76 COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



course, reduces the average yield. Formerly, only the best fields 

 were used for the cultivation of cotton. 



(4) Too small a distance between the plants. 



(5) The change from the three years' rotation of crop to the two 

 years' rotation, and the consequent exhaustion of the soil j whilst in 

 1894 as much as 83 per cent, of the area under cotton was subject 

 to a three years' rotation, and only 17 per cent, to a two years' 

 rotation, this proportion had entirely changed by the year 1908, in 

 consequence of the high profits resulting from the cultivation of 

 cotton, the figures were then 56 : 44. It is true, against this argu- 

 ment must be stated the fact that the State Domains, which had 

 adhered to the three years' rotation, showed the same falling off. 



(6) The less intensive cultivation of the land during the last 

 years, as the individual labourer had to look after 32 per cent, more 

 land in 1907 than in 1897. With all that, the value of the cotton 

 crop per head of the agricultural population has been doubled during 

 the last 15 years, and the fact that the fellah has got a larger income 

 with a smaller crop and less work, does not stimulate him to try 

 to obtain an increased yield. 



(7) Increase of the insect pests on account of the greater exten- 

 sion of the cultivations and the temporary withdrawal of the Euro- 

 pean inspectors, who saw to the carrying out of the laws for the 

 Government. This service has again been installed. 



(8) The application o] artificial manures can have little impor- 

 tance as one of the supposed reasons for the falling off, as so far 

 only about 5 per cent, of the agricultural lands were treated with 

 it. The quantity and the mixing oi the manuring, nevertheless, 

 may often leave much to be desired. 



(9) The Assuan dam, it was said, holds back the rich substance 

 of the Nile water, and the latter had lost its old fertility, as the silt 

 is precipitated now in the slower-flowing stream. This view has 

 been repudiated by experts, because during the flood, during 

 which time alone the muddy water from the Abyssinian Highlands 

 flows in the Nile, the reservoir is left open and therefore cannot 

 have any influence on the fertile water. Besides, it seems that the 

 fruitful properties of the silt are somewhat overrated. 



(10) Irrational 'watering during the rotations. It is thought 

 that the cotton plants are left standing too long dry at the time of 

 the setting of the bolls in July, but if the use of the water were 

 free at all times the fellaheen would make too liberal a use of the 

 water, and this would be favourable to the development of the 

 plant, but at the expense of the bolls during the ripening time. 

 Too much water in the field causes the formation of injurious fogs, 

 but insufficient watering is the cause of the rising of the salt. 



(11) The rising of the subsoil water in the whole of the Delta 

 through the raising of the level of the irrigation canals, causing the 

 tap-roots of the cotton plants, after a certain period of growth, to 

 reach a soil which is stagnant, not porous enough, and too reten- 

 tive. The drainage in some districts, especially in the Northern 

 Delta, is undoubtedly insufficient, especially considering that the 



