DS /;r; n> n. LV AGRICUL TURE. 



sion packs the soil, decreasing the large air spaces and 

 increasing the number o fine capillary tubes. Hence, by 

 reason of its increased power of capillarity the soil is 

 enabled to draw more water from the subsoil. This ensures 

 a moister seed-bed from which the seeds will be able to 

 extract water for germination. It naturally follows that 

 wet soil should be lightly zahaffed or not at all, whilst dry 

 soil should be heavily rolled if the seeds are to germinate 

 without irrigation. Land which is ploughed wet must 

 not be zahaffed until it dries, and then the zahaffa is rather 

 light to make much impression. 



Levelling is an operation of the greatest importance. 

 On uneven land more water is required, and the crop 

 cannot be equally watered, and consequently a poor unequal 

 crop is produced. 



Fassing or hoeing is the most characteristic and most 

 necessary tillage operation in Egypt. The outlay in f assing 

 the cotton and maize nearly equals the expense of all the 

 other tillage operations of the crop. The objects of f assing 

 are: (1) to destroy weeds, (2) to cultivate the surface of 

 soil, (3) to mix the surface soil, (4) to incorporate manures 

 with the soil, and (5) to form a layer of loose soil on the 

 surface which prevents extensive cracking, and thereby 

 conserves the soil moisture. Fassing is undertaken in the 

 growing crop whether this is growing on ridges or on the 

 flat. In Europe the same work would be done by the 

 horse hoe or in the garden by the hand hoe. In summer, 

 f assing entails much very hard work unless it is carried 

 out at the proper time. The land must not be so wet 

 that the soil sticks to the fass nor so dry that large hard 



