COMMUNITY PRODUCTION OF EGYPTIAN COTTON. 9 



bollworm, which have recently caused serious and extensive damage 

 in Lower Egypt and which are still spreading. 



It is probable that the higher valuation of land in Egypt, together 

 with the less efficient methods of tillage, nearly or quite offsets the 

 higher cost of labor in the United States. The crop-producing 

 capabilities of the land in the two regions are much the same. The 

 commercial value of the Arizona crop compares favorably with the 

 best of the Egyptian crop and is much greater than the average value 

 of the crop of that country. Finally, the Egyptian cotton grown in 

 Arizona is practically free from Hindi contamination, and the pink 

 bollworm has not yet found its way into the American fields. 



In the matter of transportation the Egj^ptian cotton crop enjoys 

 certain natural advantages over the product of the new American 

 industry. It also has the advantage of long-standing occupation of 

 the market and of a well-organized, though rather expensive, system 

 of commercial distribution. 



The entire Egyptian crop is assembled in Alexandria, where it is 

 sorted, classed, compressed, and forwarded. Practically none of the 

 cotton is manufactured locally. This centralization of the marketing 

 business permits, though it does not insure, efficiency and economy 

 in the handling of the product. The freight rates from Alexandria 

 to manufacturing centers, transportation being by water, are low in 

 comparison with the rates from Arizona, which include a long rail 

 shipment. Freight rates, particularly ocean freight rates, are sub- 

 ject to continual fluctuations, but it is probable that the rates from 

 Arizona to manufacturing points in either America or Europe are 

 about three times as high as from Egypt to the same points. 1 



The large volume of the Egyptian crop and the centralized methods 

 of handling also permit a standardization of types and a system of 

 future selling against these types which are very important com- 

 mercial advantages. To find favor in the market a consignment of 

 cotton must not only show good grade and good staple, but must 

 represent a type which has had its merit established through actual 

 use. A manufacturer having determined what types of cotton meet 

 his particular requirements will endeavor to duplicate these types 

 in his annual purchases. For this reason Egyptian brokers establish 

 definite types and maintain them from year to year. This system of 

 dealing on types is possible with the Egyptian crop in spite of the 

 continued deterioration of the varieties, because each broker has a 

 large volume of cotton offered to him at Alexandria from which to 

 select his stocks. 



1 The Arizona cotton is usually shipped by rail to Galveston, Tex., and thence by 

 water to New England. The freight rate on baled cotton from Salt River Valley points 

 to New England is about $1.30 per 100 pounds, this rate including the charge for com- 

 pressing in transit. 



11087°— Bull. 332—16 2 



