COTTON 243 



The agricultural season can be considered as beginning 

 about the end of April, since at this time rivers begin 

 flooding and enable direct irrigation or easy pumping of 

 water to be carried on. About that time also abundant 

 rain falls which allows the sowing of cotton without 

 irrigation. 



By sowing in May, and under a normal vegetation of 

 the plant, Egyptian cotton shows the first opening bolls 

 after 140 days, so that picking begins in October and 

 can be profitably continued until February. 



During October-November some showers may come 

 disturbing picking, but heavy rains rarely occur, and 

 in any case the sun and wind rapidly dry the bolls, so 

 that the damage complained of in other countries through 

 wetting of the bolls is avoided. 



The deep clay soil retains water for a long while, and 

 under these circumstances it is advisable to give only a 

 few heavy irrigations, followed by careful tillage to keep 

 the soil soft and permeable. 



In clay soils, and especially in hot countries, where the 

 high capillary power and cracking and shrinking on 

 drying are extreme, it is very important to keep a fine 

 surface tilth, and the error commonly met with in tem- 

 perate countries, that lack of tillage may be compensated 

 by giving more irrigation water than usual, must be 

 avoided. 



The culture system to be followed may be regarded 

 as a combination of dry farming and Irrigation. 



In fact, light irrigations cannot penetrate deeply in the 

 soil so long as high temperature and strong winds cause 

 great evaporation, and since the water in some seasons, 

 especially on the Uebi-Scebeli, deposits a good deal of 

 fine silt, and also on account of the necessity of tillage, 

 as mentioned, it would be necessary to provide hoeing 

 after each watering, the net result being an increase in 

 the cultivation expenses. 



Therefore what may be correct in temperate countries, 

 viz., moderate quantity of water frequently supplied, is 

 likely to be changed, and under the conditions stated it 

 is better to give heavy waterings at comparatively long" 

 periods, and to avoid loss of moisture by careful tillage. 



