MANURES. 275 



manure made. At the expiration of this term the whole 

 installation became the property of the State. A company 

 with a capital of L.E. 40,000 was floated, but three years 

 subsequently it was remodelled under the name of "La 

 Societe Generale Egyptienne d'Engrais." The enterprise 

 was not, however, successful. In the year 1896, by 

 Khedivial Decree, a second company was formed, under 

 the name of "La Societe Generale Egyptienne No. 2." 

 This company shared the fate of its predecessor, and 

 in 1897 a new company under the name of "The Cairo 

 Sewage Transport Company, Ltd." was formed, which has 

 met with success, and continues to furnish to agriculture 

 considerable quantities of various products annually. 



The failure of the previous attempts appears to have 

 been due to faulty administration, and to the fact that 

 cultivators were not at that time sufficiently alive to the 

 benefits to be derived from manures, other than those which 

 existed naturally in the country. 



The value of sewage as a manure has given rise to much 

 discussion in the past, and at one time there was a great 

 tendency to overestimate its value. Under the conditions 

 existing in European cities, the chief points concerning it 

 are its great quantity and its poor quality. By the use of 

 enormous quantities of water the excrementitious matter 

 is greatly lessened and the matter is regarded rather from 

 a sanitary than a mammal point of view. A ton of sewage 

 in European cities only contains 2 or 3 Ibs. of dry matter, 

 the total nitrogen is but a few ounces, while the phos- 

 phoric acid is even less, the value of the whole being 

 from i P.T. to 1 P.T. per ton. Two methods are generally 



