Vol. XII. No. 292. 



THE AGRICULTUllAL NEWS. 



211 



should serve to increase the benttits derived from this 

 system. The cotton industry itself furnishes good 

 examples of the benefits to be derived from selection 

 of seed, and also indicates the lines on which similar 

 work might be carried out with the crop in question. 



F'inally, in addition to cuiing and storing grain, 

 the corn factorv might also bo augmented with 

 machinery for grinding, thus providing the means for 

 producing an e.xceilent iiuality corn meal, from which 

 a mixed feed (i.e. corn and oats ground together) could 

 also be easily and satisfactorily prepared. 



THE AGRICULTURAL BANK OF EGYPT. 



All article is published in a recent number of the 

 Tronira/ Agriculturist (April lf)I3), on the object and the 

 work of the Agricultural Bank of Kgypt, from which the 

 particulars given below are summarized for the benefit of 

 readers of the Agricultural A'ecv. 



THE BANK .VNI) MOXEV-LKNDERS 



The Agricultural Bank of Egypt was established by 

 Lord Cromer some fifteen years ago in order to free the 

 improvident fellah from llie clutches of the Greek and 

 Syrian niriney lender, who, titking the fellah's knd as security, 

 advances him money at the rate of anything between 30 to 

 50 per cent or more. The Bank was given the support of 

 the Government inasmuch as that it allowed the iristahnents, 

 when due, to be collected by the Government tax-collectors at 

 the same time as the taxes were collected in the villages after 

 the cotton harvest in October and Xovember. The Bank 

 has a Board of Directors in London and Egypt, and 

 a General Manager and head office in Cairo. 



LAND VALLK ANh CKEDIT. 



According to the statutes of the Bank, no client can 

 borrow more than £E .500 on the mortgage of his land, and 

 repayable at the fixed rate of intere.st of 8 per cent in ten 

 yearly instalments. This was i-ub.«equently altered to 

 twenty years, and a rate of 9 per cent, for those in arrears 

 of payment. 



As only about 7-5 per cent, of the fellaheen own more 

 than b acres, nearly all the Bank's work is done with the 

 small landowcer, even so small a portion as :J-acre being 

 accepted as security Land, however, is of very high value 

 in Egypt: no land that will bear even a poor crop of cotton 

 can be purchased for less than £K 40; and in the older 

 Provinces, where the soil is very rich, nothing can lie botight 

 under £E 120, and anywhere near t' wns £E 200 per acre 

 will be paid llents in these I'rovinces will be from 

 £E 12-£K 17 per annum. The Bank advances only half 

 the value of the land, which is generally assessed according 

 to the Government tax. 



METHOli OF .MORTGAGING. 



According to the mnde nf procedure for mortgaging land, 

 the fellah obtains a bank form stating the quantity of land he 

 owns; how obtained, whether by purchase or inheritance; how 

 much of the land is previously mortgaged; whether he 

 himself works the land or if it is rented out; value of the 

 land; boundaries; reasons for loan: names of heirs; and 

 various other details. This form hiiving been filled out in 

 the village, is then signed by the headman and clerk of the 

 village, who also vouches for the good character of the client. 



The form is then sent to the Bank where it is checked 

 according to the Government Land Kegisters. If it ia found 

 to be correct, an act of mortgage is then made out, and an 

 audience fixed for a certain date, and on that date all the 

 clients of the district will assemble before the Government 

 Greffier and sign their acts of mortgage, after which they 

 receive their amounts, less cost of registration The moment 

 the audience is finished, the names are telegraphed to the 

 Head OHice, and at once registered in the Government Land 

 books, or the mortgagee, might get in a second mortgage on 

 his land, or even sell it to some un.suspecting person. 



COLLECTION OK INSTALMENTS, 



As regards the payment of instalments, at the expiration 

 of two months, during which the Government tax-collectors 

 collect the money, a list of all defaulters is sent in to the 

 Bank, through the Government, The Bank then sends out 

 its own collectors to endeavour to induce the defaulters to 

 pay, and the English Inspectors are constantly visiting the 

 villages to use their influence and to point out to the fellah 

 the best way to arrange his payments. The English 

 Inspectors make a point of seeing the clients individually, 

 and seeing that justice and fair play is dealt out to the 

 felkh. As long as everything is straightforward, the fellah 

 keeps up his yearly payments well: on the whole, the two 

 chief factors for his getting into arrears seem to be either the 

 denth <f the original owner and consequent division of the 

 land amongst innumerable heirs who cannot agree amongst 

 ihtuiselves as to their share of payment, or the mortgagor 

 selling Lis land to third parties who cannot agree as to 

 payment. 



DIFFICULTIES OF APPEOPRI.\TION. 



If a man gets into arrears, he may re-mortgage his land 

 for a further period of twenty years, the remaining amount of 

 his original loan, plus the interest on his arrears being deducted 

 from his new loan. Otherwise, if he gets into arrears for 

 two or three years and it is thought not desirable to accept 

 a re-mortgage, legal proceedings are then instituted for the 

 appropriation of the land. Owing, however, to the Bank 

 being a European ('ompany, all its legal work must be 

 done through mixed tribunals, which causes endless delay: 

 it takes as long as three years to expropriate a man of .V-acre 

 of land. If appropriation were swifter the fellah would not 

 be so inclined to put off the evil hour of payment. 



LOANS FOR MANURE AND SEED. 



In certain cases the B ink also lends small loans on 

 note of hand only, piyable in one year, these loans being 

 chiefly for manure or seed and are nearly always paid up. 



A SEVEN I'EI; I'RNT. DI\IBEND. 



It will be seen from the foregoing that the Agricultural 

 Bank of Egypt is a thoroughly sound concern that has done 

 and is doing a great work for the benefit of the fellah. 

 But it is also a sound financial business, for though Lord 

 Cromer looked upon it as a more or less philanthropic 

 concern, it pays a regular 7 per cent, to its shareholders. 



According to the Journal of t/ie Board of Agriculture 

 (April 1913) there were at work at the end of 1911, 223 

 cooperative credit associations in the United Kingdom with 

 an aggregate membership of 22, 0.54, as compared with 81 

 associatifns and 6.014 members in 1901. Forty five (of 

 which 18 were urban) were situated in England, one (urban) 

 in Scotland, and 177 associations (all rural) in Ireland. 



