The Donaldsonville chief., 1911-06-24
HINDl COTTON A BIG BURDEN
Undesirable Type of stapIs, With
Short, Weak Fiber, That Injuries
Hiah-Grade Egyptian.

That the requirements Of the cot
ton-goods industry necessitates the Inn
portation Of approximately 60,0O0,Oo0
pounds Of Egyptian cotton, costing
S16,000,o00, Is probably unknown to
the majority Of readers, who read of
the enormous crops Of cotton pro-
duced in our southern states and learn
that during the last seven months all
records have been broken and prac-
tically &S600,O0C,0O0 worth of that sta
pie has been exported.
But it was the considerable value
of this import that induced the Unit
ed States department Of agriculture
several years ago to endeavor to de-
velop Egyptian cotton culture in the
United States in order to supply our
own market with a home-gro prod
uct.
Although experimen ents were made
at different points from South Caro-
lima to Texas, as well as in western
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and
southern California, 1t was only in the
Colorado river region that climatic
and other conditions similar to those
In the Nile valley and suited to the
long staple Egyptian cotton were
found. There 100000 acres Of excel
lent land are. or soon will be, under
ditch in the Imperial, Yuma, Salt and
Gila valleys, and one.fifth this acreage
could produce the amount Of Egyptian
cotton annually imported for the use
o9 New England mills
For several years studies and ex-
periments with the various Egyptian
varieties have been undertaken in
southern Arizona, southeastern Cali
fornia and Egypt and several abulle-
tins have been issued giving detailed
reports Of the progress made and sue
cess achieved.
Just now the department has issued
another pamphlet (Bulletin 21O, Bu-
reau of Plant Industry, reporting the
results of a visit to the cotton-growing
districts Of Egypt in June and July,
1910, Of the Economist of the depart
ment, in which is shown that the
mixture Of Hindi cotton is proving
to be serious burden upon the Egyp-
tian cotton industry. Hindi Is the
name applied in Egypt to an undesir-
able type of cotton with short, weak
fiber, that Injuries the high grade
Egyptian varieties by infesting them
with hybrids. The Introduction of the
Egyptian cotton into the United
States brings also the problem Of the
Hindi cotton, and the practicability of
establishing a commercial culture of
the Egyptian cotton in the United
States depends largely upon the elinni-
nation of Hindi contamination and
other forms Of diversity, SO that the
fiber may be produced in a satisfac-
tory condition of uniformity
Breeding experiments have shown
that it is possible to secure a much
higher degree of uniformity in Ari-
zona than now exists in most of the
cotton fields Of Egypt. If reasonable
care be used in maintaining the uni
fornaity Of these types, 1t does nos
seem that the American-grown Egyp-
tian cotton is likely to suffer any COM
mercial disadvantage on the ground Of
lack of uniformity, even though the
Egyptian habit Of handspring Is not
followed.
The exclusion of the Hindi cotton
by an efficient system Of selection will
enable white varieties to be grown
producing longer and stronger fiber
than the brown varieties are likely to
afford, and will further the develop
ment and preservation Of uniform
strains of Egyptian cotton In the Unit
Cd States