50 HINDI COTTON IN EGYPT. 



hesitation in choosing between the old goods at enhanced prices and the new 

 cheaper goods, and the success of the hitter in use rapidly disiJosed of any 

 fears of their practicability. The customers either did not know the difference 

 or were quite pleasetl with the substitute. * * * The result is that the 

 trade in those fabrics, where the substitution of cheaper cotton was impossible, 

 has dwindled to very small proportions. The consumers declined to pay the 

 high prices, preferring goods of cheaper quality at something lilve the old 

 prices. And the manufacturers have not been slow to meet the requirements 

 of the market. INluch of the cotton trade is season's goods, and even the 

 established stock lines may suffer a serious loss of demand in one season 

 through the appearance of new goods in competition. The manufacturers have 

 therefore placed before their customers alongside of the old goods at increased 

 prices entirely new and cheaper goods of different materials and new designs 

 which have proved eminently successful. Thus in the end substitution though 

 impossible directly has won its way indirectly to the same result; the old 

 fabrics made from the expensive Egj'ptian cotton have been largely replaced 

 by new fabrics of cheaper materials mostly American." 



It would be a mistake to suppose that the problem of uniformity 

 can be completely solved by breeding and selection, however carefully 

 and efficiently done. The quality of the fiber depends on favorable 

 conditions of growth that often vary in the same field. Even the 

 same individual plant may produce entirely different grades of fiber 

 as a result of changed conditions during the same season. Any sud- 

 den forcing or checking of growth is likely to injure both the yield 

 and the quality of the cotton crop. A large amount of experimenting 

 may still be necessary to determine the best methods of culture and 

 irrigation to secure the largest yields and the best quality of lint. 



The cultural problems are not the same as with crop plants where 

 the chief object is to promote vigorous growth and a large bulk of 

 plant tissues. With cotton both the yield and the quality are likely 

 to be cut down if the plants are too large and luxuriant. The ten- 

 dency to overgrowth is a serious difficulty with the Egyptian cotton 

 on some of the very rich new soils in the Southwestern States. How 

 to hold this undesirable luxuriance in check is one of the chief prob- 

 lems. Earlier crops, larger yields, better fiber, and easier picking 

 can all be obtained if the excessive growth of the plants can be re- 

 stricted. Nor can the new cotton-growing districts be expected to 

 prosper on the basis of a single crop, however profitable it may ap- 

 pear to be at first. To grow cotton continuously on the same soil in 

 an irrigated region is likely to invite disease. Kotations of crops and 

 other forms of diversified agriculture will be needed to insure per- 

 manent prosperity. 



"See Todd. .lohn A., "The ISIarket for Egyptian Cotton in 1909-1910," 

 L'Egjpte Contemporaine, no. 5, January, 1911, pp. 3, 4, and 6. 

 210 



