COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



of agricultural land ; nevertheless no large sales of lands have since 

 Taken place. Naturally the prices of land vary very much in the 

 different provinces. 



One feddan of fallow land is sold at present by the 

 State, to whom all desert land belongs, for 5 piastres, 

 which is equal to one mark, whilst in well-situated dis- 

 tricts such land fetches 1 and more. If the land is free from salt, 

 and suitable for any crop, then 70 per feddan would be considered 

 cheap, and this sum is paid willingly even in Upper Egypt. Good 

 land cannot be obtained for less than 120 to ^T150, and first-class 

 cotton land is to-day worth 200 per feddan = 500 per hectare ; 

 with good farming methods it shows a return of 6 to 8 per cent, 

 on the capital expenditure. Even poor land is a welcome object for 

 speculation, as it can be bought for a small sum, and after reclaim- 

 ing and installing perennial irrigation its value can, in a few years, 

 be multiplied. 



The following table may be of some interest : 



During the first months of the year 1912 trustees of large 

 Arabic estates have bought land for about ^E500,000, and paid 

 the price of 150 to l$0 per feddan of good agricultural land. 

 It follows, therefore, that the price for good land, except for the 

 boom prices of 1906, has not decreased at all, but has maintained 

 its highest position, in spite of the continued consequences of the 

 crisis of 1907. But the price of town building land has considerably 

 decreased since the crisis. 



Leasing. The landowners let their land either lor the growing 

 of one special crop, such as clover, maize, and so on, or for 1 to 3 

 years. The intelligent landowner insists on a 2 or 3 years' rotation 

 of crop, but in that case he must content himself with a smaller rent 

 than when he allows the soil to be exhausted yc:ir after year by 



