6 BULLETIN 1742, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
In 1913 the production of Egyptian cotton was confined to the 
Salt River Valley, where a total of 3,800 acres was planted. Not all 
of this acreage came to harvest, but the crop for the year amounted 
to 2,135 bales of 500 pounds each. 
In 1914 the area planted in the Salt River Valley amounted to 
approximately 12,000 acres. On much of this area the conditions 
were not favorable for large yields because of deficient soil fertility, 
inadequate preparation of the land, or faulty management of the 
irrigation. The total crop for the year amounted to 6,187 bales of 
500 pounds each. While the average yield per acre shown by these 
figures is not high, a number of farmers having good land and using 
good methods obtained more than one bale per acre. 
In 1915, owing to the low prices which followed the outbreak of 
the war in 1914, the area in the Salt River Valley was reduced to 
2,330 acres, of which about 2,000 acres were brought through to 
harvest. In 1916, under the infiuence of rising prices, 7,433 acres 
were planted, and about 6,800 acres were harvested. 
Prior to 1917 the commercial production of Egyptian cotton in the 
United States had been practically confined to the Salt River Valley 
in Arizona. In that year, however, in addition to the 29,000 acres 
which were harvested in the Salt River Valley, some 4,000 acres were 
grown on the Yuma Reclamation Project (Arizona and California), 
and approximately 2060 acres were grown in the Imperial Valley in 
California. 
In 1918 the total acreage planted to Egyptian cotton in the United 
States is estimated at 86,500, including about 78,000 acres in the 
Salt River and Gila Valleys in Arizona, about 3,000 acres on the 
Yuma Reclamation Project, about 3,000 acres in the Imperial Valley, 
approximately 2,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley, Cal., and more 
than 500 agres in the Palo Verde Valley, Cal. The experience of 
previous years has shown, however, that a certain percentage of the 
acreage planted is sure to be abandoned before picking time, in most 
cases because of failure to get a good stand. Probably a conservative 
estimate of the acreage of Egyptian cotton in Arizona and California 
which was harvested in 1918 is 70,000 acres. 
The status of the industry ee the first six years of its existence 
is summarized in Table III. 
Several ginning establishments, devoted exclusively to ginning 
Egyptian cotton, have been erected in the Salt River Valley and on 
the Yuma Reclamation Project. Each of these is equipped with from 
10 to 15 roller gins of the type used for ginning Sea Island cotton. 
A number of cottonseed-oil mills are operated in the Salt River, 
Yuma, and Imperial Valleys. . 
In staple and quality of fiber the Ancor -erown Egyptian cot- 
ton is comparable with the best varieties produced in Egypt, although 
