PREFACE. 



Egypt has long been adapted to the successful cultivation of a 

 wide range of field crops, but since the first planting in 1820 of Jumel 

 cotton (in which year the export was three bales of about 220 Ibs.) 

 the returns realized from the cultivation of Egyptian cotton, uniting 

 as it does a high yield with a quality hitherto unrivalled by any other 

 cotton grown in considerable quantity, have more or less steadily 

 risen, with the result that cotton for many years back has occupied a 

 dominating position in Egyptian agriculture. 



It may be said, broadly, that the area of cultivable land in Egypt 

 devoted to cotton is limited only by the facilities for irrigation and the 

 necessity which exists of rotating cotton with other crops. The general 

 prosperity of the country, therefore, is very closely bound up with the 

 success of the cotton crop, and one of the main endeavours of this 

 Ministry is to ensure that everything possible is done that will lead 

 to the furtherance of the cotton growing industry. 



In accordance with this policy a Cotton Research Board has been 

 established in the last year to combine, co-ordinate, and extend 

 research on cotton, and steps are being taken to strengthen the 

 scientific staff of the Ministry dealing with the various aspects of the 

 cotton problem. The production and maintenance of pure varieties 

 which combine high yield with the special qualities for which Egyptian 

 cotton is in particular demand is, perhaps, the most important aspect 

 of the problem, and to deal with this provision was made in the current 

 financial year for a very considerable enlargement of the Botanical 

 and Plant Breeding Section of the Ministry. 



Before embarking on the more extended programme of botanical 

 work on cotton thus made possible it seemed desirable to have the 

 situation reviewed by an expert on cotton from the botanical side, 

 and, through the courtesy of the Government of India, the Ministry 

 was fortunate in procuring the services of Mr. H. Martin Leake, 

 lately Economic Botanist and now Director of Agriculture in the 



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