174 COTTON 



to supply 16 per cent, of our present consumption, so that, 

 even if we imported all the cotton that the empire grows, 

 we should have certainly less than 39 per cent, of the amount 

 we need. 1 



On the other hand, India produces enormous quantities of 

 cotton, and, if the quality were improved, the imports from 

 India alone might go a long way towards making us self- 

 supporting. 



In addition to this, the output of other empire countries 

 is constantly increasing, and the possibilities for future 

 production are almost unlimited ; the fertile plains of the 

 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, if sown with cotton, would, it % is said, 

 be capable of providing enough raw material to supply all 

 the mills of Lancashire, without taking into account ouch 

 prosperous countries as the West Indies, West Africa, Kenya 

 Colony, Uganda, and Nyasaland, where the output is already 

 such as to give cause for satisfaction in the present and hope 

 for the future. 



CHAPTER XIV 

 FIBRES (continued) 



WOOL. ' Who shore me like a tame wether all my precious 

 fleece.' MILTON. 



The sides and shoulders of a sheep furnish the best wool ; 

 that from the head and throat is of inferior quality. The 

 first thing, therefore, that has to be done after the fleece is 

 shorn from the sheep, is to separate the different qualities -of 

 wool from one another, and to clip off tufts of fibres which have 

 become matted together. 



SCOURING. The fleece contains a large quantity of a greasy 

 compound called yolk or suint, and the next operation is to 

 remove this. The wool is put into a long tank containing 



1 The amounts produced are : Egypt, 750 million Ib. ; West Africa, 

 4 million ; East Africa, Uganda, and Nyasaland, together, 11 million ; 

 West Indies, 2 million. 



