that Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana are by far the greater producers, for one must take into, consideration the richness of the soil of the Mississippi cotton lauds* all good for cotton, which extend from 'Southern Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico. The richer the soil and the better the season, naturally the larger the crop, but above all the. longer the staple, which is all-important. Notwithstanding what I have said, T would like to see the experiment of cotton cultivation duly tried here, and would suggest the employment of an perieuoed cotton cultivator from Mississippi, with half-a-dozen Toeal farm hands to assist him, the work to be carried on in Mississippi style.'.'