3 



an export trade in this product sprang up in some of these countries. 

 The effect onthe country was to maintain wheat at a satisfactorily 

 high figure for the cultivator. 



Careful chemical tests made by Mr. Hughes, the Chemist of the 

 Ministry, have shown that " strength," the definition of which is the 

 degree of ability possessed by the flour to produce a well-risen loaf, 

 is exhibited to a considerable degree in most Egyptian flours. In fact, 

 the chief obstacle to the demand for Egyptian wheats in European 

 countries lies in the state in which they are put on the market. 



As is well known, Egyptian wheat is chiefly threshed by means 

 of the norag, a kind of carriage sustained on a number of iron discs, 

 which is drawn by bullocks and driven continuously in circles over 

 the wheat, whereby the grain is removed from the heads, and the 

 straw is at the same time crushed into small flattened flakes, which 

 form the most important summer food for cattle in the country, known 

 by the name of tibn. In the process of threshing by means of the 

 norag it is impossible to prevent small particles of hard earth becom- 

 ing mixed with the grain, which are difficult to remove by any process 

 of winnowing or sifting.' Hence Egyptian wheat, though of good 

 quality, contains a rather large percentage of dirt, which, moreoyer, 

 during transport becomes pulverized and ground into the grain itself, 

 to such an extent that it cannot be removed by washing, and the 

 milled flour does not therefore acquire the same whiteness as other 

 wheats, which have been threshed by modern machinery. 



The Hindi wheat of Egypt, which can be considered for practical 

 purposes identical with that shipped from India under the name of 

 " Choice White Karachi," could compete favourably in the English 

 market with the Indian kind, if the same regulations for cleanliness 

 as those which have been enforced in India were made to apply to 

 this country. To attain this position, it would only be necessary to 

 wash all wheat before shipment, and to maintain a greater uniformity 

 in the crops sown. This last is what is at present being attempted 

 in the experiment farm of the Ministry of Agriculture, and an account 

 of the operations conducted during the past year is given in the follow- 

 ing report by the Botanist of the Ministry. 



It may be of interest in this place to give the figures for exports 

 of wheat from Egypt for the last few years, to indicate with what 

 measure of success the first serious attempts at the establishment 

 of an outside demand have met. 



