COTTON 171 



cotton-growing, but the rainfall, which varies from fourteen 

 inches at Alexandria to one and a half inches at Cairo, is 

 insufficient. This disadvantage, however, is removed by 

 irrigation, which in Egypt is marvellously skilful and exten- 

 sive, so that cotton has in recent years become one of the most 

 important crops. 1 



There are several varieties of cotton grown in Egypt, some 

 of which have been grown from time immemorial, but that 

 known generally as Egyptian, 2 though not so long stapled as 

 Sea Island, has qualities of its own which render it especially 

 valuable ; it is very strong and can be spun as fine as silk. 



We have been accustomed to buy cotton from Egypt since 

 the time of the American Civil War, when Egyptian growers, 

 realizing their opportunity, devoted their energies to increasing 

 their supplies. As a rule we buy about half their crop. 



The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. To the south of Khartoum 

 stretches the great Gezira Plain, ' where Providence has 

 already done half of man's work for him, and cleared and 

 levelled the millions of acres that some day should be white 

 with cotton '. 3 Kassala, in the east, and Tokar, near the 

 Red Sea, as well as the Atbara Basin are considered suitable. 



But here, as in many other places, three things are necessary: 

 improved cultivation, irrigation, and the building of railways. 



The progress made, however, is satisfactory, and ' in its 

 live-stock and cotton the Sudan has two assets on which it 

 may rest secure for its economic future '. 3 



The West Indies. The best variety of cotton, Sea Island, is 

 said to be a native of the West Indies, and to have been intro- 

 duced from there to the southern states of America as late as 

 1775. 



In the beginning of the eighteenth century and onwards 

 we bought most of our raw cotton from the West Indies, but 



1 At present about 1,800,000 acres are under cotton. 



2 This was introduced from the Isle of Bourbon (now called Reunion) 

 by the French. In 1821 M. Jumelle saw the plant growing in a garden in 

 Cairo, and at his suggestion seed of this kind was sown in large quantities 

 in Lower Egypt. 3 The Sudan of To-day. 



