vened at Tiflis by the Caucasian Cotton Association. This Congress consisted of three hundred delegates, and the questions discussed related largely to the improvements in the industry which may be easily brought about in the near future. It was suggested at this Congress that the territory in Transcaucasia which can be used for cotton growing may be easily increased to one millions acres. In the governments of Erivan and Tiflis alone, it is estimated, the cotton acreage may be increased to six hundred thousand acres.
Other estimates made by experts show that the production of cotton in Transcaucasia may be increased to four times the present amount, i. e., over one hundred thousand tons annually. What is needed in this region is, again, irrigation, and the work done here has been on a larger scale than in Turkestan. A canal providing water for 32,280 acres was opened in April 1911. Several other projects were under way, most of them scheduled to be completed in 1916. While no reports concerning the progress of the work there are available, it is more than likely that the work was discontinued at the beginning of the War.
The government of Kutais, in Transcaucasia, has been found to be excellently adapted to the growing of the long-fiber Egyptian cotton, which has been unable to thrive in the continental climate of the other parts of Transcaucasia and Turkestan.
There is one more region used for cotton growing, which supplies Russia with about fifty thousand tons of cotton fiber annually. This district comprises Bokhara, Persia, and Khiva, and the condtions there are suited for the production of both the American and the Asiatic varieties of cotton. Bokhara alone yields about thirty thousand tons" annually. With proper irrigation improvements, this region, too, is expected to produce over twice as much cotton as is now grown. The import duty on cotton along the Persian frontier is reduced to one-tenth of the duty along the other frontiers.
The cotton seed industry in Russia is also developed to a considerable extent. The annual production is about thirty-two million tons, valued at approximately eight million roubles.
