Average Quantities of Raw Cotton imported Annually into the United Kingdom from the following Countries in the Periods 1896-1900 and 1901-1904.

Country.1896-1900.
Million ℔.		1901-1904.
Million ℔.
United States1436  1424  
Brazil13.8 31.5 
Peru8.5 8.6 
Chile (including the Pacific coast of Patagonia).8 2.2 
Venezuela and Republic of Colombia.5 .5 
British West Indies and British Guiana.3 .6 
Turkey (European and Asiatic).5 1.1 
Egypt295.7 314.4 
British possessions in the East Indies40.7 61.9 
Australasia.035.041
All other countries2.3 3.8 
Total   1800  1849  
Re-exported   223  260  

The annual average shipments from Bombay to the European continent and to Great Britain in 1900-1904 were as follows:—

To the continent600 bales of 3½ cwt.
To Great Britain50 bales of 3½ cwt.

At the end of the 18th century the bulk of British cotton was obtained from the West Indies. Approximately the supplies were as follows in million ℔:—

British West Indies6.6
French and Spanish settlements6 
Dutch settlements1.7
Portuguese  ”2.5
East Indies  ”.1
Smyrna or Turkey5.7

The British Cotton Growing Association works under the sanction of a royal charter and has met with valuable official support. Financial assistance and assurances as to sales and prices have been given liberally by the association where they are needed; ginning and buying centres have been established; experts have been engaged to distribute seed and afford instruction; and some land has been acquired for working under the direct management of the association. The governments of some colonies have aided the efforts of the association. Professor Wyndham Dunstan of the Imperial Institute, on a reference from the government, made favourable reports as to the possibilities of extending cotton cultivation. The results may be seen in the approximate estimates below of cotton grown more or less directly under the auspices of the association.

Bales of 400 ℔.

1903.1904.1905.1906.
Gambia50100300· ·
Sierra Leone50100200250
Gold Coast50150200250
Lagos5002,0003,2006,300
Nigeria1002006501,200
————————
West Africa7502,5504,5508,000
West Indies1,0002,0004,0006,000
East Africa1508502,0003,500
Sind· ·· ·5002,000
Sundries· ·100250500
Total1,9005,50011,30020,000
Approximate value£29,000£75,000£150,000£270,000

In the West Indies results are most favourable, both as regards quantity and quality of the crops. West Indian grown cotton has realized even higher prices than American grown Sea Island. In West Africa also prospects appear encouraging. In Sierra Leone little success has been met with, but on the Gold Coast some cotton better than middling American has been grown, and the association has concluded an agreement with the government for an extension of its work. In Lagos crops increased rapidly. The cotton is almost entirely grown by natives in small patches round their villages, and generally it has sold for about the same price as middling American, though some of it realized as much as 25 to 30 “points on.” The quality in greatest demand in England, it should be observed, is worth about ¼d. to ½d. per ℔. above middling American. In Southern Nigeria the association has met with only slight success; in Northern Nigeria, a working arrangement was entered into with the Niger Company, and a small ginning establishment was set to work in February 1906. In British Central Africa, the results on the whole have not been satisfactory. Though planters who confined their efforts to the lower lying grounds—of which there is a fairly large tract—succeeded, all the cotton planted on the highlands proved more or less a failure. In Uganda the association took no steps, but activity in cotton-growing is not unknown, and some good cotton is being produced. Arrangements were concluded with the British South Africa Company for the formation of a small syndicate for working in Rhodesia.