MANURING COTTON. 27 



8 to 10, say, to every 50 acres of cotton, and in addition to this inannre 

 has to be provided for otlier croi^s. It. is seen, therefore, that in com- 

 parison with the conditions prevailing? in the cotton-growin«x States of 

 America there is a much i^reater (piantity of natural fei'tili/<'r at the 

 disposal of the cultivators, thoui;li, unfortunately, fai- from sulVicient. 

 Earth is in universal use as litter, and the heaps of manure which 

 (me sees surrounding every village are evidence of the great value 

 which even small cultivators attach to the fertilizer (luestion. 



It is accepted as beyond question by every Egyptian cultivator that 

 cotton requii-es manuring, and in nuiny cases the cotton area has been 

 governed by the amount of manure available. Manure and water, in 

 fact, tend to control the area under cotton. At one time it was 

 thought that maximum " crops could be raised by ordinary stable 

 manure alone, but during the past five years a great change of opinion 

 has made itself felt. The introduction of chemical fertilizers has not 

 only resulted in increased returns, but has madeiwssible the manuring 

 of a greater area. Instead of applying stable manure, as previously, 

 to a portion of the cotton area and leaving of necessity a part unma- 

 nured, it is now accepted that the best practice consists in spreading 

 the stable manure over thi^ whole area and supplenu'nting it, l)y chem- 

 ical fertilizers. 



The question of cotton manuring is not an easy one whei-e not only 

 lias the yield to be considered, but (and especially is this the case in 

 Egypt) also the quality. It is unnecessary to state that as a cotton- 

 growing country Egypt is noted for the quantity of its jiroduct, and 

 consequently, while endeavoring to obtain the greatest product pos- 

 sible from a given area, the question of quality is one which is ever 

 brought home to the cultivator. 



It may be laid down as an axiom that the basis of cotton manuring 

 in Egypt must be organic manures. These must form, as it wei-e, the 

 foundation on which to build up the system of manuring. Unfortu- 

 natelj^ in P^gypt, as in India, organic matter is at a premium. The 

 absence of wood as fuel necessitates the poorer classes employing 

 ever}^ form of organic; matter for this purj)ose, and were it not for 

 the growth of clover it is certain that the soils would speedily become 

 deficient In huinus. It is true that by means of chemical manures 

 alone full crops of cotton may be obtained, but in this case if a cereal 

 crop follows the cotton the result is not so satisfactor}^ as when the 

 cotton receives stable manure, while the cost of raising the cotton is 

 increased. 



Stal)le manure is almost invarlal^ly spread broadcast over the land 

 before the last plowing is given In the preparation of the land. The 

 amount applied varies from 10 or 15 tons per acre to as much as 30 

 tons. It is not, howevei-, possible on a farm of any extent to find a 

 sufficient quantity of manure to treat the wdiole cotton area as liber- 

 ally as 30 tons or even 20 tons i)er acre. In fact, it is rarelj^ that 



