COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN, 85 



are mostly Greeks, and sometimes exact usurious terms. Their 

 purchases are made chiefly in the following- three ways : 



(1) Against cash payment on delivery of the cotton. This method 

 excludes, of course, any extortionate practice. 



(2) Against payment in advance, or partial payment in advance, 

 of the future crop. In such transactions the value of the crop is esti- 

 mated at a very low figure. This kind of business is nothing else but 

 usury, leaving a profit from 25 to 30 per cent, and more. These 

 usurers are the plague of the poor fellah. Nevertheless, the latter 

 keep applying to them in many cases, rather than go to the mortgage 

 bank, the reason for this being that the latter are compelled to insist 

 upon certain formalities, and in case of non-payment are obliged to 

 take possession of the mortgaged property. The usurer, on the other 

 hand, grants delay. 



(3) By future contracts, where the price is fixed later on. In 

 this mode of business the planter delivers the cotton to the dealer, 

 and receives from him the approximate cash value. The planter, 

 however, reserves to himself the right to fix the price definitely within 

 three or four months after a date fixed in the contract, in accordance 

 with the quotation at the Alexandria Exchange. This system of the 

 sale of cotton, with a later final fixture of price, is almost generally 

 in use between the large planters and the dealer. 



As gambling and speculation are everywhere strongly in evidence 

 in Egypt, this method of doing business offers great scope in this 

 direction. Instead of being content with a small, but safe profit, the 

 Egyptian farmer always aims at the highest level of prices, and fre- 

 quently finds himself a heavy loser* in the long run, as he misses the 

 judicious moment, and is finally compelled to sell at any price, 

 especially when he is bound to pay to the banks interest on mort- 

 gage, or redeem advances made to him. It is interesting to note that 

 the planters have sold during 1912 a large portion of their crop at 

 fixed prices, having evidently profited by their recent unfavourable 

 experience. 



When the fellah has made during the summer contracts according 

 to the second method at comparatively low prices, he will, if prices are 

 going up appreciably, at times hide his cotton, or, at all events, some 

 of it, in order not to be compelled to deliver. In this manner cotton 

 has been found hidden under wheat and other produce. 



The first picking is always sold at a higher price than the second 

 and third, and the sale of the later is generally more difficult. 



In all purchases of seed cotton the buyer runs the risk as regards 

 the outturn, because not every lot of cotton gives an average out- 

 turn of 105 to 106 rottls lint, and even the greatest care, such as, for 

 instance, the ginning of a trial sample, does not always guarantee 

 the ginning outturn of the whole lot. 



The majority of the provincial contracts, especially of the impor- 

 tant ones, are made by brokers on the basis of a sample shown. The 

 cotton delivered against this sample is put in sacks, which are marked 

 with the name of the kind of cotton, the class, and the name of the 

 planter. The sacks are pierced in order to facilitate the examination 

 of the contents. 



