80 COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



If the land is farmed on the small-holding system without need of 

 cash payment for labourers and work performed by cattle, then the 

 profits are as follows : 



Total receipts in two years P.T. 3,375 



Seed for cotton, berseem, wheat, and maize P.T. 200 



Land tax 325 



525 



Net profit in two years ,; 2,850 



Net profit, average per year for 1 feddan ,, 1,425 



If one takes an area of 5 feddans, then the receipts for 



the year are P.T. 7,110 



Less cost for keeping and clothing a family of at least five 



persons at E.4 per month ,, 4,800 



Yearly net profit on 5 feddans P.T. 2,310 



= E. 23-10 



which amount, as has already been pointed out, will hardly cover 

 the interest on mortgage. If we suppose that the owner of five 

 feddans of the best cotton land, of a value of ;E800, has mortgaged 

 his plot up to 50 per cent. = ^E400, against payment of interest at 

 7 per cent, per annum = ^E28, he would not be able to meet his 

 engagements. 



It may seem singular that under such circumstances the rents 

 are so high. This again depends upon the onesidedness of the Egyp- 

 tian peasants, who do not know any better work in life than to culti- 

 vate the soil, and with a certain childish carelessness they acquire 

 land at any price, by buying or renting. 



One can, nevertheless, maintain that the small holdings, 

 managed in the manner of the natives, bear interest at from 5 to 

 10 per cent., as with their primitive method they have hardly any 

 general expenses, their wages bill is very low, due to the patriarchal 

 conditions, and finally the fellah has a considerable income through 

 the sale of vegetables, poultry, eggs, and milk. 



On the other hand, plantations on a large scale, managed by 

 Europeans, even where the cotton soil is good, are not very remunera- 

 tive, as with the high price for agricultural land, such as it has ever 

 been since 1906 in the whole of Lower Egypt, the revenue on the 

 whole of the capital invested, after deduction of the general expenses, 

 which are always considerable, cannot be commensurate with the 

 conditions obtaining in the country. It is therefore more advisable, 

 and indeed it is more generally the custom, to let the land in small 

 holdings, and in doing so attention must be paid that no frauds or 

 defalcations are committed, in order to ensure a continuous renta- 

 bility. Besides, most of the large estates of native owners 

 have been in the family for many years, and have been purchased 

 long before the price of land reached the present high level; many 

 of these estates have, during the last few decades, vanished, partly 

 owing to division into small holdings, and partly owing to the sale 

 of the land. 



