COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 15 



percentage, say ^ per cent, of salt, is favourable to the fibre. When 

 the percentage of salt is higher the plant remains small, and the fibre 

 .becomes weakened and stunted. The whole of the salty land which 

 contains more than 15 per cent, is called " Bararis. " 



Sandy desert land is only made into permanently fertile arable 

 land through an ample supply of water, and where salt has to be 

 washed out of the soil, it is done by ploughing it, then flooding 

 the field with fresh water during four or five days, after which the 

 salt water is taken away by other canals. This washing out of the soil 

 must be made very frequently, and must be continued so long until 

 the water which flows from the field only contains a small percentage 

 of salt. At the beginning of the washing operation the water shows 

 so much as 15 per cent, of salt, and it is only after several weeks of 

 washing that this percentage comes down to 2 per cent, or 3 per cent. 

 The cost of washing is about 10 per feddan. 



Generally, it is thought that land at 23 feet above the sea is free 

 from any injurious quantities of salt ; in lower places, with insufficient 

 drainage, salt makes its appearance, and land which is 10 feet above 

 the sea level always contains large quantities of salt, and very care- 

 ful drainage and washing is required ; land which is not higher than 

 5 feet over sea level is unfertile. In Upper Egypt are also salty soils. 

 For example, at Kom Ombo ; the salinity of the soil therefore does not 

 always depend on the height of the land. 



THE CLIMATE. 



The southern districts of Egypt have only one season, 

 consisting of a hot and rainless summer, with an almost even tem- 

 perature throughout the whole year; the middle and northern 

 districts, however, have a cool and a hot season. The cool season 

 lasts from December to' March, and is similar to the spring and the 

 autumn of the more temperate countries of Europe. The pre- 

 dominant north winds alleviate the heat of the day and are of very 

 great use to the river boats, but on the other hand they are at times 

 very injurious to the young cotton plants. As in the United States 

 of America, cotton cultivation is carried on in Egypt in the early 

 part of the year ; shortly after sowing a pretty sudden rise in the 

 temperature is noticeable, and the maximum is reached in July. 

 February shows with it the mean temperature of 12 J C. the minimum, 

 an,d the average yearly temperature in the Nile , Valley reaches 

 30 C. The absolute minimum temperature is a little higher in Egypt 

 than in the Southern States of America. In the Delta the tempera- 

 ture varies from between 2 C. and 35 C., and already in Cairo 

 between 2'5 C. and 43 C. The average temperature of the year is 

 21 C. in Alexandria and x Cairo. On the coast the temperature seldom 

 rises above 35 C. ; in Cairo it reaches 42 C., in Assuan 45 C., and 

 when the Khamseen is blowing it even reaches 45 C. in Cairo. In 

 the Nile Valley the temperature seldom drops below freezing point, 

 but Cairo has every winter 1 C. and 2 C. below zero, gnd in the 

 desert it gets even colder. 



Snow falls quite exceptionally in the Delta, sometimes even a 

 thin crust of ice forms on the edge of the Nile in Upper Egypt, and 

 the frequent dews, which freshen the summer vegetation, change, in 

 the winter months, to an injurious hoar-frost. Eg^t, however, does 



