the Government will be enabled to control the distribution of seed. Arrangements have existed for some years by which the Government furnishes the smaller cultivators direct with good seed, which is supplied on credit through the village “ sarrafs,” the prices bing collected with the taxes later in the year.

The following figures show the quantity of seed so supplied during the last six years:— Year. 1913-14 191415 1915- 16 1916- 17 1917- 18 1918- 19 Ardebs.

118,099 43,587 80,944 120,328 183,118 166,019 During the last three years the Government supplied more than 25 per cent, of the total seed used.

The most important work of the Botanical Section of the Ministry has been an attempt to purify and improve the existing varieties of Egyptian cotton by a process of continuous selection, the varieties dealt with being Sakellarides, Ashmuni, Nubari and Assili. This work was initiated in 1915, and seed stock of these selections has now been considerablv multiplied. Arrangements have been made yearly with landowners in various localities to place land at the disposal of the Ministry as seed farms for the propagation of the selected seed; sowing and harvesting is supervised by the Ministry’s stall, and all possible care is taken to keep each selection as pure as possible. During the troubles of March 1919 supervision could not be carried out, and some selections have been lost. New varieties of cotton produced in the country have been kept under observation; the yield in most.cases has been investigated by means of variety tests in different districts, and valuations and reports on the spinning properties have been obtained from Lancashire.

During the 1919 season, Mr. H. Martin Leake, lately Economic Botanist and now Director of Agriculture in the United Provinces of India, and a leading authority on cotton-breeding, was invited, with the consent of the Indian Government, to visit Egypt in order to make recommendations with a view to improving the quality of Egyptian cotton and increasing the yield. During a stay of nearly four months in Egypt, Mr. Martin Leake studied these questions in all their aspects; his valuable report is now in the press.

Since the cessation of hostilities, efforts have been made to recover lost time in cotton research work. The 1919 Budget provided for a notable increase of the technical staff, and though all appointments have not yet been filled, a satisfactory start has been made. During 1919 a Cotton Research Board was created. It is composed of selected scientists from the various services of the Government, and its functions are to advise the technical sections of the Ministry of Agriculture, to co-ordinate scientific experiments, and in general to ensure the maintenance and improvement of the quality and quantity of Egyptian cotton. In order that every facility be given for researeh, extensive laboratories are now in course of construction at Giza, and it is hoped that they will be completed and fitted out in time for the coming cotton season. Many experiments have already been started, and I trust that this new organisation will devote to the problem of improving Egyptian cotton the close attention which the importance of the subject demands. No branch ef the Ministry’s activities is- likely to produce such substantial and quick increase in crop returns as the improvement of varieties by plant-breeding methods. This involves, however, much research and minute work, which has in the past been greatly restricted by the paucity of the technical staff available. It is hoped that a new era of rapia improvement is now in view.

Insect Pests.

In the last report special mention was made of the alarming increase of the pink boll-worm {Gelechia gossyfiella) which was first regarded as a major pest in 1913. It is not possible here to record the numerous measures taken to combat this pest, which is the most serious that has yet attacked Egyptian cotton, and which has damaged it to the extent of millions of pounds. Many experiments were carried out with a view to learning the life history of the insect in the country and discovering the best means of destruction, a problem rendered immensely diflncult by the fact.

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