a)elmar.] 244 [Oct. 2, 



was used only in the distilleries. The American war occurring at this 

 juncture, the government prohibited the cultivation of wheat and 

 nominated cotton in its place . The culture of this staple was pursued 

 until the fall of prices occurred after the war, when it was superseded 

 in turn by sugar, which is the present favorite. The exports from Alex- 

 andria, the shipping port of the country, which will be given further on, 

 will furnish a close guide to the fluctuations in the product of these arti- 

 cles, occasioned by this capricious, ruinous, and sometimes mortal policy. 



Seeding. 



The seed is thrown broadcast, the use of the drill being wholly un- 

 known. About 3i bushels of wheat are sown to the acre, the produce be- 

 ing Hi bushels, or scarcely more than 3 for 1. Even ploughing was for. 

 merly dispensed with in many parts, the seed being thrown upon the mud 

 left by the receding river, and domestic animals turned loose to trample 

 in the grain. This and other wretched features of Egyptian agriculture 

 are giving way before better methods. The cotton and sugar-cane which 

 now constitute tho chief products of the country, are cultivated mainly 

 by the large proprietors and sown, or planted, as in the United States. 



Domestic Animals. 



Previous to the cattle disease in 1863 and 1864 which destroyed in a 

 single year 800,000 head of horned cattle, and, in Lower Egypt, nearly 

 every other animal also, and which, together with the cotton mania of 

 that period, contributed to occasion the famine of 1865, the number of 

 domestic animals must have exceeded one million. At the present time 

 it barely amounts to two-thirds of that number, as follows : 



Horned cattle (including buffaloes, the main dependence of the 



peasant for the work of the farm) 292,100 



Horses 18,203 



Mules 3,105 



Asses 94,641 



Camels. . . 35,578 



Sheep 172,657 



Goats 23,907 



Total 639, 191 



These numbers do not include the animals in Alexandria and Cairo. 

 During the year 1872 there were imported at Alexandria 14,185 head of 

 cattle and 200,087 sheep, chiefly for slaughter. 



In 1871 the average prices of 71,400 animals sold at the fairs of Tantah 

 in the Delta, were reported by the American consul as follows : Cattle 

 $200 each; buffaloes $175; camels $200; horses $100; asses $25 ; and 

 sheep $6.25. (Doubtful.) 



