nd,
after being plowed, is thrown up into ridges about three feet apart.
Channels for water are formed at right angles to the ridges. The seeds,
before being sown, in March, are thoroughly soaked, and after the
seedlings appear there is frequent hoeing and watering. The total water
is equivalent to a rainfall of about 35 inches. There is little
cultivation in the American fashion, hand labor being employed almost
exclusively. The result of all this intensive effort is an abundant crop
of long-stapled cotton with an extremely strong fiber, bringing in the
open market a price second only to that of the American Sea Island
variety. Much of the Egyptian cotton is used in the manufacture of
hosiery and other knit goods, sateens, sewing thread, etc., but recently
it has also been found to be exceedingly well fitted for the manufacture
of the fabric used in pneumatic tires, and for the duck or filter cloth
used in such industries as the refining of sugar.

[Illustration: _Pickers in Delta Field_]

Russian cotton, so-called, is really grown largely in Turkestan though a
small amount is produced in the Southern Caucasus. The culture has been
under way since very early times, but had little more than local
significance until about 1875 when the Russian Government took steps to
foster it, distributing American seed of the Upland variety, importing
the necessary equipment, and providing instructors, frequently Americans.
Railroads to handle the crop were built, and, with all this favorable
assistance, progress was rapid. About one-third of the cotton used in the
Russian mills up to the time of the war was grown on Russian soil, the
remainder being brought largely from the United States.

The American Crop
As the World's Basis

But the bulk of the world's supply is the cotton grown in the United
States. The price for American Upland Cotton governs the price of the
other varieties. The acreage devoted to the cultivation of the cotton
crop in the United States is approximately 34,000,000. The increase since
1839, when census figures covering this point were first obtained, has
been about seventeen fold. The 1916 acreage, of the various States,
together with figures giving the value of the crop and the comparative
rank, is here given:

================+==========+==============+========+===============
| | _Gross | | _Crop Value
| |Equivalent 500|_Approx