=American and other Exotic Cottons at Labolabo.=—A large number of different kinds of American cottons have been tried at Labolabo, but most of them have proved unsuccessful. Those which yielded a good crop for the first year have generally been found to produce seed, which, owing to the greater susceptibility of the plants to the attacks of insects, refused to germinate in the following year. Some of the lint produced was, apparently, of excellent quality and sold well, but the necessity for the renewal of seed each year formed a serious obstacle to the establishment of a new variety. The plants from American seed are not so hardy as those from native seed, and the necessity for greater care in cultivation renders them unsuitable for use by the natives. Sea Island and various Egyptian cottons have not proved successful. See _British Cotton Cultivation_, by Professor Dunstan (“Colonial Reports,” Miscellaneous, Cd. 3997, 1908, pp. 28-30), and the _Bulletins of the Imperial Institute_, vols. vii., x., xi., xiii., xiv. (1909-16). =Attempts at Hybridisation.=—In the early days of the plantation the Agricultural Department made several experiments with a view to the establishment of a cross between the native and the American plants, but the subsequent changes in the management of the plantation resulted in the disappearance of most of these; subsequently several others were attempted in 1906 and 1907 by Mr. Fisher. In all cases plants of the “Green seed” or the “Volta” native forms were made use of as female parents, and the descendant plants partook of the characters of the native forms in every way for the first generation, but in later generations seem to have produced a number of various types, from which it is now necessary to make a careful selection. The quantity of lint yielded by the first generation of plants, from the experiments made by Mr. Fisher in 1906, is said to have reached a higher figure, per acre, than that of any other form grown on the plantation, and the quality was satisfactory; but that of the second generation appeared to be unequal in type, and could scarcely be compared for quantity owing to the unfavourable season. The American plants used for pollination in the 1906 crosses were those which have given the best results among the exotic forms planted, and are called “Black Rattler” and “Richmond.” Of the four crosses attempted in that year, that of “Black Rattler” × “Volta” was said to have proved the most successful in point of yield. Small plots of native and American cottons have been planted at Kumassi, and experimental plants at Aburi, but the conditions have not been so favourable at these places as at Labolabo. At Obuassi, in Ashanti, an attempt was also made, but the soil seemed too stiff and the plants were not healthy. Land suitable for native cotton farms seems to be that on the west bank of the Volta river, north of the Labolabo plantation.