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 Egyptian 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 sIioav 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 
