368 COTTON 



Sakellaridis as that is superior to anything else in Egypt. 

 They were not working on Mr. Balls's system, and in 

 practice the commercial crop from this cotton is too mixed 

 to be of any great value. But the testimony to the value 

 of purity lies in- the description of his experiments given 

 by Mr. Kearney. Year after year he comments on the 

 prepotency of his new cotton, and on its resistance to 

 hybridization. It is evident that Nature was here making 

 one of her rare efforts to produce a pure cotton, and 

 that, so far as she succeeded, she was producing some- 

 thing exceptionally good. 



But the most striking evidence of the value of purity is 

 to be found in the mill tests of Mr. Balls's own cottons. 

 Four samples of pure strains were selected for examina- 

 tion. The finger test of Alexandrian valuers found one 

 to be good, the others indifferent. I may admit that the 

 judgment of practical spinners was not entirely at variance 

 with this, but the mill test was very different. Of the 

 four samples, one represented an attempt to develop a 

 substitute for Sea Island cotton. In the first instance it 

 was unfortunately not tested on this basis in the mill. 

 No exact report can be given, but the cotton was reported 

 to be neppy and wasty, but strong. I have subsequently 

 had a small sample put through a mill which spins only 

 Fine Sea Island cottons. The experimental cotton proves 

 to be very wasty, i.e., to have a large excess of imperfect 

 fibres; but when spun into yarn so fine as i88's, it is 

 about 9 per cent, stronger than the standard of the mill, 

 and is about equal in appearance. 



The other three samples were tested against Nubari 

 classified as " Good/' This showed a loss of 18 per 

 cent, of waste and gave a strength of 10*00 Ib. One 

 sample, which I will call A, showed 16*8 per cent, waste, 

 and strength 12*50 Ib. This I understand to be from 

 Assili parentage and to be extraordinarily prolific. B 

 showed 17*5 per cent, waste and strength 14*00 Ib. This 

 is the cotton that was approved in Alexandria. C showed 

 15*7 per cent, waste and strength 16*30 Ib. Considering 

 that the comparison was made against Nubari cotton 

 classing " Good," which is far above the average of 

 Egyptian cotton, it must be admitted that these are 



