COTTON-GROWING IN AUSTRALIA.

Shannon News, 22 August 1922, Page 4

COTTON-GROWING IN AUSTRALIA.

FROM COTTON TREE TO COTTON

THREAD. (By C. H. Leeming in Sunday News.) Awakening one morning this autumn I looked out over the verandah of a little tiouse in the Dawson Valley oi' Queensland. The tropical sun was not yet up, and the pale blue-of the sky looked cool and inviting. Stretched away on all -sides to the distant belt of dark trees was a vast valley of snow-like plants. After many months of anxious waiting and watching, the cotton harvest was at hand, and the most tedious and difficult part of the cotton planters' work—the picking of the snowy harvest from the bursting bolls—was about to commence. While tJhe pods had been ripening the planter's family had not been idle. Necessary and important operations had been going on, chief of which had been the preparation of sacks and baskets of various sizes, suitable for tall■ and short, old and young, in, which to gather the harvest. < The sun was just appearing over the tree tops as we wended our way through the long straight rows of snowy plants to' a distant part of the field. Our clothes were soaked with the early morning dews; but they were soon dried by the heat of the sun. It is a general rule that cotton musi not be picked until the sun is shining upon it. This long hours oi bending in the hot sun, with a burden round the neck and arms that ln : creases as the day progresses. I The work, however, is not heavy, and with the encouragement of cheer fulness in the field and a supply or drinking w-ater at the baskets, it can be carried on by both boys and girls. It is not, however, an easy opera tion for a beginner, and, for the firs, few days, is likely to be very tedious It may seem a very simple matte 1 to gather a material which grows in such profusion as to completely whiten :he. paddock; but let onyone take a bag on his shoulders and start in bej tween the rows. Upon taking hold of the first boll he will quickly; discover that the fibres are attached to the interior of the pod, and a quick snatch will not gather the entire'lock, but only leave a considerable amount sticking to the pod. . An experienced picker will gather the cotton with a swift, sure, single movement that only comes with practice. At the close of the day's work, however, our party of six, comprising three boys, one. girl, and two men, had gathered one thousand pounds of seed cotton. This was excellent work, considering that none oi !he party, bad had any previous experience oi cotton picking. Adeptness is soon acquired, and it is no uncommon sight to observe on many farms pickers gathering seed cotton with both hands at once, this method of picking naturally expediting the harvesting of the crop. On an adjoining farm a record for cotton picking was claimed by one man, who had picked 2231 b in one day, and later, in the presence of witnesses, picked 731 b in two hours. It is not unusuaf for a man to earn 22/ per day. A ton of cotton was picked by one man in twenty days. His average was 1601 b a day, while his best day's work was 1681 b. A farmer single banded, gatbered six tons of seed cotton from his crop, and was able, at the same time, to attend to his other duties. Sufficient illustration of the importance of the industry as a potential factor in the future prosperity of the district is forthcoming in the case of one industrious farmer who, unaided, cultivated 67 acres of cotton, which, when the harvest was delivered at the ginnery at Rockhampton, would be worth £BOO to £IOOO in values From cotton tree to cotton thread is a far cry; but the chain that connects the two is forged with links of gold From-cotton field to ginnery, and from ginnery to factory loom there lies employment for a multitude of hands. A walk through the shopping centre of Sydney alone.- should convince the prospective cotton grower that there need be no fear of a declining market for many years to eome.

In every draper's window he will see that cotton has successfully ousted other raw materials utilised in the manufacture of table and bed "linen," shirts, handkerchiefs, collars, "silk" threads, and fabrics of all kinds.

Cotton is no . longer synonymous with cheap and inferior goods. Spoken of once with contempt, fabrics now produced from cotton have been admitted to the aristocracy of the clothing and the domestic utility world. To-day nainsooks, madapolams, cotton nets, laces, curtains, and many other coloured fabrics rank as fine in finish and beauty as articles of this description made from other materials. And these articles can now }■•<•■ tui.'H'.i out at a price within the ji-ach o! the general public, making the demand for'cotton goods almost inexhaustible.

There are many new uses to which cotton is now put, such as webbing for

motor, car tyres, typewriter ribbons, and an almost endless variety of articles.

The world's demand for cotton grows with leaps and bounds, and is almost unlimited. Of the total population of the earth, one half are but partially clothed,' white 250,000,000 wear no clothes at all. Of the raw material used in the manufacture of the world's clothes, nine-tenths is of cotton.

The main factor in the future of the cotton trade lies with the .grower. At present the two main cotton growing countries in the world—the U.S.A. and Egypt—are rapidly declining in output. A golden harvest awaits the gatherers i)f the snowy harvests ■ of Queensland and the Northern Rivers.