Cotton in Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan By Moritz Schanz, Submitted to the 9th International Cotton Congress Scheveningen, June 9th to 11th, 1913. MANCHESTER Taylor, Garnett, Evans, & Co., Ltd., Blackfriars Street also Reddish and London Cotton in Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by Moritz Schanz Submitted to the 9th International Cotton Congress, Scheveningen, June 9th to 11th, 1913 G?3 3, 3 c^ ^Cotton in Egypt and the Anglo- Egyptian Sudan. by MORITZ SCHANZ, Chemnitz (Germany). INDEX. Page MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES 4 PREFACE .. .. .. .. .. •. • • • • • •• • • 5- 1. EGYPT .. 7 Historical .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. • • 7 The Cultivated Land and Its Inhabitants 12; Climate .. 15 Irrigation and Land Reclamation 17 EGYPTIAN FARMING : Rayeh and Sharaki Lands. Rotation of crops. Draught Animals. Agricultural Tools. Agricultural Companies. State Assistance. Crop Estimates .. .. .. .. .. 26 Improvement of the Soil and Manuring .. .. .. .. 35 TYPES OF AGRICULTURE : Landed Property. Distribution of the Land. Small Holdings. Land Companies. State Domains. Selling of Government Land. Price of Land. Leasing. Hired Labour. Taxes. Agricultural Credit. Land Banks .. .. ,. .. .. .. .. • 37 Geographical Distribution of Cotton in the Nile Country .. .. 50 The Egyptian Kinds of Cotton 52 Selection and Breeding of Seed .. .. .. .. .. .. 58 Cultivation of Cotton .. .. .. , .. .. .. .. 62 Cotton Pests of Egypt 68 Yield of the Crop 73 Cost of Production and Rentability .. .. .. .. .. 78 Marketing of Cotton .. .. .. .. .. •. .. 83 Ginning and Pressing of the Cotton .. .. .. .. • • 87 Cotton Seed 93 Cotton Seed Oil 95 Cotton Use in Egypt 97 Native Industries .. .. .. .. .. •. • • 9 Import of Cotton .. .. .. .. .. • • • • 9& EXPORT OF COTTON : Export Firms. Commercial Exchange at Minet el Bassal. The Bourse Khediviale. General Produce Association. Business in "Futures" Arbitration. Commercial Banks. Damp in Cotton. Customers. Statistics .. .. .. .. • • • • 1^ Future of Egyptian Cotton .. .. .. .... .. 114 4 INDEX. Page 2. THE SUDAN 116 The Country 116 Climate 117 Irrigation .. .. .. ..117 Labour Questions .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 120 Agriculture .. .. .. .. .. 121 Landownership .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 123 Land Taxes .. 123 Agricultural Credit .... • .. .. .. .. 124 Cotton Cultivation 124 Zeidab. Gesireh. Kassala. Tokar. Methods of Purchase of Cotton 136 Ginning and Pressing 136 Cotton Export 136 Calotropis .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 137 Means of Communication .. .. .. .. .. 138 The Nile. Railways. Port Sudan. Future of Sudan Cotton 141 BOOKS OF REFERENCE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. •. 143 Money, Weights, and Measures. 1 Egyptian £ (£E.) at 100 Piastre Tarif (P.T.) at 10 Milliemes £1. 0s. 6d = M 20-90 1 Piastre Tarif (P.T.) or large piastre at 40 Paras = „ 0-21 1 Piastre Courant (P.K.) or small piastre at 20 Para Courant = ,,00-10 1 Tailed, denomination derived from the old Maria Theresa dollar, to-day £th of £ = 20 P.T = „ 4-15 1 English Pound (£) = 97J P.T = ,,20-43 1 Kassaba = an Egyptian rod = 3-55 Metres 1 sq. Kassaba = Egyptian sq. rod = 12*6 sq. 1 Fcddan = 333} sq. kassabas = 1038 acres == 4,200 „ 1 Kirat = ^ feddan = 175 „ 1 Sahm = ^ Kirat = 7-3 ,, 1 English acre = 0-96 Feddans = 4,046 „ 1 big Kantar Seed cotton = 315 rottles = 141*4 kgs. 1 ordinary Kantar Lint cotton = 100 rottles = 99'0491bs. = 44-928 „ 1,250 1 oka=^s Kantar = » 1 rottle == Egyptian pound — 0-449 1 lb. = English pound = °'453 " 1 ardeb cotton seed, = 270J rottles, = 266 lbs. * 121 kgs : = 197| litres 1 kila = A- ardeb = 16i " 1 kadah = ^ ardeb = 2 PREFACE. This book is the. outcome of repeated visits to Egypt and of prolonged studies, in which I have been greatly assisted by eminent experts, possessing a wide knowledge of the country and of the various questions at issue. Having been present as delegate of the German Colonial Economic Committee at the International Cotton Conferences held in Egypt during the autumn of 1912, I had an excellent opportunity of observing, in its latest phases, the develop­ ment of the cotton question in the valley of the Nile, as far as the Sudan, and to collect impressions, which I hope may be useful in various directions. MORITZ SCHANZ. Chemnitz, Christmas, 1912. EGYPT. HISTORICAL. Formerly it was thought that the cultivation, spinning, and weaving of cotton were known to the race which built the Pyramids and the Egyptian temples, because the opinion was held that many of the mummies were wrapped in cotton cloth. It has now been proved from a minute chemical and microscopical investigation that the garments of the mummies consist exclusively of linen &&4t cotton. Nevertheless, one may suppose that cotton was cultivated and utilised in Egypt a thousand years before the birth of Christ. The Bible reports that Pharaoh presented Joseph with a cotton garv ment as a mark of distinction—at those times they were worn only by the nobility and priests. It is certain that cotton garments were, and remained for a long time, a rarity, and were not worn by the masses of the people. The Greek writer Herodotus, who lived about five centuries B.C, had an intimate knowledge of Egypt and of the cotton plant, but, strange to say, he does not mention its existence in Egypt, and we might conclude, therefore, that cotton did not grow in Egypt at his time. It is worthy of notice that the Egyptian pictures and sculptures show frequently the cultivation and the uses of flax, but nowhere is there any reference to cotton. The Govern­ ment Department of Egyptian Antiquities has requested students of Egyptology to search for traces which might have reference to cotton, but so far their efforts have been in vain. If Upper Egypt, Abyssinia, or the Sudan were not the home of the Egyptian cotton—and considerable doubt seems to exist on this point—there remains another explanation for the source of Egyptian cotton, viz., India. As the Egyptians were in early times keen sailors and able traders, it is practically certain that among the goods which they imported from the maritime countries along the Indian Ocean were raw cotton and cotton products; indeed, existing litera­ ture proves that Indian cotton came into Egypt before the birth of Christ. After the death of Alexander the Great, Egypt cultivated a brisk trade with India during the reign of the Ptolemies, and from this time forth there began a regular importation of cotton goods into Egypt from India, and Egypt then made attempts to grow cotton. The celebrated stone of Rosetta, which bears the key to the hieroglyphs, written in three languages, in one part refers to cotton. The elder Pliny (A.D. 23 to 79) describes plainly how in ancient times cotton grew in Upper Egypt, towards Arabia, the products of which afforded very valued vestments, and in. the year 150 A.D. Julius Pollux described the cotton plants grown in Egypt with great exact­ ness, and related that the spun thread was made into weft yarn; for •the warp linen was used. The conclusion has, however, been come to that these statements, supposed to have been made by Pliny and Pollux, are mere marginal notes on the original, made in the 14th century. The Romans of the 2nd century A.D. found cotton garments in use all over Egypt. The wearing of cotton garments made from indigenous or foreign cotton has remained a continual custom through all the changes of time. The cultivation of cotton in Egypt has also been uninterruptedly carried on since ancient times, and has become more or less extended under the various reigns, although the historical reports may not mention the cotton-growing industry. As in other Mediterranean countries, the appearance of the Arabs in Egypt, who were the carriers of civilisation during the Middle Ages, gave a new impetus to the cultivation of cotton; at the time of Mohammed cotton garments were quite in common use in Arabia. We find that the Arabian word for cotton, " El Kotn," is the stem of the name which the Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and the English use for this new product. Raw cotton and cotton goods had already become articles of Mediterranean com­ merce from Egypt in the Middle Ages at the time of the Crusades. But the cultivation and the working of Egyptian cotton had already attained a wider area for part of the raw cotton, yarn and cloth, which was exported from Alexandria, had its origin in the Levant and India, to which countries Egypt was indebted for the best part of her requirements. In Europe cotton was looked upon as an article of luxury until far into the Middle Ages. In several books of the 16th century it was distinctly stated that the cotton plant was rare in Egypt, and at the time served only as an ornamental shrub in the gardens. This can hardly refer to the whole of Egypt. Unfortunately, our knowledge of Egypt at this time of the Turkish Conquest is very limited. A Mohammedan writer of the 17th century describes Damanhur as the chief place of Egyptian cotton cultivation, Rosetta and Alexandria as the weaving centres, and from the commercial reports of Marseilles and other ports it is certain that raw cotton, cotton yarn, and cloth from Alexandria were regularly imported up to the end of the 18th century. The French scholars who accompanied the Expedition of Bona­ parte to Egypt gave us at last an account of the mysterious land of Egypt. They stated that cotton cultivation, although carried on in a careless way, was of considerable importance, that there existed in conjunction a very remunerative trade in cotton, and that cotton was being manufactured in Egypt. The cultivation of cotton ex­ tended over the whole of Upper Egypt, especially in the Province of Thebes, and generally all over the Delta. Up to 1820 we read in u M the French records only the so-called Belledi Cotton was growny a coarse, short-fibred cotton, similar to that of the Indian Surat; it was very negligently handled, and never exported in its raw state.