- 85 -The doubts that had initially seized the people were dispelled, and we found everyone this year inclined towards work and eager for it. The result of the children's fight against it was better than in the previous year, and the organization of work was more important than expected. The senior farmers took it upon themselves to combat the worm at their own expense. Al-Masri wrote, "We are now capable of destroying the common cotton worm, the worm that eats the cotton roots when it is young, and the worm that paves the way for the honey worm fungus. However, the almond worm has not yet been overcome." (18) Sugar Following the bankruptcy of the Sugar Company, which I mentioned in last year's report (page 45), an agreement was reached to renew its term. The company's expenses decreased, and the capital required for its operations increased. The government had promised assistance and purchased its railway lines for £40,000. I was informed that the directors had embraced economy and savings and had made an effort to revive the sugar industry. We do not know what their success will be, but we leave that to the future, as the expansion of the sugar industry depends on the area planted with sugarcane, and the cultivation of sugarcane itself depends on the world price of sugar and its ratio to the prices of other crops. It appears that sugarcane cultivation is not widespread in the few governorates. In the central regions, the area planted with sugarcane has decreased because the high prices of cotton led farmers to plant it instead of sugarcane. Some suggested improving the future of sugarcane cultivation in two ways. The first is to conduct the necessary examinations to test the damage from the examinations. The second is to extend the railway to the lands whose irrigation has been converted from basin irrigation to summer irrigation in the direction of the Ibrahimia Canal. In accordance with the first proposal, the Agricultural Society of the Governorate conducted many examinations, reassuring some farmers, and all of them have been completed. It is presumed that the result will be good. The Society is also negotiating with foreign countries regarding sugarcane cultivation. The second proposal, concerning the extension of a railway to the western part in the direction of the Ibrahimia Canal, is currently under consideration. However, it is possible that the railway lines will not yield profits commensurate with the capital unless the freight tariffs are raised. It is also not unlikely that these lines will increase the cultivation of other crops besides sugarcane.