SECTION III: EGYPTIAN COTTON 219 



maladies and pests to which the crop is liable, summing up that 

 the greatest and most serious of all is the apathy and ignorance of 

 the cultivators, a not unnatural consequence of the Conquistador es, 

 1 Some time after the dominion had passed from the Incas to the Spanish 

 Spaniards, a decree went forth from Madrid that the inhabitants of 1! ence ' 

 Peru proper and Chili should dedicate themselves to mining and 

 agriculture and to the making of wine . . . but might not set up obrajes 

 or factories for the weaving and dyeing of cloth.' This action had the 

 result (perhaps contemplated) of destroying the cotton industry. 

 When Peru became free of Spanish rule cotton cultivation was 

 resumed and extended, but is now alone successful where irrigation 

 in some form is possible. These particulars of Peruvian cotton 

 cultivation have been given in this place because of their having 

 a very special bearing on the present species. While other cottons 

 are met with (and in some cases even more abundantly) G. peru- 

 vianum is essentially the cotton plant of the slopes of the Andes. 



EGYPT. Poiret (I.e. infra) remarks that in Egypt cotton was culti- 

 vated for domestic purposes only, thus showing that shortly before 

 the interest aroused by M. Jumel in 1820 cotton was a very sub- 

 ordinate crop indeed. Particulars of Jumel's cotton will be found in 

 the passage presently to be quoted, as also in a further page under 

 G. brasiliense (p. 312). But I can find no definite mention of the 

 conveyance of G. peruvianum from Peru to Africa and Egypt. The 

 citation of collections, given above, shows that it is cultivated Hybrids, 

 throughout a great part of the countries named, especially Central 

 and Eastern Africa and Upper Egypt. In another passage (p. 166) 

 I have suggested that very possibly this is not a true species 

 botanically, but may have been produced by crossing one or other of 

 the fuzzy-seeded cottons of Central and South America, such as 

 G. punctatum with G. barbadense or G. vitifolium, and in some cases 

 G. brasiliense. Accepting that explanation there would be little 

 difficulty in believing that some at least of the special African and 

 Egyptian stocks may have been produced locally, seeing that a form 

 of G. punctatum is an abundant indigenous plant from Central Africa 

 to the West Coast and through Nigeria into Upper Egypt. 



I shall not attempt to give detailed information regarding 

 Egyptian cultivation. Numerous reports have from time to time 

 appeared, and are accessible to those interested. Professor George P. 

 Foaden, B.Sc. (U.S. Dept. Agri. Bull. No. 62, pp. 7-42), wrote, 

 what he calls by too modest a title, viz. ' Notes on Egyptian Agricul- 



