GENERAL COTTON REMARKS 53 



part of Brazil. These are two distinct zones, the former growing 

 American Upland of about one inch, which is planted every year 

 afresh, whilst the latter zone ])roduces real first-class long sta'plc cotton 

 on trees which do not require renewing for 15 years and more. When 

 one compares the yields of these two zones with those of any other 

 cotton growing country in the world one cannot come to any other 

 conclusion but that — in view of the general shortage of cotton in the 

 world under normal conditions — cotton is bound to assert itself there. 

 Not only in the above-mentioned parts of Brazil are the yields higher 

 than anywhere else, but also in the States of Minas Geraes, Bahia, 

 Alagoas and Sergipe yields are equal to, if not higher than, those in 

 the U.S.A. 



Hardly anything has Ijeen done to improve cotton cultivation 

 in Brazil. The Cotton Department of the Agricultural Ministry is 

 quite a new enterprise and could, of course, touch so far only the fringe 

 of the problem in the one and a half years of its activity, though 

 hard work has been done. It may sound surprising, but in almost 

 every place I had to explain to the planters, farmers, nay, even to 

 cotton merchants, what constitutes the quality or value of cotton ; 

 they did not know that the length, uniformity, strength, colour, etc., 

 were the potent factors on which the price depends. 



Therefore what Brazil has produced — and that excellent quahties 

 are grown will be seen from subsequent chapters^ — has been achieved 

 without the least human effort towards improvement. All is the 

 spontaneous work of bountiful natural conditions. Man has retarded, 

 has persistently caused a deterioration of the cotton qualities, through 

 laxity or ignorance, as for instance in the ginning and planting of 

 mixed cotton seeds in the same field. 



So far the U.S.A. are Brazil's best customers for the bulk of her 

 raw materials (but she does not buy much cotton from Brazil). As 

 the U.S.A. import so largely from Brazil, this country has to treat 

 North America with due deference and circumspection. Thus con- 

 tracts for electrical undertakings, financial transactions, etc., pass 

 often to the U.S.A. on account of the fact that this country takes 

 most of Brazil's commodities. Brazil requires another string to her 

 bow : if she succeeds in making cotton one of her staple products 

 she will find a good customer in Europe to the mutual advantage of 

 both parties. 



The staple cotton of the North-East is well able to compete with 

 Egyptian cotton, for even in Brazil it is used for spinning up to 125's 

 without admixture of any foreign grown cotton, and, of course, the 

 Brazilian is not as skilled as the Lancashire operative. 



Shortage of Long Staple Cotton.— The Boll-Weevil has 

 definitely invaded the long staple district of the Mississippi delta, 

 with the result that \\m. Bender cotton is to-day 1,000 points 

 "on." It will be impossible, on account of this invasion, to 

 grow long staple cotton in these parts during the next 

 decade, because cotton of quickly maturing characteristics 

 must be planted in order to have it ripe before the boll- weevil 

 has time to develop and so far no early maturing variety 

 of long staple cotton has been found. Cotton of a short gro^v^ng period 



