, 1913-08-27
OF COUNTRY FOR EGYPTIAN

COTTON.
There are several factors that are not gen
orally considered by cotton planters III couh-
tries other than Egypt, who attempt TO gro"
Eovptian cotton. The first is, that Egyp-
tian cotton NAV almost be regarded as IN
exotic, seeing that Egypt Is quite an excep-
tionai country for growing IT to per1ectloh'
it being a land where neither dfoughC nof
food nor frost occurs. A second consloeta-
ton is, that the soil is perhaps one OF inc
richest alIuvial deposits in the world-rlch'
brown mud brought down from the Aooys-
siniau mountains by the Nile, and with
which the land IS repIenished every year
Thirdly, by the wonderful system of lrrl-
cation adopted. the amount of water re-
quired by the cotton plants eau be gAuged
to a nicely, and it is of primary Importance
that the voung plants should not have too
much at first. and that there should be plen-
ty during the boiling season though even
then it must be carefully regulated, or over
Watering will lead to shedding OF the bolls.
Fourth.y, Egypt has practically no r"ln1all
in the cotton-groWing regions, anu ram
falling when the cotton Is ready Tor picking,
is very detrimental, dashlng 1t to the ground
and rotring it. Aud, lastly, the demand Tor
Egyptian cotton is Il limited one, rs 1t IS Too
tine for ordinary commercial purposes ana
is generally used mixed with American COT
tor. rue limited demand Is eSpeclally
noticeable in the case OF AeW varieties Sueh
as Snkellarldes or Nubari, the utter OF whlch
is said to be of particular value tor the eau
vas lining of mntuG-car tyres. 1Sypt hel-
self can over-supply the demand III these
special varieties, aud it is therefore suggest
ed that any planter Wishing to grow E9Ep-
tan cotton should avoid these aud keep TO
~, .;,rin al onI uo0l-on VounH Nit Ann.
PRICE OF COTTON AND RENT OF LAND.
Although the price Obtained for Egyptian
cotton is so high, Re. Us. ADJ per 10
being paid for frst-cluss Nit Attn on the
spot, and for the other varieties, Is. o" ana
Is. 6d. pei fb as against 6d-1d tor Amer-
can, it is not the fellah or cultlvator VINO
profits, for the purchase price and rentals
of land are very high. For first class lana
1000 rupees is u moderate p1ce, ana as
much as 225 rupees the rental for one yenr'
Practically there are no private european
PLANTERS. but there are u few big European
land companies, engaged for the most part
in retaining either the salt, waste land
along the seacoust OF the Delta, or where
the sauds have encroached on The 6eed soil
On good lands, cotton is generally alter
mated with either maize, wheat, barley or
beans. The fellah does not generally ma
nure his cotton save Will a Hln0 i"'4
refuse from his village and cattle sheds, with
the mud thrown up in cleaning the canals
or by p~loughing in his clover after the ffSt
or secoud cutting. With careful cultlvahon'
however, aud provided his crop has been
free Of insect pest, he can count on Obtain
ing ], 260 10. of seed-cotton pei acre. buF
where artificial munures a.e applied, as much
as nearly double that q nntlty has been OBJ
tanned.
METHOD OF CULTIVATION.
After the land has been thoroughly
ploughed and rid9ed, the seed is planted IN
MAY by hand two-thirds up the ridge eight
or ten seeds to a hole, aud the distance apart
according to the soil, the average beng u
bv Ii feet. About a month after sowing,
the young plants should be thlnned out,
eliminating all snail and sickly ones and Il
species of poor cotton called 'Hindr or IN
dian cotton, which is invariably mixed IN
with the good, leaving only two strong plants
in each hole. The plants then receive their
second watering, the first having taken place
directly after sowing the seed--thus a month
elapses between the primary waferIn2s.
Thereafter the periods decrease IN time