VARIETIES. 



15 



In some experiments carried on at the Algerian Experiment Station 

 of Rouiba by Dr. Trabut, the seed was sown much earlier in the sea- 

 son and the yield was estimated as much higher. Sown on the 26th of 

 July, the held was cut on the 12th of September, when it yielded at 

 the rate of 28 metric tons to the hectare, equivalent to 14 tons per 

 acre, while the second cutting of 13 tons, and the third of 15 tons, 

 made the total of 42 tons of green fodder for three cuttings, as com- 

 pared with 28 tons, the usual Egyptian yield for four cuttings. The 

 better care given to the experimental plats and possibly a richer soil 

 would account for the difference in yield in the two countries. 



The profitableness of the crop as grown in Egypt depends largely 

 upon the proximity of a market for the green fodder. Egypt is not 

 a beef-producing country: from 10,000 to 15,000 head of cattle were 

 imported annually up to a few years ago/' There are few large herds 

 of cattle, and the dairy interests are in their infancy. Near Cairo, at 

 Benisuif , the berseem fields are let for grazing or cutting purposes 

 (PL XI, figs. 1 and 2) for £8 a feddan, which would be equivalent to 

 about 838 an acre. At Gizeh £10, or about $48 an acre, are paid for 

 the four cuttings, while even as high as $19 an acre per cutting* is 

 sometimes paid for especially luxuriant fields of berseem. It was 

 learned that there was government land on which the rents amounted 

 to only $40 an acre, upon which the berseem alone had sold for $42.50, 

 leaving the summer crop to pay for management and the profits. 



In Egypt there is a tradition that berseem can not be profitably 

 planted in spring or before the 1st of October, because of the hot, 

 dry weather between these dates; some of the more venturesome 

 English experimenters, however, declare this tradition to be founded 

 on superstition rather than fact, and recommend planting it as late as s 

 the last of April. In Algiers, Dr. Trabut has planted it in midsum- 

 mer (the 26th of July) with good results. 



The temperature records of Egypt for the months of June, July, 

 and October (of an average season, 1895) are appended for purposes of 

 comparison with the arid regions of this country, and from them it is 

 evident that if the traditions regarding the deleterious effects of the 

 hot season in Egypt were true it would be impossible that the crop 

 would succeed if started in the hot summer of the Colorado Desert, for 

 example. However, a few experimental plantings will probably be of 

 more value than any study of temperature charts. 



Temperature. 



Relative himiiditv, 





Month. 



Mean. 



Maximum. 



Minimum. Maximum. 



Minimum. 







°F. 



°F. 



°F. 





June 





+78 



+ 103 



+56 90 



10 



July 





+82 



+104 



+66 91 



13 



October 





+70 



+ 90 



+54 97 



17 



"McKenzie, in Journal of Khedevial Agricultural Society, Vol. I, No. 6. p. 259. 



