EGYPTIAN COTTON CULTUEE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 25 



From the results of the ginning records mack^ during the season 

 it appears that a Uttle less than 1,800 pounds of seed cotton of the 

 Yuma variety may be expected to give a 500-poimd bale of fiber. 

 There have been marked variations in this respect. The observed 

 range of percentage in fiber from seed cotton has been from 25.2 })er 

 cent to 31.7 per cent, with an average of about 28 per cent for the 

 entire crop. 



In the Salt River Valley a large proportion of the seed resulting 

 from the 1912 crop has been reserved or sold for planting in 1913. 

 The })rice when sold for this purpose has been from 1| to 3 cents per 

 pound. In the Imperial Valley most of the seed was sold to an oil 

 mill at the rate of $15 per ton. Some of the seed has been used for 

 feed, and when so used was considered as worth about 1 cent per pound. 

 The seed is a factor of appreciable importance in the crop return. 

 Even when sold to the oil miU it brings a sufRcient return to pay 

 more than the cost of ginning and baling the crop. 



COST OF PRODUCTION. 



The cost of producing Egyptian cotton, exclusive of harvesting 

 the crop, varied between wide limits. It has been possible in a few 

 cases to ascertain the cost of production; that is, the cost of labor and 

 irrigation water, but not including interest on the land investment. 

 On the larger fields, where teams and machinery could be used to 

 advantage, this cost, exclusive of picking, ginning, and baling, ranged 

 from $11 to $16 per acre. One of the important factors in the cost 

 of production was the preparation of the land. Where it was nec- 

 essar}'' to subdue* a tough sod of alfaKa and Bermuda gi'ass the 

 cost was high. Tliis was particularly the case where the work early 

 in the season was not done thorouglily. The best results in crop 

 yields as well as the greatest economy of labor were secured where 

 the early tillage was thorough and the land was brought into the best 

 possible tilth before the crop was planted. 



The cost of picking Egyptian cotton was no less variable than the 

 cost of production. On the irrigated land of the Southwest the cot- 

 ton plants gi'ow very large, with many branches. When loaded with 

 a heavy crop the plants bend over and become so entangled that it is 

 difficult to get through the field. (Fig. 2.) Where the acreages 

 were small for each family, no cash outlay for picking was needed. 

 In the Imperial Valley, where labor was scarce and there was a lively 

 demand for pickers in adjacent fields of short-staple cotton, it was 

 sometimes found necessary to pay from 3 to 3 J cents per pound for 

 picking. In the Salt River Valley, on the other hand, the labor 

 supply was adequate and the bulk of the crop was picked for 2 cents 

 per pound. These prices, of course, refer to the seed cotton. 



It was found that good pickers averaged about 100 pounds of seed 

 cotton per day where the crop was good. In several cases good 



[Cir. 123] 



