View PDF version of this page

be assured when the crop is ripe and fit to gather. The collection extends over many days, as the pods do not burst at the same period. Some of the most valuable kinds detach easily from the expanded husk and fall quickly to the ground, which entails constant attention, and the quality would deteriorate unless labour is always at hand to gather the cotton before it shall fall naturally from the plant. It will be therefore understood that, although many soils may be highly favourable to the growth of fine qualities of cotton, there is an absolute necessity for a combination of a peculiar climate, where neither rain nor dew shall moisten, and accordingly deteriorate the crop. Egypt is specially favoured for the production of first-class cotton, as in the upper portions of the Delta rain is seldom known ; but the extreme carelessness of the people has reduced the average quality by mixing the seeds, instead of keeping the J various classes rigidly separate. The dry climate, combined with the fertile soil of Cyprus, would suggest a great extension of cotton cultivation, when artificial irrigation shall be generally developed, but so long as the present system of collecting the dimes is continued, the farmer cannot produce the higher qualities which require immediate attention in collecting. During the delay in waiting for the official valuer, the pods are bursting rapidly, and the valuable quality is falling to the ground; the cultivator is therefore confined to the growth of those inferior cottons that will adhere to the pods, and wait patiently for the arrival of the government authority. Consul Hamilton Lang, in his interesting work upon Cyprus, suggests that the duty should be

View PDF version of this page