8
selection of these reports was published as a Parliamentary Paper in 1908 (British Cotton Cultivation, by Professor Dunstan, Director of the Imperial Institute; [Cd. 3,997]). In addition to the samples of raw cotton, many samples of cotton yarn and cloth and a large number of botanical and entomological specimens have been received and reported
on.
The various samples of cotton have been included in a reference collection of cottons which is on permanent exhibition in the Public Galleries of the Imperial Institute. A large amount of information has been furnished to planters and others, in addition to Government Depart- ments, with respect to the cultivation of cotton, the identification and treatment of insect and fungoid pests, the suitability of different regions for cotton-growing, the prospects of the industry in various parts of the Empire, and information concerning trustworthy publications relat- ing to various branches of the subject has also been supplied. In several instances samples of soil have been submitted to chemical analysis with a view to determining their suitability for cotton-growing. Other investigations include those connected with the disinfection of cotton seed to be used for sowing and the manurial requirements of the main types of cotton plant.
The members of the staff engaged include the Mercers' Company Research Fellow, who is specially concerned with the technical quality and applications of cotton and whose salary is defrayed from a special graut made by the Mercers' Company towards researches in textile materials.
A special Cotton Exhibition was held at the Imperial Institute in the summer of 1905 at which a large collec- tion of cottons from all the chief producing countries, together with ginning and other cotton machinery, was shown. A catalogue of this Exhibition was prepared, which included information respecting cotton cultivation within the British Empire. The collection of cottons thus formed is now on permanent exhibition in the Public Galleries of the Imperial Institute, fully described, and is being kept up-to-date. It affords an excellent illustration of the various classes of cotton producible in all parts of the Empire.
Information has been continuously collected in the Scientific and Technical Department with reference to the development of cotton-growing in the British Empire as well as in various foreign countries, and from time to time articles on this subject are published in the "Bulletin of the Imperial Institute." Some forty such articles have appeared since 1905.
Professor Dunstan, the Director of the Institute, bas visited Cyprus, Asia Minor, Egypt, and Ceylon, and has investigated the cotton cultivation in each of these countries. Professor Dunstan's Reports on Cotton Culti- vation in Cyprus [Cd. 2,717], 1905, and in Asia Minor [Cd. 4,324], 1908, have been presented to Parliament.
During the years 1908 and 1909 information respecting cotton and its cultivation has been given at the Imperial Institute, in connection with the African Tropical Services course of instruction, to candidates selected by the Secretary of State for the Colonies for administrative appointinents in East and West Africa. The instruction in this subject has been given by members of the scientific staff of the Institute.
June, 1910.
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Reference :-
C.O.885
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