COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 65 



explained by reason that the easily hardened crust of the soil is fre- 

 quently only broken through by the united effort of numerous shoots, 

 and for this purpose even beans are often put in the holes together 

 with the cotton seed. The cotton seeds, which ought to be from 

 the last year's crop, are usually soaked in cold or lukewarm water 

 for a day ; seed from the crop from the year before last is also used 

 with success. Some people maintain even that this older seed germi- 

 nates better, a statement which can hardly refer to the Egyptian seed 

 in general. About one-quarter of an ardeb is used on each feddan 

 = 40 to 50 litres -25 to 30 kg. of seed. 



About 10 to 12 days after sowing the seeds sprout, and where 

 they have not begun to show life, a new sowing is made, which is 

 often necessary in many places. About 10 days later the field is 

 flooded. About one-and-a-half to two months after sowing the 

 superfluous young plants are thinned out by hand, so that in each 

 plant hole only the two strongest remain ; on each feddan are about 

 11,000 to 13,000 double plants. In North America and India only 

 one plant is allowed to remain in each plant hole. 



The distance between the cotton plants is usually so arranged 

 that the soil will be entirely shaded by the fully-developed branches ; it 

 must, however, be possible to pass through the rows in order to 

 weed and pick the cotton easily. In every individual case the dis- 

 tance between the plants will be governed according to the soil and 

 the growth of the selected kind of cotton. With Egyptian cotton 

 the distance between the plants is on an average 87| cm. between the 

 rows, and according to nature of the soil, 30 cm. to 50 cm. in 

 the rows ; this is relatively close, but may be explained by the fact 

 that in Egypt the light is very strong and the air very dry. The 

 deep shade for the soil is to act as a protection against the evapora- 

 tion of the humidity of the soil if good crops are aimed at. Through 

 close planting an early ripening of the bolls is obtained, but no 

 doubt the formation of the leaves is increased to the detriment of the 

 bolls. The conviction is to-day generally held that cotton in Egypt 

 is frequently too closely planted, and that with more space between 

 the plants better crops would be obtained. 



In Upper Egypt, where the preparation of the soil is, on the 

 whole, not as carefully carried out as in Lower Egypt, the Govern- 

 ment recommend on good soil four, on poor soil five ridges per 

 Kassaba, a distance between the plant holes of 40 cm. to 45 cm. on 

 good soil, and 30 cm. to 35 cm. on poor soil, the first watering to 

 be 30 to 40 days, and the thinning out 40 to 50 after sowing. As 

 the cotton plant in Upper Egypt often grows excessively high it 

 is recommended to prune the stalks back so that the plants do not 

 reach higher than If metres. This is done in order to increase the 

 number of flowers. 



Further Land Preparation. From now forward the land is 

 watered more or less according to the retentive nature of the soil, 

 usually every two or three weeks ; the best interval is said to be 12 

 days of irrigation and six dry days. If there is a lack of water 

 the plants can withstand, in the first two months after sowing, a 

 longer drought period than in the following two months. 



In 12 waterings 2,000 cm. to 6,000 cm. of water are put on one 

 feddan, which is a total height of \ m. to \\ m. respectively. In 



E 



