36 



in Nyasaland, Uganda, in French West Africa, and in 

 German East Africa, but the fact cannot be too strongly 

 emphasized that what is needed is continuous effort and 

 experimental work in each country in which cotton 

 cultivation promises success. 



Whilst we in this country are naturally concerned in 

 the first instance to improve and increase cotton culti- 

 vation within the British Empire, it is to the advantage 

 of all nations that the world's supply of good cotton 

 should be increased. It is of importance, therefore, that 

 those engaged in this work in different parts of the 

 world should occasionally meet together to compare 

 notes and exchange views, and for this reason the value 

 of an International Congress such as this cannot be 

 over-estimated. 



In this country at the present time we are specially 

 and financially interested in a large attempt, chiefly due 

 to the initiative of Lord Kitchener, which is about to 

 be made to grow Egyptian cotton under irrigation in 

 the Gezira district of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, an 

 enterprise which will require not only sound, practical 

 management, but also careful experiment, close super- 

 vision, and cautious advance under the advice of 

 specialists in cotton cultivation. 



I think I may safely say that Lancashire spinners, 

 while greatly interested in this enterprise, would view 

 with satisfaction a similar development on the opposite 

 shore of the Mediterranean. Asia Minor, which I 

 visited a few years ago, appeared to me to offer a pro- 

 mising and very large field for the growth of long- 

 stapled American Upland cotton of a type which is in 

 great demand not only in Lancashire, but also through- 

 out the Continent of Europe. 



With the advent of irrigation in Mesopotamia 

 additional possibilities for cotton growing in Asia 

 Minor are opened up. With the development of 

 cotton growing in these great tracts, in Egypt, the 

 Sudan, and in Asia Minor the demands of Europe for 

 two of the principal grades of cotton would in a very 

 large measure be met, and the principal manufacturing 

 requirements of the Old World largely derived from 

 within its confines. 



In this connection importance must also be attached 



