However, it may be of benefit. I will not concern myself with this topic, but rather limit my discussion to the Egyptian cotton crop only, as I cannot at present estimate what cotton can be extracted from Sudan (1). Nevertheless, it is certain that whatever the crop of that country may be, the world markets will absorb it in addition to Egyptian cotton. I say this because I have seen them mention, among the official fears sometimes raised about the potential harm that the progress of Sudan might cause to Egypt, that the competition from Sudan could harm Egyptian cotton. However, the truth, if understood correctly, is that there is no fear of the cotton crop increasing beyond demand; rather, those who hold a strong opinion on the matter fear that world demand will exceed supply.

As for the area of land that can be cultivated in Egypt, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance and Agriculture, it was as follows: | Region | Cultivated (feddans) | Uncultivated (feddans) | Total (feddans) | |---------------|----------------------|------------------------|-----------------| | Lower Egypt | 3,133,539 | 606,654 | 3,740,193 | | Upper Egypt | 2,279,992 | 2,335,076 | 4,615,068 | | **Total** | **5,413,531** | **2,941,730** | **8,355,261** | The area cultivated with cotton in 1906 was 1,506,390 feddans. If we assume that the current cotton yield is 4.6 million qintars, the average yield per feddan was 4.1 qintars.

The area of land cultivated with cotton in Lower Egypt alone is 1,361,076 feddans, which is 40 percent of all agricultural land. All of this area is irrigated by summer irrigation, so it can be planted with cotton. From these figures, it appears that one piece of land is planted with cotton two years out of every five, with adjustments.

The area of land cultivated with cotton in Upper Egypt is 246,183 feddans, which is a small part of the agricultural area. This is because the area irrigated by summer irrigation there is less than half of that area, and in addition, the weather conditions south of Assiut are not suitable for cotton cultivation.

To understand the extent to which the area planted with cotton can be increased, let us assume that all the land that (1) See the notes on this subject in my report on Sudan in chapter (7) Cotton.