20 NOTES ON EGYPTIAN AGRICULTURE. 



but little or none into the general field. In Egypt it is quite the 

 reverse, and the ridges are not, generally speaking, as well made as 

 they should be. When cotton follows a fallow of greater or less dura- 

 tion, and the land is consequently plowed early, a suitable tilth can 

 be obtained, but when following clover, and a more or less hurried 

 preparation of the soil results, the tilth leaves a great deal to be 

 desired. In such case the cotton is sown in very lumpy ridges, and 

 germination is consequently often very uneven and irregular. 



That the well-known Egyptian clover has been the mainstay of 

 Egyptian agriculture there can be no doubt, and without it the fer- 

 tility' of the Delta could not have been kept up except at an enormous 

 expenditure for manure. Both in theory and in j)ractice a croj) of 

 clover is an excellent preparation for a cotton crop; but on rich land, 

 when the soil is plowed up just before cotton planting, the unfavor- 

 able seed bed obtained seems to more than counterbalance the effects 

 of the decomposing vegetalile matter; hence a better crop of cotton 

 is obtained by leaving the land fallow. On the other hand, on poorer 

 land the effects of the clover growth are marked, and a better crop is 

 obtained after the clover than when following a fallow. The sprout- 

 ing of the cotton is, as a rule, more regular after a fallow, and the 

 greatest amount of replanting is necessary when following a clover 

 crop. If clover immediately precedes cotton it is necessary, in order 

 to obtain the best results, that the soil be broken up some time before 

 planting; the roots then have time to undergo a certain amount of 

 decay and the soil to become dry. To sow cotton in a soil which is 

 plowed up more or less wet, as is the clover land in Egypt, is not con- 

 ducive to the preparation of a good seed bed and regular germination. 

 The soil should be quite dry when cotton is planted, though a watering 

 is given immediatelj^ afterwards. 



DISTANCE BETWEEN THE COTTON BEDS. 



As Egyptian cotton is raised by means of irrigation, the beds have 

 to be arranged in such a manner as to facilitate watering. (PI. IV.) 

 The land is divided into sections by ridges running at right angles to 

 the ordinary beds, and the beds are thus not more than about 36 feet 

 long. In some cases where the land is very level they are made longer 

 than this, while small cultivators, whose land is as a rule very uneven, 

 make them of less length. The laud is thus divided into sections and 

 from six to seven furrows are irrigated at a time. The arrangement 

 will be made perfectly clear by the accompanying diagram (fig. 2). 



The distance at which the furrows are made, as well as the distance 

 allowed between the plants, is at the present time receiving consider- 

 able attention in Egypt. The writer, who recenth' visited the Ameri- 

 can cotton-growing districts, was i^articularlj' struck with the great 

 difference in this respect between the United States and Eg\T)t. It is 



