COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 35 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL AND MANURING. 



Even if the Nile water possesses a large quantity of sediment 

 and thereby contributes to increase the natural fertility of the deep 

 clay alluvial land, this kind of manure having only little organic 

 matter does not suffice for the requirements of cotton ; it contains 

 only 0*12 per cent, of nitrogen, 0'21 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and 

 0'5S per cent, of potash. For this reason the fellah has endeavoured 

 for many years past to improve his cotton field by manuring, and 

 this improvement of the soil can be obtained not only by fertilisers, 

 but by crop rotation and green manuring. 



For manuring proper the fellaheen use rubbish heaps or 

 "Koms. " These are the remains of numerous ancient towns and 

 villages; they are rich in nourishing salts. This refuse soil, called 

 " Sebakh," is being quickly used up; it contains about 12 per cent, 

 of salts, namely, saltpetre, soda, and ammonia. Great care must be 

 applied in using this refuse, as the soil contains numerous injurious 

 substances. Usually 20 tons of this refuse earth are put on one 

 feddan, and as it is considered ownerless it only costs the carriage. At 

 times this refuse earth is so short of nitrogen that it does not pay 

 the transport on the backs of camels. As the dwellings of the Egyptian 

 farming people have been made since ancient times of mud-bricks, 

 that have never been burnt, but have been merely dried in the sun, 

 the weather soon pulverizes them, and this dust mixed with the 

 remains of the food of both men and animals, gives a most valuable 

 manure. Other natural manures are also used, as, for instance, 

 animal manure, except that from larger domesticated animals, which 

 in Egypt is made into large cakes and is then used for fuel ; guano 

 of the numerous pigeons of the villages along the Nile valley, also 

 Pudrette, the sewerage products of the towns ; the silt of the canals, 

 wood ashes from the cotton stems, and the straw from the wheat, 

 for which no other use can be found at the time ; the rubbish of the 

 town, and the guano of the bats which is obtained from the numer- 

 ous caves and rock crevices in the desert. 



In 1909 the Compagnie des Engrais d'Egypte (Manure Com- 

 pany of Egypt) has been established with a capital of ^E30,000, 

 which, in three places of the neighbourhood of Cairo, works up the 

 organic refuse of these towns : for example, bones, blood, meat, 

 &c. The manure thus obtained is sold to the large farmers, and the 

 fellaheen begin to make an increasing use of it. In 1882 and in 

 1896 two similar companies were established, but they had to give 

 up business very soon. The Cairo Sewage Company also supplies 

 manures. 



Fresh farmyard refuse is not valued as highly as that which 

 has been lying in heaps for two years, and therefore the best 

 planters only use old manure. According to Mr. Foaden 10 to 15 

 tons of this old manure are required for one feddan. In the process 

 of the production of this manure, earth is used as a covering, and 

 its composition depends therefore a good deal upon the components 

 of the earth that has been used. It contains only a little water, on 

 an average of 5 to 6 per cent., some 1*56 per cent, of potash, 0'4 per 

 cent, of nitrogen, and 0'25 per cent, of phosphoric acid. 



The amount of farm manure, refuse, &c., which are to be had 



