— 37 — Sakel cottons of Egypt. He writes, forwarding samples, and states, "The J. H. P. Brazil is a dirty cotton but very useful, better in every respect except dirt and waste than Ashmouni from Upper Egypt. The long-staple American again is in many respects better than Afifi, though also neppy and wasty. The Greorgias compete with Sakel, and the West Indian is of course better than anything ever grown in Egypt."

In view of this direct and growing competition, the question of relative costs of production and marketing become of vital interest. The cottons mentioned above are grown almost exclusively under rain-cultivation, and from this standpoint the delta areas of Tokar and Kassala are alone in a position to compete on equal terms. In addition to the handicap of a heavy water-bill, our smaller cotton estates have to meet charges for transport which reduce any enterprise to the character of a forlorn hope. And it should be remembered that a large proportion of estate cotton has been, and is being, produced at a loss, while the abandonment of considerable areas is evidenced by the official returns of cultivation.

It may be well in these circumstances to compare the proportion of the value of cotton which goes to the producer, the middle man, the railways and steamers.

For 1 cent, or 2 mm., per lb., many interior towns in North Carolina, as a typical cotton State, can put cotton into the ordinary course of transit and deliver it through port of- shipment in England or on the Continent at the consumer's mill. In shipping cotton to Japan by way of Galveston the distributor does the work for about 5-3 per cent, of the cost to the consumer in Japan, and the producer gets 94'7 per cent, of the cost to the consumer. At a period of high freight rates on ocean trade, a pound of cotton was carried from New Orleans to Chemnitz, Saxony, direct to consumers, for the combined expense of 1.25 cents, corresponding to 3 milliemes of our currency (Report of the Industrial Commission, U.S.A.)

Details of the last-named case furnish a useful basis of comparison with the local system, and may be quoted in full. It has been selected as a route necessitating much re-shipment and handling in transit.

Expenses of sending Cotton to Chemnitz, Saxony.—The following statement shows the expenses of sending 430 bales American cotton shipped from New Orleans to Hamburg, thence to Chemnitz : I 430 bales gross, 224,058 pounds, at 6| cents 15,403.98 Charges in New Orleans, carriage, pressing, commission (2| per cent. ), marine insurance, $13,500, 1 per cent 1,005.82 Sixty days' sight on London ($4.82 = £1) Bankers' commission (IJ per cent.)

16,409,