-& EGYPTIAN AGRICULTURE. 



On the other hand, a too liberal use of the latter is not 

 conducive to the best results. Some years since, when the 

 question of manuring began to attract greater attention, 

 many cultivators employed excessive quantities on their 

 cotton crop with results which were by no means satis- 

 factory. 



Farm -yard manure in Egypt is almost invariably applied 

 to the crop for which it is intended before sowing, though 

 occasionally a small quantity is added to the cotton crop 

 and hoed in during the early stage of growth. As a rule, 

 however, the manure is carted on to the land before the last 

 ploughing in preparation for the crop, and then ploughed 

 in. The nature of the native plough is such that the 

 fertiliser is not buried deeply. As regards the methods 

 of application there are three in common use : 



(a) Placing the manure in small heaps in the Held. 



allowing it to remain some time and then dis- 

 tributing. 



(b) .Distributing over the land and allowing it to 



remain some time before ploughing in. 



(c) Distributing and ploughing in at once. 



There can be no doubt that the last plan is the best. 

 By allowing the manure to remain in heaps exposed to 

 the sun and wind, loss of nitrogen takes place and the 

 subsequent distribution is not even. The portions where 

 the heaps have been are too heavily manured, and others 

 too lightly. Distributing over the land without ploughing 

 in means loss, and the safest plan is to distribute and 

 plough in at once. 



When removing from the heap, it is found that a 



