CULTIVATION 23 



spindles are set in rapid rotation, and when brought 

 into contact with the fibre which has burst from the 

 boll, the latter becomes entwined around them, and 

 is thus collected. The cotton is then detached auto- 

 matically from the spindles by a special mechanism, 

 and drops into a bag at the rear of the machine. 

 The cotton-picker is mounted on a trolley, which is 

 propelled at a walking pace by means of a petrol 

 engine. This machine gathers about 10 Ib. of seed- 

 cotton per minute or 6,000 Ib. per day of ten hours. 

 It picks about 90 per cent, of the ripe cotton, and the 

 remaining 10 per cent, is almost completely collected 

 by going over the same rows a second time. The 

 plants do not suffer any damage and neither the 

 flowers nor immature bolls are injured. The main 

 objection to the use of the machine is that it picks 

 more green leaf than is done in picking by hand, but 

 it is* stated that an appliance has been devised for 

 attaching to the machine which effects the separation 

 of the leaf from the cotton. 



Such a machine, if capable of giving satisfactory 

 results in the ordinary plantations, would overcome 

 the difficulty of obtaining sufficient labour at the 

 picking season, which is the greatest obstacle to the 

 extension of the industry in the United States. 



In the United States the second picking is regarded 

 as superior to the first, since the first picking always 

 contains a certain amount of sand and soil which has 

 been beaten up on the lower bolls by the splashing 

 of the rain. In Egypt, however, where the cotton is 

 grown under irrigation, the first picking is always 

 considered the best, and does not suffer this damage. 



Cultivation in Egypt 



The conditions of the soil and climate in Egypt 

 are very favourable to cotton cultivation, and most 

 of the physical phenomena characteristic of the 

 Nile valley can be readily adapted to the needs of 

 the plant. The success of cotton growing in Lower 

 Egypt is largely due to the hot, moist atmosphere 



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