Before passing to other matters in connection with the condition of the cotton plant in the country, and the appliances in use for the preparation of the lint for export, it seems advisable to emphasise the main points which require attention in the field. 1. Improvement of the indigenous forms, by the careful selection of seed at the ginneries, for distribution, and the subsequent elimination of undesirable types of plant in the field. 2. Demonstration to the native farmer of a useful method of combination of cotton with the existing field crops, and especially the advantage of introducing leguminous crops into the rotation with cotton. 3. Special efforts to be made in those countries outside the oil palm districts, where the natives have little else capable of being produced for barter for imported material. Alter a series of experimental trials it was decided in 1915 to encourage the planting of Georgia cotton in the Western Province. In the year mentioned this American variety had yielded 800 lbs. of seed cotton per acre at Ibadan.
A number of insect pests of a more or less serious nature attack the plant at different periods of growth. The American boll-worm (Chloridea obsoleta) does some damage annually in the Central Province (Ugboha, Agbede and Ishan); Earias insulana, F., the Egyptian boll-worm; E. imbricata, an allied species, and Diparopsis castanea Hamp., the Sudan boll-worm, are common at Ibadan. The immature boll is often punctured by a scarlet and brown bug, identified as Dysdercus superstitiosus, Fabr., which enters the opened bolls also, and exudes a yellowish liquid, which stains the lint. The opened boll is also infested with three species of cotton-seed bugs—Oxycarenus hyalinipennis, O. gossipinus, and O. Dudgeoni—which do a large amount of damage in sapping the juices from the seed and rendering it unproductive. The most satisfactory method of dispersing this insect is to place the seed-cotton in a hot sun for several hours. Both Oxycarenus and Dysdercus may be trapped by placing piles of seed in the field at intervals, and treating them with kerosene when the insects have collected on them. A small caterpillar belonging to the family Gelechiadæ[4] is often found in the boll feeding on the seed, and a leaf-blistering blight, probably Chlorita flavescens, appears to be common in several places. A malady, chiefly on stems of exotic cottons, and known as “black-arm” in Georgia, U.S.A., is seen occasionally. The affection is not attributed to any animal or vegetable parasite.
The ginneries erected by the British Cotton Growing Association are probably some of the best equipped in the world. The Marlborough Ginnery at Ibadan ([Fig. 23]) has at present the largest output, although the Jones Ginnery at Oshogbo is larger, and is expected to receive a greater quantity of cotton for treatment in the future. The third, which is working in the Western Province, is the Churchill Ginnery at Lafenwa, near Abeokuta. Smaller ginneries have been erected at Eruwa Road, Iwo, Oyo, and Agege in the Western Province, but are at present unused. In the Central Province the Illushi Ginnery on the Niger is capable of treating all the cotton of the adjoining districts. A photograph of cotton bales at Ibadan is reproduced ([Fig. 23]).
At Ibadan an oil mill has been erected in connection with the Marlborough Ginnery, and the expression of oil from the seed is regularly carried on. The seed cake which is turned out is found to be of rather inferior quality for European consumption, as the excess of woolly seed renders it undesirable for cattle food. A very economical local use for this cake has recently been discovered—namely the employment of it to generate gas to drive the machinery of the ginnery. It has been found that 6 cwt. of cotton-seed cake is sufficient to generate gas to drive the 30 h.p. oil-mill engine for nine and a half hours. This discovery suggests the possibility of doing without coal entirely at the ginneries, which would mean a very large saving in the cost of production of cotton.
The cotton ginned by the British Cotton Growing Association is baled for the most part in rectangular oblong form, each bale weighing approximately 400 lbs. The production of the country has shown a rapid increase, especially in the earlier years, though more recently one of the seasons proved a short one owing to adverse climatic conditions.
| Weight cwts. | Weight cwts. | Weight cwts. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902 | 110 | 1908 | 20,485 | 1914 | no figure given |
| 1903 | 2,588 | 1909 | 44,937 | 1915 | 24,081 |
| 1904 | 10,255 | 1910 | 22,128 | 1916 | 66,555 |
| 1905 | 12,275 | 1911 | 19,984 | 1917 | 47,137 |
| 1906 | 24,071 | 1912 | 39,043 | 1918 | 13,214 |
| 1907 | 36,513 | 1913 | 56,796 | 1919 | 60,221 |
The exports of cotton-seed in 1912 and 1913 reached 4,058 tons and 5,887 tons respectively. (“Cotton Varieties,” cf. Bull. Imp. Inst., vol. xv. [1917]). Much is expected from this new development.
MAIZE.—In the last few years the cultivation of a short-season “white” maize has been taken up, especially among the Yorubas, in the Western Province, although the variety is also found in the fields farther to the east. (See Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. vii. [1909], pp. 145-8.)
| Tons | Value £ | Tons | Value £ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907 | 9,891 | 28,520 | 1913 | 11,841 | 40,349 |
| 1908 | 15,529 | 51,695 | 1914 | — | 5,803 |
| 1909 | 10,917 | 34,335 | 1915 | 272 | 941 |
| 1910 | 5,096 | 16,689 | 1916 | 981 | 5,064 |
| 1911 | 867 | 3,128 | 1917 | 876 | 4,367 |
| 1912 | 7,899 | 28,713 | 1918 | 405 | 3,696 |
A difficulty has arisen in connection with the preparation of the crop for shipment; it having been found that very large quantities arrive in Europe in a weevilly condition. Various methods have been suggested to remedy this, including disinfection with carbon bisulphide, but the use of this last is dangerous.