The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-26
EGYPTIAN COTTON
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 CONDUCTING EXPERIMENT.
Sixteen Million Dollars Worth Imported from Egypt Last Year--Govern- ment officials Endeavoring
 to Produce Egyptian
 Variety Here.

washington Special.
 Egyptian cotton in the Southwest ern United States" is the title of an interesting report that has just been made to the Department of Agricul- ture by Thomas H. Kearney physiolo- gist in charge of alkali and drought resisting plant investigations, and Will liam A. Peterson, farm superintendent Western agricultural extension inves- tigations.
 Although this report deals almost al- together with conditions in the west. ern part of the United States, the possibility of successfully growing Egyptian cotton is of great interest wherever the staple is produced. and while the United States Is by far the greatest cotton producing country in the world, large quantity of this sta pie is every year imported from Egypt. During the past ten years the direct imports from Egypt have averaged nearly s4, 100000 pounds. besides an aIl- nuai importation from Great Britain of 8. 500, 900 pounds, the great bulk of which was undoubtedly produced In Egypt. In 1907 the value of the di- rect imports from Egypt exdeeded all records amounting to over $i6.O00,000. The average price of this cotton on the Boston market in 1907 was 21.s cents per pound.
 Tn view of the considerable value of this import the Department of Agri- culture is endeavoring to develop Egyp- tian cotton culture in the United States in order to supply our own market with a home grown product. On many oc. casions Egyptian cotton seed have been received in the United States and these have been tested throughout the main cotton belt, from South Carolina to Texas.
 Tn the humid part of the United States. where cotton Is already the principal crop. the Egyptian types have given only indifferent results, although the quality of the fibre produced has tn many cases been excellent. Success ia mainly to be looked for where the very long, hot and almost rainless sum n1ers, deep alluvial soils, and irrigated agriculture approximate the conditions obtaiEng in Europe
 The two principal difficulties after that just mentioned that remain to be overcome are labor and marketing.
 The introduction of the cotton boil weeviI would be ruinous to the indus try at the very outset. Immunity from this destructive insect can be insured only by a rigorous inspection or all cotton seed introduced from the weevil- infested district, which now includes nracticallv tha whole of Texas. as we'll as parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Ar kansas and Oklahoma. The safest plan would be to admit no seed from other tton-growing districts that had not been thoroughly fumigated. Those who contemplate experimenting with Egyptian variety of cotton should avoid the use of directly imported seed which is likely to give disappointing results during the first two or three years 1t is grown in the United States and hence to prejudice the grower against this type of cotton.
 The variety of Egyptian cotton that is most used by American manufacturs CTS is Nit Afih. which constitutes at least three-fourth of the imports. There are four principal reasons for the ex- tensive use of this cotton in the United States: (1) They are best adapted to mercerizing and other processes that give a high finish to the cloth and cause 1t to resemble silk; (2) their exception al cIearness (freedom from nep) and lustre, as we'll as their capacity for taking dull dyes. fit them for mixing with silk and for filling sateen, India linens and similar goods having a brilliant surface. (3) the brown color of Nit Afif fibre allows 1t to be used without dyeing Tn manufacturing goods such as balbriggan underwear and lace curtains, in which the ecru shade Is desired; (4) they can be used fore the manufacture of sewing thread and oth- CT articles which need to be very strong and for which no other type or cotton but sea island is suitable. Owing to the higher price of the latter. Egyp- tian cottons can in many cases be ad- vantageously substituted. Tn addition to this other goods made either wholly
 or partly from Egyptian cotton are | lawns, satteens. serges and fabrics for covering umbrellas as well as other highly finished cotton cloths. The only part of the United States | where conditions favorable for the sue
 cessful culture of this cotton exist at
 this time, the summers being long and hot with little rain, is the extreme | Southwest, from Western Texas to | Southern California
 Preliminary investigations were made
 a few years ago by Messrs. Weber and
 Kearney. of the Department of Agri- | culture, at San Antonio and Barstow,
 Houston. Brownsville, Waco and Dem | ison, Texas. and at Hartsvile, s. C., but for the reasons already stated the
 production of the Egyptian variety in | these localities has not proven altogeth- CT satisfactory.
 1 There is tremendous profit in rais- | ing this staple if the obstacles that
 have been mentioned could be over- ! come