24 COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



hardly be able to cause a higher payment of dividend than 2 per cent. 

 or 3 per cent., if as much as that. 



We must further consider, while dealing with these tube-wells, 

 that its water is poorer in certain substances, and often contains 

 large quantities of common salt and other obnoxious salts ; it is there- 

 fore worse, and, nevertheless, dearer than the water taken direct 

 from the Nile. 



Not only does the Government provide the wonderful dams but 

 it also bears the cost of the installation and upkeep of all the main 

 supply canals, and of the drainage canals, or " Masrafs," which 

 are very necessary in the lower Delta. Consequently the Egyptian 

 agriculturalist has only to take the water over his field, everything 

 else is done by the Government, and is undertaken without extra 

 payment on the part of the landowner. A special water-tax does 

 not exist in Egypt. The people may take at any time 

 water out of the canals, except during the low water of the Nile, 

 when a strict supervision is kept, for during that time the water is 

 not allowed to flow constantly into the canals, but only in rotations 

 alternately, i.e., in varying periods of about 8 to 14 days, according 

 to the quantity of water that is in the Nile. An extreme case of 

 rotations is 6 days water and 18 none. In order to prevent that 

 during these dry periods cotton fields do not suffer from lack of 

 water, the watering of maize is forbidden from May to June, i.e., 

 up to the arrival of the Nile flood. 



No taxes are levied on pumping stations, but a permission from 

 the Irrigation Committee must be obtained, prior to the erection. It 

 is, however, not permissible to irrigate high-lying lands with machine 

 pumps direct from the Nile or the Government canals, because the 

 water of the Nile is reserved for the lower-situated lands, except in 

 the case of a few concessions granted in olden times. 



Thanks to the wonderful irrigation installations which Egypt 

 to-day possesses, the cotton planter has almost at all times that 

 quantity of water at his disposal which his crops require. 



The cotton field must, naturally, be levelled in order that the 

 water can flow evenly over it; the fields are divided into many 

 squares by little dams, 1ft. high, and these little dams are opened 

 and shut by a kick with the foot, as the soil is very soft. Between 

 the rows of plants are small furrows, so arranged that the 

 irrigation water can run in from the canals, and the water remains 

 there until the soil has drawn it up, or until it has evaporated. 



The question as to how many times land in Egypt, which does 

 not receive any rain, requires to be irrigated depends in the first 

 place on the nature of the soil. Sandy soils must be watered very 

 often, in the hot season every 8 or 9 days, or else the plants will 

 suffer. Manured soil also requires abundant water in order that 

 the manure will be fully used up. For fairly heavy soil a watering 

 every 16 to 18 days is sufficient, or else deep ruts will form in the 

 soil, which often cause the roots of the cotton plant to tear asunder 

 or to be exposed to the sun. 



Soil that contains salt must be watered more frequently, else 

 an accumulation of salt on account of capillary attraction will take 

 place, and this is injurious to the roots. If the watering of the field 

 is discontinued for two years, they become salty and unfruitful on 



