COMMUNITY PRODUCTION OF EGYPTIAN COTTON. 7 



FUTURE POSSIBILITIES OF THE INDUSTRY. 



Because of the low prices prevailing in 1914 only about 3,700 

 acres were planted to Egyptian cotton in the Salt River Valley in 

 1915. This check in the expansion of the industry is not to be 

 regarded as wholly a disadvantage, since a continued rapid increase 

 of the acreage might tax the resources of the growers' associations 

 in providing sufficient pure seed for planting and in obtaining the 

 labor necessary for prompt picking. 



As to the ultimate possible extension of the industry, leaving out 

 of consideration other localities where the climatic and soil condi- 

 tions are favorable to the production of this crop, the Salt Eiver 

 Valley could produce as much as 50,000 acres annually. This is 

 likety, however, only if prices remain at the average level of recent 

 years and the supply of labor required for picking so large an acre- 

 age is obtainable. This is about the maximum acreage of cotton 

 which a well-balanced agriculture in the Salt River Valley would 

 permit unless the total acreage now under irrigation should be 

 materially extended. The area of the Salt River Reclamation Project 

 for which water is at present available is approximately 200,000 

 acres. 



In view of the results obtained during the past three years, it ap- 

 pears to be conservative to estimate that 50,000 acres of land which 

 have been enriched by crops of alfalfa and which are managed by 

 farmers who have acquired experience in the best methods of grow- 

 ing Egyptian cotton would be capable of producing one bale per 

 acre, or 50,000 bales from the entire area. 1 This quantity of cotton, 

 selling at approximately 20 cents per pound, f. o. b. valley points 

 (which is a reasonable figure if we consider the prices at which 

 Egyptian cotton of corresponding quality has sold in the United 

 States during the last 20 years) , would yield to the growers approxi- 

 mately $5,000,000 annually. 



The foregoing statement refers to prospective production in the 

 Salt River Valley, the only section of the United States in which 

 Egyptian cotton has as yet found place as an established industry. 

 It is not to be expected that this type of cotton can be produced com- 

 mercially east of the Rio Grande, but there are other localities in 

 the southwestern United States where the crop might be grown if 

 economic conditions should justify a further extension of the acreage. 

 It has been demonstrated through repeated experiments that the 

 crop may be grown on the Yuma Reclamation Project on the lower 

 Colorado River, which includes 100,000 acres, and in the Imperial 



1 This estimate presumes an average yield comparable to that hitherto obtained only 

 by the more successful growers, but there is every reason to expect that with additional 

 experience and more skill in handling the crop the average yields may be greatly 

 increased. 



