COTTON 227 



without deterioration of the crop. The chief reason for 

 the substitution of a two years' for a three years' rotation 

 is that, in accordance with the rise in the price of cotton, 

 the demand for land has risen, and the land itself has 

 changed hands at an enhanced price. The new pur- 

 chasers, rinding that the monetary return from a cotton 

 crop so far exceeded that from any of the other crops 

 which they could grow, planted cotton as frequently as 

 possible. Tenants, who previously used to obtain leases 

 of land for three years upon the old rotation system, are 

 now offered two-year leases. This method is now 

 general, except upon a few very large estates in the 

 country, but the effect upon the yield caused by the 

 alteration in the rotation has scarcely been felt. The soil, 

 which for the most part consists of Nile silt, is im- 

 poverished to a very small degree by the crop growing 

 upon it. It is renovated to some extent also each year 

 by the frequent application of Nile water carrying 

 fertilizing matter in suspension even when not in flood. 



In this connection it has been frequently assumed that 

 the thick flood water alone had a beneficial effect upon 

 the soil as a fertilizer, but from analytical tests which 

 have been made, it has been ascertained that there is just 

 as much plant-feeding matter in the ordinary Nile water 

 as is found in the " red water" of the flood. A deteri- 

 oration of the quantity of cotton yielded per feddan, as 

 well as of its quality, is predicted by some, and is attri- 

 buted to the action of the Assuan reservoir and the canal 

 system in holding up the silt; but it should be remembered 

 that that which is deposited upon the canal bottoms is 

 the heavier material, mainly disintegrated rock, and in 

 any case any value it may possess is not lost, as it is 

 applied to -the lands to a large extent when the cleaning 

 of canals is in progress. Any temporary deterioration 

 in the quality of cotton, which is a defect chiefly notice- 

 able in the second and third pickings, is mainly due to 

 the attacks of the Earias boll worm or to shortage of 

 water. The more recently introduced pink boll worm 

 (Gelechia gossypiella) is actually more destructive to 

 seed than to lint, and is less likely to seriously affect the 

 quality or yield from the cotton areas. 



