17 



investigation at such points as manurial and cultural experiment, 

 and, on the other, with the physical investigations on soil moisture, 

 its movement and control. 



(8) PHYSICAL. 



The most important line of physical investigation is, without 

 doubt, that which concerns the relation between the level of the sub- 

 soil water (water table) and the rise of the Nile, whether that relation 

 be direct or indirect, through the canal system. As such, the subject 

 is closely connected with the irrigation system. Considerable scope 

 for investigation lies also in the direction of determining the 

 permeability of soils of different character and the rate of surface 

 tension flow through these. I am tempted to think that, by a control 

 of such flow through cultural means, irrigation could be much reduced 

 in tracts in which the presence of salts is not marked. This line of 

 investigation is thus intimately connected with the purely agricultural 

 cultural experiments. 



IV. 



I have briefly outlined eight lines of investigation, using as a 

 basis the commonly accepted divisions of science. These cover the 

 field presented by the cotton problem of Egypt. It will be convenient 

 if, before I proceed further and enquire in greater detail into the 

 requirements both as regards equipment and organization, if these 

 investigations are to be carried out in an efficient manner, I outline 

 the course that will be followed in the development of any particular 

 race which it is desired to develop through the experimental to the 

 practical stage. Such development concerns those sections which 

 I have denoted primary. The close interrelation that exists between 

 these four sections and the necessity for full continuity from one 

 stage to the next, a continuity which organization must recognize 

 and allow for, will thus become apparent. 



In its simplest terms, then, the work of the Botanical Section 

 will consist of the isolation by means of single plant cultures and for 

 the present purpose these cultures may arise as direct selections or as 

 the result of hybridization of pure races of cotton. Of such races, 

 in the earliest stages, only a small amount of seed will be available. 

 This work is, further, centralized ; reduction in the number of races 

 has to be effected, and such reduction must be accomplished by trial 

 under conditions more nearly approaching those of the cultivators' 

 fields. In particular, these trials must be carried out with a view to 

 testing the relative suitability in the different environmental conditions 



