Vol. X. No. 236. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



151 



NEW TYPES OP EGYPTIAN COTTON. 



Tlie following summary appears at the end of 

 Bullelin No. 200 of the Bureau of Plant Industry of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. It pre- 

 sents the results of work connected with th-; breeding 

 of new types of Egyptian cotton in the United States: — 



Several di.stinct and promising varieties and strain.s 

 ■which have resulted from tlie acclimatization and breeding 

 experimenfs with Egyptian cotton in the .south- western United 

 States were tested on a field scale in the Colorado Piivcr 

 region in 1909, and gave very favourable results in regard to 

 the quahty and uniformity of tbe fibre produced. 



The results of the season's work showed that by planting 

 carefully selected types, and by ' roguing out' the markedly 

 aberrant individuals early in the summer, the degree of 

 uniformity can be attained which is demanded by the market 

 for ibis class of cotton. 



Diversity can be still further controlled, and the fruit- 

 fulness of the plants maintained, by avoiding e.xtremely light 

 and extremely Leavy types of soil, and by managing irriga- 

 tion so that the plants are not exposed to alternations of severe 

 drought and excessive moisture. 



Samples of the fibre produced in 1909 were submitted to 

 a number of spinners and other experts, who were unanimous 

 in pronouncing them equal in all respects to imported Egyp- 

 tian cotton of corresponding grades. 



Two of the best tj'pes (the Yuma and Somerton varie- 

 ties) are so distinct from the Mit Afifi variety from which 

 they have been derived as to warrant the belief ihut they are 

 mutations and have originated in the same manner as Abbasi, 

 Jannovitch, and other superior types wbich have been devel- 

 oped in Egyi't from the Mit Afifi variety. 



A third type (strains 360, 361, 3G2) resembles Mit Afifi 

 in all characters of the plants, bolls, and fibre, but the 

 plants are much more productive, and produce fibre of better 

 quality than those grown in the same region from imported 

 seed. This type is to be regarded as an acclimatized and 

 improved Mil Afifi rather than a new variety. 



The Yuma variety was tested in a field of 4 acres near 

 Yuma, Arizona, in 1 909, and showed a very satisfactory degree 

 of uniformit}- in tbe productiveness and habits of the plants, 

 and in the quality of the fibre. It is characterized by a strong 

 tendency to develop a stout main stem, greatly surpassing the 

 limbs, and possesses long fruiting branches, long taper-pointed 

 bolls, and strong, silky, cream-coloured fibre, aver.iging about 

 Ig inches in length. 



The Somerton variety resembles the preceding in the 

 length of its bolls, and in most of its fibre characters, but the 

 bolls are more sharply pointed, the seeds generally smoother, 

 the percentage of lint smaller, and the plants more bushy, 

 with a greater develo[)ment of large vegetative branches. 



The group of strains, Nos. 360, 361 and 362, constitutes 

 a uniform t} [le that is very diffeient fioni the Viuna and 

 Somerton varieties. The plants are of open habit, with several 

 large limbs, nearly equalling the main stem; short, pluni[i, 

 abruptly pointed bolls; and strong fibre of medium length 

 (averaging 1| to 1| inches). In colour the fibre is almost as 

 brown as thai; of imported .Mit Afifi. 



Other more or less distinct types have been developed, 

 but are either less satisfactory, or have not yet been suffi- 

 ciently tested. 



Imported seed of the principal Egyptian varieties was 

 planted in 1909 in Arizona, in the vicinity of Yuma and at 

 Sacaton. The varieties differed greatl_y in the amount of 

 individual diversity manifested. None of them e(|ualled the 

 acclimatized stocks in fruitfulne.ss or in quality of the lint. 



Progenies of a number of first-generation Egyptian- 

 Upland hybrids were grown near Yuma. The second-genera- 

 tion p!ants showed excessive diversity of type, but none of 

 them could compare with the first-generation parents in yield 

 or in excellence of the fibre 



The imports of cotton from Egypt into the United States 

 during the calendar year 1909 amounted to 72,617,893 S&., 

 valued at 812,101,000, as compared with 6 1,511,723 ft)., 

 valued at §1 1,560,009, in 190S. 



Cyprus Origanum Oil. — The Cyprus origanum oil 

 so far imported to this country with the assistance of the 

 Imperial Institute has been mainly used as a perfume for 

 soap; but in the first report on this oil published in this 

 Bulletin (1906, 4, 298) it was pointed out that the investiga- 

 tions carried out by Cadeac and Meunier in France had shown 

 that Cretan origanum oil possessed strongly antiseptic prop- 

 erties, and that since the Cyprus oil contained far more carva- 

 crol than the Cretan product, it seemed likely that its 

 antiseptic power was far greater. There is a very large demand 

 for thyme oil to be used in the preparation of thymol, 

 employed as an antise[)tio in various toilet preparations. It 

 seemed likely that Cyprus origanum oil, the odour of which 

 is similar to thai of thyme oil, and which contains no les.s 

 than 82 per cent, (if carvacrol, an isomeride of thymol, could 

 be successfully used as a substitute for thyme oil if it could 

 be clearly established that carvacrol is as strongly antiseptic 

 as thymol. It is therefore of very great interest to note that 

 in a paper on Essential Oils in llelation to their Antiseptic 

 Powers, as Determined by their Carbolic (Coefficients,- by 

 Dr. W. Harrison Martindale, published in the current number 

 of the Ferfamery and Essential Oil h'ecord, it seems to be 

 clearly established that of all the essential oils and their con- 

 stituents examined, origanum oil had the highest carbolic 

 acid cocthcient. viz. 25'76, being followed by thymol 25'29, 

 and carvacrol 2 To 2. This means that by the test employed, 

 origanum oil is 2576 times as strong an antiseptic as pure 

 carbolic acid. The origin of the origanum oil used by 

 Dr. Marti ndale is not stated, but it was probably the Cyprus 

 variety, since it contained 82 per cent, of phenols (carva- 

 crol), and this exceedingly high percentage of phenols distin- 

 guishes the Cyprus oil from all other origanum oils at pres- 

 ent on the market. {The Uidhllii of the Imperial Institute, 

 Vol. VIII, p. 407.) 



Rice in British Guiana. 



The last fortnightly report of Messrs. Sandbach, 

 Parker & Co., of Georgetown, on the rice industry of 

 British Guiana, dated April 28, 1911, gives informa- 

 tion as follows; — 



The weather during the first part of the fortnight under 

 review has been dry, but the last few days have been very 

 wet. Planting is general and should be finished within the 

 next two weeks. 



The local demand for rice is good, and with a continu- 

 ance of wet weather we expect a smart advance. Shipments 

 to West Indian islands during the fortnight amounted to 

 100 bags. 



We quote to-day, f.o.b. Demerara, for good export 

 quality : — 



Nominally, 21s. to 22s. per bag of 180 lb. gross. 

 „ 19s. to 20s. „ „ „ 161 „ „ 



