72 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



NORTHERN AFRICA. 



Northern Africa is a country which is 

 not all unknown to the traveler; it is a 

 land of remarkable interest. There is 

 found there some of the most ancient his- 

 tory of the world. In the valley of the 

 Nile civilization sprang forth and reached 

 a mark which in some features has hardly 

 been surpassed. Yet a man has just re- 

 turned to the United States who is proba- 

 bly^the first to thoroughly explore that 

 country along certain lines. He is the 

 Botanical Explorer of the Agricultural 

 Department, Mr. W. T. Swingle. For 

 eighteen months Mr. Swingle has been 

 traveling about the Mediterranean coun- 

 tries looking for plants and trees, and for 

 the products of the agriculturist or the 

 horticulturist, which might be of value to 

 the farmers and fruit-growers of the 

 United States. 



"Especially interesting, "said Mr. Swin- 

 gle, in talking of his work, "did I find the 

 North African countries. They greatly 

 resemble our own Southwest, and like a 

 great portion of it they are arid. Carry- 

 ing the parallel still farther, they were, 

 like it, once fertile through irrigation. 

 This great area was once part of the Ro- 

 man Empire, and the Romans seem to 

 have known how to irrigate to perfection. 

 For there is evidence that all of North 

 Africa was as fertile as is the present val- 

 ley of the Nile. The waters of the rivers 

 seem to have been stored for irrigation in a 

 series of reservoirs, one above the other. 

 The reins of Algeria indicate a wealthy 

 and populous community. But long 

 since the land has reverted to its natural 

 aridity ; dams have disappeared, and irri- 

 gation has ceased ; yet the ruins of great 

 cities rise from out of the hot, sandy 

 wastes, well preserved monuments, in the 

 dry atmosphere, to the former grandeur 

 of the Romans. Many of the buildings in 

 these cities are almost entire, showing 

 clearly the style of architecture, the tri- 

 umphal arches, and other types of Roman 

 work, and until one gets into their midst 

 it see us hardly possible that they have 



tood uninhabited for long centuries. 

 "Where now the burning sand of the desert 

 is swept about by the hot winds, covering 

 and uncovering carved stone and pillars, 

 the green verdure, the swaying palms, and 

 the luxuriant growths of the tropics once 

 held sway under the magic influence of 

 water artificially distributed. The French 

 government is now making some interest- 

 ing excavations in Algeria, but otherwise 

 no desecration of the wonderful ruins is 

 allowed. 



One of the most interesting bits of in- 

 formation which 1 picked up was that we 

 as a nation are being delightfully imposed 

 upon in our use of Egyptian tobacco. 

 Since the Chicago Exposition and its Mid- 

 way Plaisance, which brought with it 

 many eastern customs and an American 

 demand for Eastern products we have 

 been using Egyptian tobacco, and especi- 

 ally Egyptian cigarettes, in this country 

 to a considerable extent. These cigar- 

 ettes, in fact, are considered the finest of 

 imported brands, and cost accordingly. 

 Yet here we are paying two and three 

 cents a smoke for gold papered cigarettes 

 which never saw the light of Egypt. 

 Strange as it may seem, notwithstanding 

 the supposed fine climate of Egypt for 

 growing tobacco, and the extensive irriga- 

 tion systems of the Nile, where agriculture 

 reaches a high state of perfection, good 

 tobacco cannot be grown in Egypt, and as 

 a matter of fact the Egyptian government 

 has decreed against the growing of any 

 tobacco whatever within its jurisdiction. 

 All Egyptian tobacco is raised in Turkey. 

 The Turks are fine tobacco growers and 

 expert tobacconists. For some reason 

 they adopted the name of "Egyptian" to- 

 bacco to sell their goods. 'Che Egyptians, 

 on the other hand, being able to raise only 

 inferior grades, saw that unless something 

 was done, these fine Egyptian brands 

 would soon be discredited ; so in order to 

 keep up the high standard of "Egyptian" 

 tobacco, and to retain the prestage and 

 glory which the Turkish tobacco had 

 brought them, the Egyptian government 

 employed the drastic measure of prohibit- 

 ing any growth of the plant in Egypt." 



