l66 COTTON 



assumption that the limit of the cotton crop of the United 

 States has been reached. It is true that owing to the 

 excellent organization of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture the yield per acre is gradually increasing; 

 but if labour cannot be found to harvest the cotton, the 

 full advantage of its activity cannot be realized. So long 

 as no efficient mechanical cotton picker is invented (and 

 so far the results obtained have not been satisfactory), 

 the cotton crop of the United States will probably not 

 far exceed 16,000,000 bales. In the event of an efficient 

 mechanical cotton picker being put on the market, it is 

 doubtful if many planters would be able to afford to 

 purchase it. The tendency in the States is to split up 

 the large plantations into small holdings, and the small 

 farmer has not the capital with which to buy such a 

 machine. We must not leave out of consideration the 

 boll-weevil scourge which is devastating vast stretches of 

 territory. It is stated that in five years' time the Sea 

 Island cotton districts will be attacked, and that the 

 farmers there will be forced to grow early maturing 

 varieties of cotton, which are largely of short staple. It 

 is for this reason that every effort should be made to 

 complete the irrigation works in the Anglo-Egyptian 

 Sudan. Egypt and the Sudan will be called upon to make 

 up for the shortage that will result in the supply of long- 

 staple cotton, when the Sea Island districts have become 

 a prey to the ravages of the boll-weevil. 



South America. The Republics of South America are 

 already suppliers of cotton to a small extent (500,000 

 bales), and when better means of transportation are 

 established, and the population increases, it is probable 

 that Brazil and Peru will furnish large quantities of 

 cotton. But for a generation or two this cannot happen. 

 At present the unsettled financial condition of these 

 Republics prevents development. 



Asiatic Russia. Asiatic Russia supplies the Russian 

 cotton industry with one million bales of cotton of 500 lb., 

 quite equal in quality to Middling American. The prin- 

 cipal cotton-growing districts are Ferghana, Syr Darja, 

 Semiretschenck, Samarkand, and the Transcaspian terri- 

 tory. The danger of the increasing evaporation of 



