COTTON 167 



moisture from the soil in Turkestan, the lack of transport 

 communications for the importation of fodder and food 

 crops, as well as for the exportation of the cotton crop, 

 and the lack of labour, are the principal reasons why the 

 extension of cotton cultivation in Asiatic Russia is bound 

 to be slow. The average wage of a labourer is 43. per 

 day; this alone is enough to prevent any large extension. 



China and Korea. It is estimated that China and Korea 

 produce about one and a half million bales of cotton of 

 500 lb., but very little is known as to the possibilities of 

 extension. The quality produced is very low, and the 

 cotton is adulterated with over 15 per cent, of water and 

 sand. The unsettled political state of China is bound to 

 impede developments there. 



Turkey. Turkey produces about 100,000 bales of 

 cotton per annum. Owing to the massacres which have 

 recently taken place in Asia Minor, the country suffers 

 severely from lack of labour, and even if the projected 

 works of irrigation are successfully carried out, it will 

 be a long time before appreciable quantities of cotton 

 can be exported. 



India. After considering the possibilities of the exten- 

 sion of cotton cultivation in all these countries we come 

 to India, which possesses an excellent network of rail- 

 ways, has a hard-working population, 90 per cent, of the 

 315,000,000 being born agriculturists, and in which cotton 

 has been an important crop from time immemorial. It 

 is true that crops in India are largely dependent on the 

 monsoons, but it is equally true that the climate of India 

 is no less favourable to cotton growing than that of the 

 United States. Besides, the Government has developed 

 a wonderful system of irrigation, especially in the North; 

 and the Indian ryot, taking him as a whole, is a steady, 

 plodding worker, who has begun to appreciate the advan- 

 tages resulting from an increased income. This is a verv 

 important factor. The Indian ryot has discovered tnat 

 well irrigation makes cotton growing profitable; indeed, 

 in Madras and the United Provinces the number of wells 

 constructed by the cultivators in recent years may be said 

 to represent the savings that have resulted from the 

 increased profits on cotton cultivation. These wells are 

 the best insurance against famine. 



