84 COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



the crop is bought in this manner. The second method is in vogue 

 principally with the small farmer, and the small commission agent 

 charges enormously high interest. 



The large Alexandrian firms, Lindemann and Carver, have their 

 own agricultural experts, who are constantly travelling all over the 

 country in order to report on the state of the crop, and control to 

 some extent the planters who have received advances. 



Only on very rare occasions is cotton bought by the ginning 

 factories. 



There are two modes of doing business between the ginning fac- 

 tory and the planter : 



Firstly, the ginning factory buys the seed cotton from the planter 

 lor its own account, and sells lint and seed to the Alexandrian 

 exporter. Sometimes it sells the cotton through its own agents in 

 Europe direct to spinners. The suppliers, people who in this manner 

 supply the cotton to the ginning station, are principally large owners 

 of plantations or the Domains. As far as the small farmers are 

 concerned, the ginning factories grant them advances on their crop 

 against payment of interest, which amounts to at least 8 per cent., 

 but frequently it is much higher, and when they deliver the seed 

 cotton they receive only the difference which remains in their favour. 

 The cost of transport of the cotton from the producer to the ginning 

 factory, and from there to Alexandria, are mostly for the account of 

 the ginning factory. This method of direct purchase and sale is, com- 

 paratively speaking, little used, and only possible for large firms, 

 which keep special agents in the principal districts. They buy the 

 cotton against 2 or 3 per cent, brokerage for the account of the 

 ginning factory from the producer. 



Secondly, the ginning station returns to the planter the ginned 

 eotton, and does not interest itself in the sale. In doing so, the 

 ginning factory keeps either the seed in payment of the ginning 

 expenses, but as its value is higher than the cost of ginning, the 

 factory has to pay about 25 P.T. per kantar, according to the ruling 

 price of seed ; or the owner of the cotton insists upon the return of 

 the lint and the seed, and pays for the ginning a certain rate per 

 kantar. 



In 1905 a limited company was established under the name of 

 'The Associated Cotton Ginners of Egypt," by the various large 

 cotton exporters of Alexandria, with ^"360,000 in ordinary shares and 

 ;150,000 in debentures. In this concern are amalgamated some of 

 the largest ginning factories. It controls 1,200 gins, and aims at a 

 perfect system of ginning. The Associated Cotton Ginners do not 

 act as purchasers of cotton ; the individual firms buy, and therefore 

 this large company does not influence the price. The activity of the 

 concern is limited to the Delta, where in 1912 it owned 14 factories, 

 with 1,337 gins, and these ginned more than a third of the entire 

 cotton crop of Lower Egypt. 



The intermediary trade is of considerable importance in the 

 Egyptian cotton business. A large number of dealers live in the 

 provincial towns of the cotton districts. They buy the crop from 

 the fellaheen, have it ginned, and sell it in Alexandria. These dealers 



