Arizona republican., 1921-05-08
and which

to the American Pima, and which l comprises about 70 per cent of the import from Egypt, is being laid down in New Bedford for 26 cents per pound The duty asked for by American producers to maintain this industry on living basis is but 20 cents per pound. It is evident that unless the relief asked for through a protective tariff is promptly granted, the industry built up through twenty years cooperation with the U. $. De- partment of Agriculture faces de- struction.
 Brief History of American-E Egyptian Cotton
 Pima cotton was originated and de- veloped by the department of agri- culture as a result of plant breeding work carried on in Arizona since 1902. A strikingly superior individual plant, selected in 1910 at the government experimental station at Sacaton on the Pima Indian reservation in south ern Arizona, was the parent of the Pima variety of which 250,0G9 acres were grown in 1920 in Arizona and California It is an interesting CO., incident that the plant which gave rise to the Sakellaridis variety, the l principal competitor of Pima, was discovered in Egypt in the same year, | 1910.
 Pima cotton can be successfully | grown only on the irrigated lands of i southern Arizona and California l where the climatic and soil conditions have proven to be exceptionally fla 1 vorable for the growth of this type, I which is not adapted to conditions in | the eastern cotton belt.
 The Pima cotton has an average
 length of staple of IFS inches, and is
 maintained in high state of uni | formity by careful seed selection, un- l der the supervision of the U. S De-
 parement of Agriculture. It is used
 in the manufacture of fine dress goods, hosiery, and sewing thread; | but principally in automobile tire
 fabric. It is estimated that 80 per
 cent of the Pima crop in recent years
 has been used for this last purpose.
 In all these classes of manufacture
 the American grown Egyptian cotton
 is in direct competition with Sakel-
 laridis cotton imported from Egypt.
 Declining Sea Island Production
 Makes Pima Essential to Ma
 tionai Defense
 During the recent war exhaustive
 government tests showed that the
 Pima cotton was a thoroughly satis-
 factory substitute for Sea Island
 cotton in the manufacture of aero
 plane wings and balloon cloth and
 during the last year of the war large
 quantities of cloth were manufac- tured from Pima cotton and success
 fully used in the air work The first tests of Pima cotton for this purpose were made at the suggestion of the
 department of agriculture, whicf pointed out that with the rapid ad- vance of the boil weevil the Ses Island crop might be suddenly wiped : out. and that a substitute might b, found if possible in an American , grown cotton. Since Arizona an,
 California are well isolated from tn, , boil weevil district and were alread, 5 producing a cotton of extra Ions staple and great uniformity. whicl 7 was known to be capable of substitu . tion for Sea Island, an extension O f Pima cotton growing in that regiol ] ! appeared to be a military necessit - and for that reason was especial, T encouraged by the department O - agriculture. in the war period. Tn a figures given in the table shoWin; - the production of Sea Island am n Americana Egyptian cottons durin n the la five years make it clear tha B.; the department of agriculture wa | thoroughly justified in calling atten ; ton to the necessity of q substitut e for Sea Island cotton. which now ha $ almost disappeared from cultivation