COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 25 



account of the rising to the surface of the salty water, but excessively 

 long waterings also loosen the salt of the lower strata and make 

 the salt rise to the surface. 



The system adopted by the Government of giving the water out 

 in rotations has been, as a rule, to give in the Delta, during the 

 period of vegetation of the cotton, 7 days water and 7 days none; 

 in hotter Upper Egypt the rotations are 6 days water and 6 clays 

 none. 



Cotton cultivation requires at the ouside 14 waterings, and it 

 is circulated that each watering takes about 250 to 400 cubic metres 

 of water per feddan, with exception of the first watering, which 

 requires nearly double that quantity. G. P. Foaden, who was up to 

 1910 the General Secretary of the Khedivial Agricultural Society, 

 estimates that every feddan, covered 9 cm. deep with water, requires 

 350 cubic metres, or reckoning 9 to 10 waterings per year, a yearly 

 quantity of 7,875 to 8,750 cubic metres of water per hectare, which 

 is equal to a yearly rainfall of 800 to 900 mm. 



It is held to be particularly important in cotton cultivation to 

 delay the first watering as long as possible, without however injuring 

 the plants, as it is maintained that the roots will then grow from 

 the beginning downwards, as far as possible, and that the formation 

 of strong side roots and healthy stems are encouraged, which will 

 better be able to bear the weight of the bolls. 



In too dry a year, owing to insufficient supply of water, even 

 Egyptian cotton has many short fibres. On the other hand, too much 

 watering causes evidently unfavourable results, such as rank growth, 

 dropping off of the bolls, late ripening, and deterioration of the fibre. 

 Generally speaking, cotton plants can better withstand a scarcity of 

 water than too abundant watering. A widely-distributed leaflet on 

 cotton cultivation warns cultivators expressly against the use of too 

 much water, and advises the fields to be watered only every 35 to 40 

 days up to June, and every 20 days from June to August. 



Since 1910 the Government has taken earnest measures against 

 the too copious watering, and endeavours to obtain a better drainage 

 of the soil, for during the last high Nile flood, in the summer of 

 1909, the existing drains were proved to be insufficient. A great deal 

 of the cause of the small yield of that year's crop is attributed to 

 the rising of the sub-soil water and to the copious watering of the 

 fields. It is quite comprehensible that too much water causes the 

 injurious salt in the soil to dissolve, kills the useful bacteria, and 

 reduces the useful depth of the soil. Should the percolation through 

 the soil really prove to be responsible in the main for the decreasing 

 yields, it will be difficult, considering all the circumstances, to obtain 

 an improvement except by slow stages. It is quite easy to under- 

 stand that the natives could not adapt themselves so quickly to the 

 suddenly changed conditions from basin to canal irrigation. 



In any case, the Government applies itself now with particular 

 attention to the study of the installation and the upkeep of satis- 

 factory drainage, although up to recently more was thought about 

 irrigation than drainage. 



On account of the ample summer water, stored up in the Assuan 

 dam, cotton cultivation in the Delta has increased more and more, 

 and the land-reclamation makes continually more progress towards 



