When the cotton is ready for market, it is loaded on donkeys and sent to the nearest railway station to be shipped. As the donkey’s load must not exceed three hundred and sixty pounds, it is customary to have the cotton put up in bales of from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty pounds, two bales being a full load for one of these carriers. In Piura, Sechura, Catacaos, and in various towns of the Chira valley, the large importing houses of Peru have purchasing agencies, and these establishments are equipped with cotton gins and presses for cleansing the fibre and preparing it for transportation. The cotton seed is nearly all exported to Europe, where it is sold for five or six pounds sterling per ton. The prices of cotton vary according to the harvest, and to the prices current in the world’s market, though the cotton of the Piura valley is sold always for upward of eight cents, gold, per pound. The price has risen considerably within recent years and continues to advance, as the product gains in favor in the markets abroad, especially in New York, where Peruvian cotton is constantly growing in demand. [Illustration: THE MARKET PLACE AT CATACAOS.] Although the native cotton commands the highest price, and is cultivated with least labor on the plantations of Piura, yet the Egyptian variety also yields good returns for the capital and labor invested, and its culture constitutes an important source of revenue to the state. The Egyptian grows to a height of about four feet and under favorable conditions lives three or four years. It has an abundant foliage, with blossoms that deepen from a pale yellow to red as they grow into full bloom. The cotton boll is formed of five carpels, or leaves, and the fruit, when it bursts forth from this enclosure, is white and smooth, in contrast to the Peruvian, which is of a pink color, and, as already stated, extremely rough. The culture of Egyptian cotton has increased in favor within recent years, in consequence of the advanced prices in foreign markets. In Mallares and Saman, especially, this variety is produced with important results. One of the advantages which it enjoys is freedom from the “blight,” which at times invades other varieties, and the fact that the _arrebiatado_ does not attack it. Also, the Egyptian yields a harvest six months after planting, so that it is comparatively easy to secure credit for the outlays necessary to produce the crop. In the cultivation of this variety, it is necessary to irrigate the land several times during the season, but it flourishes with little labor, and is easily harvested.