MANURES. #u 



circumstances this ingredient applied as a manures does 

 not exercise any appreciable effect on Egyptian soils. 

 As regards phosphoric acid we may affirm that the 

 sediment is neither very rich nor is it poor; while in actual 

 practice, phosphatic manures may be said to prove useful 

 in the case of certain crops such as cotton, though their 

 utility for many crops has not yet been demonstrated. 

 That Egyptian soils are rich in potash is well known. If we 

 accept that under ordinary circumstances *25 per cent of 

 this ingredient is sufficient for crops we may state that 

 ordinary Egyptian soils are exceptionally rich. The fact 

 that leguminous crops grow so successfully without man- 

 ure is probably to a great extent accounted for by the 

 richness of the soil in this ingredient together with the 

 fact that lime also is generally present in ample quantities. 

 Nothing could surpass the luxuriance of berseem (Egypt- 

 ian clover). Though this crop is grown so extensively 

 and removes from the soil more than 400 Ibs. of potash 

 and great quantities of lime in the three or four cuttings 

 which are taken during the season from December to 

 June, yet manures are never applied, in spite of the 

 frequency with which it is grown. 



' It must be remembered, however, that in most cases ber- 

 seem is eaten off and much of this potash and lime is almost 

 immediately returned to the land in the dung and urine. 



An indirect proof of the fact that nitrogen seems to 

 be the controlling ingredient in Egyptian soils may be 

 gathered from the fact that in the basins of Upper Egypt, 

 two crops of wheat cannot as a rule be successfully grown 

 in succession though with an alternation of beans or 



