2 BULLETIN 1184, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
in 1916, until approximately 180,000 acres were planted in 1920. 
Plantings in other irrigated valleys in Arizona and California 
brought the total acreage up to approximately 250,000. The high 
prices of the war period and the restriction of Egyptian imports 
stimulated this development, so that Pima cotton figured as the 
chief crop of the southwestern valleys. But before the 1920 crop was 
harvested the United States and other countries were experiencing 
a general business depression, not only in agriculture but also in all 
phases of various industries. Since much of the 1920 crop of cotton 
was on hand at the time for planting the 1921 crop and since there 
seemed to be little indication of immediate revival of the activities 
of the cotton market, the acreage planted in Pima cotton in 1921 
was greatly reduced, approximately 76,000 acres having been planted. 
Table 1 shows the production of American Egyptian cotton grown in 
California and Arizona since 1912. 
Table 1. — Production of American Egyptian cotton grown in Arizona and Gali- 
fontia since 1912. 
[The statistical data here shown for the years 1912 to 1917, inclusive, were taken from 
United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 742 (7). 1 those for 1918 to 1921, 
inclusive, from the latest ginning reports of the Bureau of the Census.] 
Year. , 
500-pound 
bales. 
Year. 
500-pound 
bales. 
1912 
375 
2, 135 
6, 187 
1, 095 
3,331 
j U5,966 
1918 
36,187 
40,437 
1913. 
1919.... 
1914 
191") 
1916 
1917 
1920 
1921 
1922 
92.561 
37,094 
1 After 1918 the improved Pima variety entirely replaced the Yuma variety, which had 
been grown in previous years. The planting of Pima cotton began in 1916 with 275 
acres, which furnished seed for 6,700 acres in 1917. 
2 Approximately 75,000 acres were planted to Pima cotton for the 1922 crop, which is 
about the same acreage as was planted in 1921. 
The rapid extension of the Pima industry in the World War 
period was in some respects unfortunate in reducing the general 
uniformity of the product. Planting was not restricted as in pre- 
vious years to lands or localities that are well suited to cotton and 
able to produce regular uniform crops. Many people who had had 
no previous experience with the crop or with irrigation, or even 
with farming, undertook the growing of Pima cotton, often under 
very unfavorable conditions. Thus a considerable number of bales 
of very irregular fiber have reached the market, with fiber of notice- 
ably different lengths, strength, or condition mixed together in the 
same bale, a situation which the manufacturers of long staples are 
especially anxious to avoid. 
Prior to the early part of 1921 the consumption of Pima cotton 
in mills that manufactured fine goods was very limited, for the 
greater portion of this cotton had been used exclusively for tire 
yarns and fabrics. During the latter part of 1920 the public began 
to demand lower prices, so a number of mills using Pima and other 
high-grade staple cottons in products for the tire trade began to 
1 The serial numbers (italic) in parentheses refer to "Literature cited" at the end of 
this bulletin. 
