SOILS. 13 



conditions a plentiful supply of cheap labor is added, there exists every- 

 thing necessary for the carrying on of an extensive and profitable sys- 

 tem of agriculture. The vast improvements which have been made 

 during recent years in the irrigation system of the country have been 

 the means of greatly increasing the amount of water available during 

 the summer months of low supply, and thus not only have made pos- 

 sible a considerable extension in the area of summer crops (chiefly 

 cotton), but will in the future provide a supply of water for carrying 

 on the reclamation (washing) of large tracts of land in the lower j^art 

 of the Delta. 



Drainage, which is an all-important problem, has received at the 

 hands of the government its due share of attention, and enormous 

 sums of money have been expended in making a complete network of 

 drains throughout the country. Increased supplies of water neces- 

 sarily involve more complete drainage schemes, and to Egypt, with its 

 practically level soil lying but little above the level of the Mediterra- 

 nean Sea, it is a question of first importance. In fact, increased sup- 

 plies of irrigation water without better drainage and a more plentiful 

 supply of manure are of doubtful benefit. 



It would be beyond the province of the writer and beyond the 

 object of the present bulletin to deal in any way with the irrigation 

 system of the Delta, and attention will be entirely confined to those 

 matters which are of purely agricultural interest. 



SOIIiS. 



Unfortunately, no soil survey of Egypt has ever been made, nor 

 has any series of extensive inquiries been made into the general 

 mechanical composition or chemical "mature of the soils of the Delta. 



It is needless to say that the soils are all alluvial in origin, and, 

 generally speaking, are of a clayey nature, differing only in the 

 density of the clay. A heavy, dense black clay, extending to a depth 

 of 18 or 20 feet or more, is perhaps the typical soil. This soil is very 

 difficult to work, but is fertile, yielding good crops of cotton. It is 

 not easily injured by infiltration and saturation, on account of the 

 difficulty with which water penetrates it. . It can be understood that 

 when canals ai'e running with water practically throughout the whole 

 year, there is always danger of saturation and infiltration, especially 

 so when the water is at a higher level than the surrounding country. 



It is feared that this class of soil often receives a greater quantity 

 of water than is necessary, as, on account of the difficulty of percola- 

 tion, it becomes more or less stagnant and sours the land. There is 

 also insufficient care given to the question of cultivating the land 

 when in the right condition. It is often plowed when more or less 

 wet, the result being that it dries up into a brick-like condition, quite 

 unsuited for a seed bed. 



