0 in., and on the supply of water by irrigation the
future of the industry mainly depends. The exports dwindled from 3600
bales in 1865 to 946 in 1905; great fluctuations occur, the export in
1904, for example, being only 338 bales. The cotton grown is rather
short-stapled and goes mainly to Marseilles and Trieste. Some is used
locally in the manufacture of cloth.

_Egypt._--The position of Egypt as the third cotton-producing country of
the world has already been pointed out, and the varieties grown and the
mode of cultivation described. The introduction of the exotic varieties
dates from the beginning of the 19th century. The industry was actively
promoted by a Frenchman named Jumel, in the service of Mehemet Ali, from
1820 onwards with great success. The area under cotton is about
1,800,000 acres.

_Cotton Production in Egypt._

1850 87,200 bales of 500 lb.
1865 439,000 " "
1890 798,000 " "
1904 1,258,000 " "
1905 1,250,000 " "
1906 1,400,000 " "

_The Egyptian Sudan._--Egyptian cotton was cultivated in the Sudan to
the extent of 21,788 acres in 1906 chiefly on non-irrigated land. The
exports, however, are small, almost all the crop being used locally. The
chief difficulties are the supply of water, labour and transport
facilities. Lord Cromer in his report on the Sudan for 1906 remarks
that: "There seems to be some reason for thinking that the future--or at
all events the immediate future--of Sudan agriculture lies more in the
direction of cultivating wheat and other cereals than in that of
cultivating cotton."

_West Africa._--Cotton has long been grown in the various countries on
the west coast of Africa, ginned by hand or by very primitive means,
spun into yarn, and woven on simple looms into "country cloths"; these
are often only a few inches wide, so that any large cloths have to be
made by sewing the narrow strips together. These native cloths are
exceedingly durable, and many of them are ornamented by using dyed yarns
and in other ways.

Southern Nigeria (Lagos) and northern Nigeria are the most important
cotton countries amongst the British possessions on the coast. From the
former there has been an export trade for many years which fluctuates
remarkably according to the demand. Northern Nigeria is the seat of a
very large native cotton industry, to supply the demand for cotton robes
fo