16 berseem: forage and soiling CROP OF NILE valley. 



A comparison of the chemical analyses of green berseem and lucern 

 has been made in Egypt, and it is given here to show how much more 

 succulent the former is, containing 86.11 per cent of water, while lucern 

 contains only 74.35 per cent. Berseem is poorer in nitrogen and 

 starch, but also has less fiber in it than lucern. It is unfortunate that 

 no analyses of the dry berseem are at hand, for the comparison of the 

 green fodder alone does not give a fair idea of its food value. 



Comparison of chemical analyses of green berseem and lucern, in Egypt. 



Facld berseem (PI. XII. fig. 1) is a variety used in Egypt on land 

 which is irrigated by the basin system — i. e., overflowed for forty days 

 in the autumn months from August until November, depending on the 

 latitude and Nile overflow. 



The seed is broadcasted at the rate of a bushel per acre on the Nile 

 mud. which has been deposited from the meter or so depth of water 

 which has stood over the land. No later irrigation is o-iyen it, and as 

 a consequence it only gives one cutting. This cutting, however, 

 yields 9 tons of green fodder per acre, and having more substance in 

 it than the Muscowi, it makes a heavier hay. It is said to be fed exten- 

 sively to donkeys. In order to get seed for planting it is often the 

 practice to sow this variety mixed with wheat or barley and reap both 

 together, separating the berseem seed from the grain only after the 

 thrashing has been done. This variety is therefore a short-lived form 

 and will prove of value on such lands as can be given only a single 

 but heavy irrigation in the autumn. 



The flood plains of the Colorado Desert region may some day be 

 supplied with that remarkable system of basin irrigation (PI. VII, 

 figs. 2 and ?>) which, although gradually disappearing from many 

 parts of Egypt, is still acknowledged by experts like Mr. Wilcox to 

 be the most wonderful of any, preserving the deposits of rich silt, 

 which, by the perennial method, are largely lost. Such irrigation 

 basins will be preeminently suited to the cultivation of this variety of 

 berseem, and it may find a use as well on land under perennial irriga- 

 tion where only one cutting is desired. 



Saida is the name of a variety of berseem which, althoup-h yielding 

 less than Muscowi, is relatively more nutritious. It possesses a com- 



