COTTON 137 



necessitated the winding-up or dissolution of the Associa- 

 tion it would be a disaster for the Empire. 



The work of the Association may be divided into three 

 periods : 



1 I ) Inquiry. 



(2) Experimental. 



(3) Development. 



The first and second periods are practically over, for 

 there is no part of the Empire capable of producing cotton 

 in any quantity which has not been fully inquired into by 

 the Association, and in many cases experimental work has 

 actually been carried on. We are now in the third and 

 perhaps the most difficult stage, and that is development, 

 for development means capital, and it is by no means easy 

 for a semi-philanthropic body to raise capital. 



During the first two periods our inquiries and experi- 

 ments were extended throughout the greater part of the 

 British Empire, and the Council have now decided that as 

 far as any large results are concerned the districts which 

 offer the best prospects are : 



(1) India. 



(2) Uganda and Nyasaland. 



(3) West Africa. 



(4) The Anglo- Egyptian Sudan. 



(5) The West Indies. 



No doubt there are other parts of the Empire where cotton 

 can be grown, but the Council have decided that their main 

 energies must be concentrated on those countries, and 

 therefore on the present occasion I only propose to deal 

 with this portion of the work. 



INDIA. 



It is held by many, and with some justification, that 

 India offers the best prospect of large and quick returns. 

 In 1902-3 the Indian crop amounted to 3,855,000 bales, 

 and had increased to 5,197,000 bales five years later. 

 There was a falling back in the next two years, but in 1909- 

 10 the crop touched the record figure of 5,317,000 bales, 

 only to fall back again to 4,078,000 bales in 1911-12. It 

 will be seen at once that the fluctuations are very large, 

 as I suppose must always be more or less the case with 

 agricultural crops, which are naturally dependent on the 

 vagaries of the weather. There is, however, one serious 

 disadvantage connected with Indian cotton, and that is 

 the fact that the bulk of it is far too short for anything 



