72 COTTON PRODUCTION 



Turkestan. It declined considerably immediately 

 after the Russian occupation, but has now revived. 

 The Russian Government have assisted the industry 

 by laying out irrigation canals and establishing 

 experiment stations. Efforts have been made to 

 improve the staple by distributing American Upland 

 seed to the growers together with instructions in the 

 methods of cultivation printed in the local languages. 

 In 1890, the crop amounted to 33,400,000 Ib. of 

 American cotton, and 12,900,000 Ib. of the native 

 Asiatic variety, whilst in 1909 it reached a total of 

 395,400,000 Ib., consisting almost entirely of American 

 varieties. The total production was about 400 

 million Ib. in 1912, and 447 million Ib. in 1913. 



The rainfall is insufficient in the early period of 

 the plant's growth, and irrigation is therefore neces- 

 sary. The methods of cultivation are exceedingly 

 primitive and but little attention is paid to manuring. 

 Most of the cotton is ginned by a simple wooden 

 machine resembling the " churka " gin of India, but 

 modern ginning stations have been established at 

 some of the larger centres. Labour is comparatively 

 plentiful and cheap, and the rent of land is not high. 

 The yield could doubtless be largely increased by the 

 adoption of improved methods of cultivation, and 

 the difficulties due to the climate could probably be 

 overcome by breeding varieties adapted to the local 

 conditions. 



In Transcaucasia, an indigenous variety of cotton 

 has been grown from very early times. This variety 

 is still largely cultivated, whilst American Upland 

 cotton is grown to a much smaller extent. The crop 

 amounted to about 22 million Ib. in 1891, and to 

 about 28 million Ib. in 1908, 56 million Ib. in 1912, 

 and 58 million Ib. in 1913. 



China. The amount of cotton produced in China 

 cannot be stated with any approach to accuracy, 

 owing to lack of statistics, but is roughly estimated 

 at 700 million Ib. per annum. It is grown chiefly 

 in the basin of the Yangtse River, the basin of the 

 Hoang Ho or Yellow River, and the Province of Che- 

 kiang. The methods of cultivation are very primi- 



