60 COTTON PRODUCTION 



Hindi. Reference must be made to the so-called 

 " Hindi " cotton of Egypt, isolated plants of which 

 are commonly to be seen in fields of the Mitafifi 

 variety. The plant can be readily distinguished by 

 the fact that the boll opens in four, or sometimes 

 five, valves instead of three. It bears aVhite, some- 

 what coarse, inferior fibre, about one inch long, the 

 presence of which in Mitafifi cotton diminishes the 

 value of the crop . In 1 904, the Khedivial Agricultural 

 Society introduced the practice of examining the 

 Mitafifi seed for sowing and picking out all the long 

 and naked seeds, bearing long spikes at the pointed 

 ends, which were supposed to be of the Hindi variety. 

 Experiments have shown, however, that on planting 

 such seeds an excessively large proportion of plants 

 of the Hindi type is not produced. Moreover, it has 

 been found recently that some plants which produce 

 ordinary brown Mitafifi cotton bear long, naked, 

 spiked seeds of the Hindi type, and that ordinary 

 Mitafifi plants are sometimes produced from the so- 

 called Hindi seed. These facts evidently indicate 

 that such plants are hybrid forms, and it is obvious 

 that cotton possessing the Hindi character can never 

 be completely eradicated by picking out the naked 

 spiked seeds. The production of a pure Mitafifi 

 cotton could only be effected by starting afresh with 

 a few perfect plants, and sowing only the seed derived 

 from these, and thus in course of time a thoroughly 

 good cotton would be established. Great improve- 

 ment has resulted from the action of the Department 

 of Agriculture in distributing better seed to the 

 cultivators. 



Uses of Egyptian Cotton 



The special characteristics of Egyptian cotton 

 render it particularly useful for certain purposes for 

 which American Upland and other varieties are un- 

 suitable. It is better adapted to the mercerising 

 process (see page 16) than any other cotton, and its 

 high lustre and excellent capacity for dyes give it 



