COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. S3 



regular return on capital invested on plantations which are under 

 European management. It proves that they must make profit on the 

 sale of land, and these, of course, will be non-existent in times of 

 economic depressions. It must, however, be stated that the com- 

 panies mentioned have been established principally for the purpose of 

 improving barren land, and to sell it after reclamation. The agricul- 

 tural working is with these companies only a side issue during the 

 interval of reclamation and the sale of the property. 



PURCHASE OF COTTON. 



The purchase, the ginning, the pressing, and the exportation of 

 cotton are some of the most remunerative occupations in Egypt, and 

 large and wealthy firms which, in spite of a number of critical years, 

 enjoy the best prosperity, are engaged in these branches of business. 

 The whole of this commerce is in the hands of Europeans, and 

 numerous Christian and Mohammedan dealers buy from the peasants 

 their produce in the villages, and deliver it to the ginning factories or 

 to the exporters. The economic fight with the Levantine Greek as 

 to the pre-eminent position in commerce is everywhere severe. Greeks 

 are at the head of the large export firms in Alexandria, and the 

 employes of the European export houses in the interior are almost 

 exclusively Greeks ; they serve as medium between Europeans and 

 natives in the interior, and cannot be missed there. Although 

 there may be amongst the Greeks a large percentage of unscrupulous 

 persons, it must be admitted that a great number of Greeks are 

 industrious, frugal, and hard working. 



Alexandria is not only the largest city of export in Egypt, but 

 it serves also as a central market for the purchase of the produce. 

 The agents of the cotton firms and of the ginning factories travel all 

 over the country, not only to buy the crop when it has been picked, 

 but also to make early contracts for the growing crops, which are at 

 times even bought for future delivery so far ahead that frequently 

 the seed has not yet been sown when the crop is sold. 



The following paragraphs explain the method of purchase and 

 intermediary trade : 



Seed cotton is always bought on the basis of the " large " kantar 

 of 315 rottls, because, for the sake of simplicity, it has been accepted 

 as a rule that 3151bs. of seed cotton give lOOlbs. = 1 kantar of lint, 

 although, as a matter of fact, the yield fluctuates from 901bs. to 

 1151bs. As a rule, however, it is over lOOlbs. 



The purchase of cotton is effected in two ways : (1) Through the 

 exporter direct from the planter, from whom he buys the crop when 

 ready, or whilst growing, or even before sowing. It is the rule to 

 give ;.E.l advance per kantar, without calculating interest. The 

 exporter has this cotton ginned either at his own factory, or, if he 

 does not possess such, at another factory, which generally charges 

 one standard price, viz., 7 P.T. per kantar. The price is slightly 

 higher in Upper Egypt. The cotton is then sold by the exporter direct 

 to the spinner. (2) The cotton is bought by commission agents, 

 mostly Greeks or Arabs, who get it ginned and sell it in the Alexandria 

 market, which is known under the name of Minet-el-Bassal. 



The first method is the one principally adopted between exporters 

 and large plantation owners. It may be said that quite one-third of 



