MANURES. 213 



Witn the introduction of perennial irrigation, and hence 

 a more intensive system of cultivation, the subject as- 

 sumed an entirely different aspect, and it was soon exper- 

 ienced that the idea of the soils of the Nile valley being 

 so rich as to require no manure was an erroneous one. 

 As the cultivation of summer crops extended, especially 

 of cotton, so the demand both for manure and water 

 became an ever increasing one, and at the present time, 

 when practically one half of the land of the Delta is under 

 this crop, the natural resources of the cultivator as regards 

 manure are overtaxed to supply a sufficient quantity for 

 this and other crops. Tn fact the quantity of water and 

 manure at the cultivator's disposal must govern the area 

 which can be successfully put under summer crops. The 

 two questions of manure and water are very intimately 

 related, and in any irrigated country, their interdependence 

 is a fact that is continually brought out. The supply of 

 the one should always be considered in its relations to 

 the supply of the other, and any increase in the quantity 

 of water available for irrigation purposes without a corre- 

 sponding increase in the manure supply is often of doubtful 

 benefit. For example : Sir Edward Buck referring to 

 land near Ajmere (India) states as follows : " Irrigation 

 from tanks is lavish, and is put on to land which it 

 has robbed of its fertility, as the manure supply, before 

 deficient, is now totally insufficient to restore fertility. 

 Given unlimited manure, water will raise the rental of 

 land to *Rs. 50 an acre. With no manure it will sink 

 to *R. 1 an acre." 



* 1 Rupee = about 6 P.T. 



