54 COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



entirely confined to Lower Egypt ; it does not thrive everywhere in 

 Upper Egypt, and for this reason is hardly cultivated there. It may 

 be said that Mitafifi, which has been cultivated on large areas 

 since 1887, has been the predominating variety of the Egyptian 

 market since the early ninetieth, and the price of " Mitafifi fully good 

 fair " is generally taken as the basis for quotations in the valuation 

 of Egyptian cottons; even in 1910 still two-thirds of the cotton area 

 was planted with Mitafifi ; in Lower Egypt as much as 90 per cent. 



Mitafifi begins to decline rapidly, is to be had pure only on the 

 States Domains, but on all other plantations is becoming inferior in 

 length, fineness, hardiness, and yield, and lighter in colour, and at the 

 same time shows an increasing admixture of " Hindi " cotton, so it 

 will be necessary to grow in larger quantities the four new varieties, 

 for which higher prices are paid, the following two of these are of 

 a brownish tint : Nubari, called after Boghos Nubar Pasha, one of 

 the largest Egyptian landowners; it is being cultivated in the Delta 

 since 1903, gives a good brownish fibre, whose value stands between 

 that of Mitafifi and Joanovitch ; in comparison with the Mitafifi it 

 is just as hardy, the lint is easily picked, its staple is longer; the 

 plant matures earlier and yields better, consequently it seems well- 

 suited to replace Mitafifi. Its length of staple is 36 to 40 mm., gin- 

 ning percentage 32 to 33 per cent. It is a pity that the 

 quality of Nubari has already likewise begun to deteriorate. 



A great future seems to be open to the new kind of Ass Hi, 

 discovered in a field of Mitafifi cotton by the Greek Parachi- 

 monas, as a natural hybrid, which was conspicuous by 

 its larger capsule and excellent lustre of the fibre. The Alexandrian 

 firm of J. Planta & Co. undertook the supervision and the careful 

 rearing of this variety through reliable planters, the seed was sold 

 only under the condition, that all the cotton raised had to be sold to 

 it, and in this careful way it established the variety, and already 

 in 1910 important quantities of it came on the market, in the season 

 of 1911/12; some 5,000 bales could be delivered. 



" Assili " is similar to the Nubari, but of a somewhat lighter 

 brown, its length, fineness, strength, gloss, and evenness of fibre 

 are very good indeed, it has a length of staple of 34 to 38 mm., a 

 ginning yield of 34 to 36 per cent, of fibre, and on average 

 soil it produces 3 to 5, on good soil 5 to 8 kantars of lint per 

 feddan, and often more. 



The British Cotton Growing Association had presented a silver 

 cup at the Agricultural Exhibition at Cairo, in 1912, for that kind 

 of cotton, which came next to the old Mitafifi, before its degenera- 

 tion. This prize was awarded by the judges to Assili, which thus 

 has been officially proclaimed as successor of the Mitafifi, and as in 

 a few years as much seed of Assili can be had as will suffice to 

 replace Mitafifi entirely, it is quite possible that this may 

 happen. The Arabic word Assil means " Original," and it is 

 intended to convey the idea, that a regeneration of the old original 

 Mitafifi has taken place. For this reason it is also called " Assil- 

 Afifi." So far the development of " Assili " has certainly not quite 

 fulfilled the high expectations that were anticipated. Spinners com- 

 plain particularly about irregularity in length of staple. Besides 



