THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



147 



LONG-STAPLE AMERICAN-EGYPTIAN COTTON. 



Lnxi.-r-TAi L£ oiTTdx of the Amcricaii-Egy-ptiaii type needs, as 

 conditions for successful production, an unusually long 

 growing season, freedom from boll weevil and an assured sup- 

 ply of water for irrigation, Dwight B. Heard told the Cotton 

 Conference that met in New Orleans in October. 



The production in 1918 was 38,246 bales of 500 pounds each 

 of long-staple cotton, 34,300 of which were grown in the Salt 



^ 



1l ' 





A FiELn OF American-Egyptian Cotton. 



River valley of Arizona, 1,200 each in the Gila \alley and in the 

 California Imperial valley and smaller quantities in the Colorado 

 valley in Arizona and ihe San Joaquin and Palo Verde valleys 

 in California. Besides this, the Imperial valley produced 35,000 

 bales of short-staple and 5,000 bales of Durango cotton and the 

 Yuma valley 20,000 bales. The short-staple product this year 

 will probably be 10,000 bales larger, while the long-staple Pima 

 crop will be over 50,000 bales. 



This crop was of exceptional interest to spinners and to the 

 manufacturers of choice cotton goods because the new Pima 

 cotton was quite as desirable as Egyptian Sakellarides and could 

 be spun into equally tine counts. In 1918, on an ordinary run of 

 2,112 bales at the gin of the Tempe Exchange, at Tcmpe, .Ari- 

 zona, under government classification and supervision, the grade 

 and percentage of this lot of Pima cotton ran as follows : 



Per Cent. 



In 1919 the percentage of cotton running 1-11/16 and 154 was 

 larger than in 1918. The remarkable success in the Salt Rivel 

 valley, where 95 per cent of the Pima cotton produced in Amer- 

 ica will be grown this season, is largely due to the scientific 

 care with which this industry has been developed. One feature 

 is the fact that but one type of .American-Egyptian cotton, Pima, 



is grown throughout ihe entire district and all danger of cross- 

 ing with inferior seed is avoided. Of the total area of 275,000 

 acres now under intensive cultivation by irrigation in this dis- 

 trict, 88,000 acres, or 32 per cent, of the entire acreage, is planted 

 in Pima; a percentage which can be readily maintained. 



The growers realize that the immunity of the Salt River valley 

 from the boll weevil and other pests which have handicapped 

 the cotton industry in other sections must be maintained, and 

 with the cooperation of the Government the best methods not 

 only to prevent the importation of seed in which there could be 

 any danger of infection, but to maintain the highest standard in 

 the selection of the local seed, have been practiced. The cotton 

 plant is essentially a sunshine plant, and there is probably no 

 section of the world except Egypt where the sun shines vi^ith 

 more regularity than in the Salt River valley. 



This year 88,000 acres in the Salt River valley alone are 

 planted. The land has been more carefully selected than before 

 and it is not unreasonable to assume that from 45,000 to 50,000 

 bales of Pima cotton will be produced. In the Florence and 

 Casa Grande valleys, including the Sacaton Indian .\gency, 

 southwest of Phoenix, this year's production will probably equal 

 2,500 bales, while in the Yuma and Parker valleys, along the 

 Colorado River, and in certain sections of the San Joaquin 

 valley in California 1,500 to 2,000 additional bales of Pima cot- 

 ton can be expected, making a total production for this season 

 of from 50,000 to 55,000 bales. In the Salt River valley there 

 should be for sale this year from 20,000 to 25,000 bales of un- 

 mortgaged cotton. 



It is significant that last season the total production of Pima 

 cotton equaled the production of Sea Island cotton. The total 

 inanufacture in the United States of long-staple cotton, either 

 Old-World Egyptian or Sea Island cotton in the five years 

 previous to our entry into the war, was 275,340 bales annually, 

 of which 78,650 400-pound bales was Sea Island. 



With the increase this year of the production of Pima 

 ,\merican-Egyptian cotton to approximately 50,000 bales, while 

 there are only 15,000 bales of Sea Island cotton, it is manifest 

 that the Pima cotton has become a very material factor in the 

 long-staple market. 



MEADE COTTON A SUBSTITUTE FOR SEA ISLAND. 



Disheartened, and hopeless of the recovery of Sea Island cot- 

 ton from the continued invasion of the boll weevil, the United 

 States Department of Agriculture recommends the substitution 

 of Meade cotton, developed by the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



Meade cotton is a new upland long-staple variety, which is the 

 nearest approach so far to Sea Island cotton in length and fine- 

 ness of iiber and is recommended particularly to planters in the 

 West Indian islands. It is named after the investigator of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry who was improving the variety when 

 he died. It now produces lint averaging 1-^ inches in length 

 with unusually uniform fibers. The seeds are large and yield 

 a high percentage of oil, about 24 per cent. They are slightly 

 tufted at the ends like the seeds of Sea Island and Egyptian 

 cotton, so that it is possible to use for this cotton the roller gins 

 employed for Sea Island cotton. 



In 1917 Meade cotton was picked two weeks ahead of Sea 

 Island. It yielded twice as much, 230 pounds compared with 

 117 pounds, and it was easier to pick because the bolls are twice 

 as large as Sea Island bolls. The lint ranges between 1^ and 

 1=11/16 inches, has good luster, a slightly heavier body than Sea 

 Island and is scarcely distinguishable from it when properly 

 ginned. It should be treated in the same manner and as care- 

 fullv as Sea Island. 



Venezuela's chief imports, among which were rubber 

 articles and duck, were transported mainly by parcel post during 

 the years 1917 and 1918. 



