18 THE COTTON ZONE OF THE WORLD. 
obstacles being tbe superior advantages of grain-growing, 
and tbe unskilled labor of the country, which in agricul- 
ture is performed exclusively by the Fellahs, a race similar 
to the serfs of Russia. The cotton is badly cultivated and 
slovenly handled. Manufactories are unprofitable. The 
mean annual temperature of Egypt is 70°. 
2d. Algiers. — The sea island, long-stapled, and Nankin 
species of cotton are cultivated in Algeria. The annual 
product is about 200,000 lbs. There are no manufactories. 
The entire crop is exported to Havre, where it is sold on 
account of the French Government.* Mean annual temper- 
ature, 64°. 
3d. Athens, Greece. — The cotton of Greece grows from 
two to five feet in height. It is sown annually. The cli- 
mate is well adapted to its growth, but the soil is not suf- 
ficiently rich. The short-stapled yields about 60 lbs. of 
fibre to the acre ; the long-stapled, 300 lbs. It is badly 
cultivated. Mean annual temperature, 64°. 
4th. Bombay, British India. — The amount of cotton 
produced in the districts under the Bombay Government 
is about 250,000,000 lbs, annually, of which about 
63,000,000 lbs. is manufactured into coarse cloth, worn 
by the natives. The rest is exported. 
Cotton is ginned in India both by the saw-gin and an 
instrument called the " churka," which is very simple in 
construction, resembling a roller and breaker, and turning 
out about 40 lbs. of clean cotton a day by the labor of two 
men. The gin is used by large speculators, and is pro- 
pelled by bullocks, turning out 500 lbs. of clean cotton a 
day. The quantity of fibre obtained from 100 lbs. of 
seed cotton is usually about 31 lbs. Some of the gins in 
* During the late war the increase in the culture of cotton was 
very great, and a much larger quantity than the above was exported. 
