COTTON 229 



or oil seeds, all of which could be remuneratively grown 

 for export. 



The productive power of the land is superior to that 

 of any other tract of equal dimensions at present under 

 cultivation, and there are fewer disturbing factors than 

 in other countries, so that Egypt without cotton would 

 occupy no mean position as a competitor in the markets 

 of the world. 



So far I have chiefly referred to the question of the 

 extension of the cotton area in relation to the diminution 

 of the output of lint per feddan and the effect upon the 

 food crops. 



Without entering into a detailed discussion of the 

 many problems directly attached to cotton cultivation in 

 this country, the conditions of which render such culti- 

 vation widely different from that found elsewhere, it may 

 be of interest to refer to two important factors which 

 exercise an influence upon the quality. The first of these 

 is the diversity of varieties of cotton cultivated at the 

 present time in the comparatively small and congested 

 area, and the second, the occurrence of insect pests and 

 maladies during the plants' growth. 



In the search for new kinds of cotton which shall 

 possess to a marked degree any of the desirable features 

 from the supposed point of view of the spinner, many 

 people in Egypt have, from time to time, preserved the 

 seed produced by hybrids or natural varieties which have 

 appeared in their fields. The progeny of by far the 

 larger number of these have been disappointing, and 

 have shown no constancy in the characters aimed at, but 

 occasionally the contrary has been the case, and the 

 foundation of a new strain has been established. In this 

 manner such cottons as Ashmouni, Mitafifi, Abassi, 

 Jannovitch, Nubari, Sakellaridis, Assili, Voltos, and many 

 other well-known kinds have been produced, all of which 

 have been isolated in the first instance, only to be brought 

 together again as the demand for them has increased 

 and their planted area has become extended; so it 

 happens, at the present time, that most of the varieties 

 named are being grown in close proximity to one another, 

 and frequently even in adjoining fields. The fixed 



