26 HINDt COTTON IN EGYPT. 



abundance of Hindi. Most of the cotton to the west of Mansurah 

 was in better coiidition and afforded a more reliable indication of the 

 prevalence of Hindi, or rather the prevalence of roguing. Though 

 the proportion of fields apparently clean of Hindi seemed to be dis- 

 tinctly larger than in other districts, many of the fields showed un- 

 mistakable Hindi j^lants in great abundance. 



Unless the conditions are favorable for the detection of the Hindi 

 plants such inspections could have very little value, but if made at 

 the right time the presence of the Hindi contamination and the 

 relative amount in different districts could be judged very easily in 

 all localities accessible by railroad. The time would differ with the 

 growth of the cotton in the different localities, probably extending 

 through the month of July. Before June 20 the Hindi plants could 

 seldom be seen from the trains, but during the second and third 

 weeks of July they were easy to see in all except the more backward 

 districts. 



CHARACTERS OF HINDI HYBRIDS. 



DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF HYBRIDS. 



Except in cases that are especially noted, the plants enumerated as 

 Hindi in the preceding tables comprise two elements, the typical 

 Hindi plants and the pronounced Hindi hybrids, those that resemble 

 the first generation of the crosses that have been made between the 

 Hindi and the Egyptian cottons. 



AMien the fields are in the earlier vegetative phase, the pronounced 

 hybrids can be distinguished from the Egyptian plants by the light 

 color of the leaves and the red pulvinus at the base of the veins, al- 

 most as easily as the true Hindi. The larger size of the hj'brids also 

 attracts attention. The leaves of the hybrids become larger than 

 those of the true Hindi plants, and most of the larger leaves have 

 five or seven distinct lobes instead of three. The lobes of the hj'brids 

 are somewhat folded or channeled, like those of the Egyptian cotton, 

 instead of spreading out nearh' flat, as in the Hindi cotton. The 

 larger size of the involucral bracts of hybrids is another feature 

 usualh' quite obvious. (PL IV, B.) The teeth do not always run 

 doAvn toward the base of the bracts, as in the Hindi cotton, though 

 there is a general tendencv in this direction. In Arizona the Hindi 

 hybrids have shown a marked tendency to sterility or to very late 

 bearing, but in Egypt, early in June, some of the hybrids seemed to 

 be more advanced toward flowering than their Egyptian neighbors. 



The countings of the Hindi plants and obvious hybrids do not by 

 any means indicate the full extent of the Hindi contamination in 

 the Egyptian fields. There is background of diversit}'' too multi- 

 farious to be counted or even noted in detail without careful inspection 



210 



