Algiers exported 33,244 kilo. in 1877, and 27,335 kilo. in 1878. In Natal, the plant grows to perfection, and has yielded Sea-Island staple nearly 3 in. long, and of silk-like quality, without any attentiou. In the Umkomas valley, an acre yielded 300 lb. clean cotton. Several of the W. African States possess equally suitable soil and climate, but lack labour.
Turkey, Levant, Persia, &e.—Much of the Ottoman Empire is unsurpassed in natural conditions for cotton-growing, and might contribute very largely ; but the energy displayed during the " cotton-famine" has not long survived. The country around Smyrna is most noted, the plantations being chiefly situated on the plains and slopes bordering the Meander, and other streams draining the Sultan Dagh range. The Roumelian coast, from the Gulf of Saros to the Gulf of Salonica, might produce large crops. Turkish cottons are named after the districts where they are grown, which are chiefly Cassaba, Aidin, Denizli, Kirgagateh, and Danidir. It is classed as Tchillrik or unginned, and Subutcha or ginned, and finds its way into the Smyrna market. The Adana cotton comes from Tarsus, and is shipped at Messina. Turkey cotton is carelessly grown, badly gathered, of mixed staple, and imperfectly Gleaned. Its position in the market shows what might be done with it. The 75,000 bales annually exported go chiefly to S. European ports. Adana, in 1878, exported 18,760 bales, or 5,913,820 lb., value 94,8701.
Cyprus grows cotton, chiefly iu the Messaorea, on the plains of Morpho and Nicosia, and in the districts of Larnaka, Buffo, Famagusta, and Karpas. The best staple, however, comes from Lefka and Kythrea, In ordinary years, the production is perhaps 10,000 cwt., a trifle only of what might be raised.
In different parts of Syria, cotton has been cultivated for ages, but inattention has caused the staple to deteriorate. Consul Moore enumerates the following localities where water is abundant, and cotton culture might be successfully maintained :—The sources of the Jordan, the valley of the Bekaa and Baalhec, the sources and banks of the Orontes, the plains beyond Damascus, that part of Mesopotamia on both sides of the Euphrates, chiefly waste lands. The plains in the vicinity of Alexandretta and Tarsous, and the Nablous and Anagreath mountain districts, produce cotton without irrigation, water being scarce.
A large quantity of cotton is grown about Erivan and the frontier of Persia, as also in Ghilan and the interior. The export trade amounted st one time to 100,000 bales yearly ; and, though it is now much crippled by duties, still continues to flourish, and shows what might be done.
Increasing quantities are being sent to India, from Bushire. The exports of raw cotton from Gez and Casvin to Russia were valued at 55,7601. in 1878, and 34,6151. in 1879. The exports from the province of Asterabad, in 1879, were 19,580 bales, value 37,3061.
Central Asia.—The Central Asian countries of Bokhara and Turkestan, notably the former, produce annually about a million cwt. of very inferior cotton, much of which finds its way to Nishni Novgorod and Moscow. The culture is increasing. It is hoped that the duty levied on imports of raw cotton will develop the culture in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Hitherto, Central Asian cotton
has been used only in mixtures with American cotton ; but it is said that at Turfan, in E. Turkestan, a little to the south of the Tian-shan Mountains, cotton equal to American is grown, and it is believed that by protecting this, Russia may be ultimately rendered independent of American cotton. There is more cotton raised now in this district than in all Central Asia besides. The climate is favourable ; the plant attains a height of 9 ft., and a thickness of stem of 2i in. The crop is gathered in early August.
India.—India now ranks second only to the United States as a source of cotton. Owing to climatic and other influences, the staple is short, and not so well adapted for spinning as some other varieties. Until the American war, the demand for " Surats," as Indian cottons were called, was small in Europe, though cotton had always been cultivated on a large scale, for home con sumption and export to China, &c. The crop is well suited to the soil of many parts of India, and is understood by the peasants, hence the stimulus of high prices has attracted science and capital to the industry, and has resulted in a greatly increased production. The subjoined Table, prepared in 1872, shows approximately the extent of cotton cultivation (in acres), the average produce per acre (in lbs.), and the total estimated yield (in bales of 400 lb.), of the several provinces and presidencies of India :— As will be noticed, the average production from an acre of land varies much. This variation is chiefly due to difference of soil. The sort most common throughout the cotton-growing tracts of W. India, and on which the best cotton is produced, is the " regur," or " black cotton soil," of the Deccan, which stretches from the W. Coast to the centre of India, near Nagpore, where it meets the lighter soil which covers the sandstone formation. The " regur " is of a bluish-black, greenish, or dark-grey colour. It forms into a paste with water, and gives a clayey odour. It absorbs moisture rapidly, and parts with it in dry and hot weather. Its thickness varies from 3 ft. to about 20 ft. It is cultivated very easily, yielding a rotation of crops, consisting of cotton and two kinds of corn. It rarely requires to be left fallow, and demands but little husbandry ; for the last 2000 years, it has continued in cultivation without manure, retaining the utmost fertility. An analysis of it shows:—Silles, 48.20; alumina, 20.80; carbonate of lime, 16.00; carbonate of magnesia, 10.20; oxide of iron, 1.00 ; water and organic matter, The subsoils vary from rich black mould to hard basaltio rock. Very little natural manure is available, and artificial fertilizers have only recently been introduced. A good composition is said to be formed of 10 parts soluble phosphate of lime, 3 parts sulphate of ammonia, 3 parts nitrate of soda, 4 parts Peruvian guano. Apart from the heavy oost of such a manure, there arises the serious drawback that it can only be used with a liberal supply of water, not to be obtained in India except by irrigation, which ie quite undeveloped in the cotton districts.