56 COTTON PRODUCTION 



cultivation has undergone a gradual increase, the 

 amount of cotton produced has not increased to a 

 corresponding extent. The diminution in yield from 

 1895-6 to 1909-10 is shown very clearly by the figures 

 expressing the average yield per acre during the 

 triennial periods. The decreased yield was un- 

 fortunately accompanied by a deterioration in the 

 quality of the crop. This decline appears to have 

 been due to processes which have been in operation 

 for a long time but have only been brought promin- 

 ently to notice during recent years. The subject is 

 of the utmost importance to the welfare of Egypt, 

 and has been investigated by a Government Com- 

 mission. The degeneration is attributed chiefly to 

 over-watering and insufficient drainage, accompanied 

 by a consequent rise in the level of the water in the 

 sub-soil with the result that the country is becoming 

 water-logged. When it is remembered that the 

 root of the cotton plant cannot grow under such con- 

 ditions, or that a root growing in good soil dies when 

 the soil becomes permanently charged with water, 

 it is obvious that satisfactory results cannot possibly 

 be expected in these circumstances. The primary 

 cause of the rise of the water-table is due to the con- 

 struction of barrages and regulators designed to raise 

 the level of the water in the river and the canals so 

 as to lessen the amount of lift required for pouring 

 the water on to the land. The defect of this system 

 of irrigation is that water is supplied to land which 

 did not receive it previously during the summer 

 months whilst no provision is made for the removal 

 of the excess. The methods recommended to over- 

 come the difficulty are to check the tendency of the 

 growers to over-irrigate, to keep the water in the 

 canals at as low a level as possible, to provide catch- 

 drains, where necessary, along both sides of the canals 

 to prevent infiltration, and to extend and improve the 

 whole drainage system of the country. Extensive 

 schemes are under consideration. 



Other causes which have been regarded as con- 

 tributory to the decline in yield and quality are the 

 deterioration of the soil, the degeneration of the plant, 



