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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
from water from 40 to 50 days, on which Wheat was already 8-9 inches 
high, and Clover even higher, and being cut. The lower parts of this 
land were still too swampy for sowings 
2. The second season is from April to August, but as these crops 
differ from those of the first season, so some, such as Eice, take longer to 
mature. This latter, sown in May, is ready for harvesting in November. 
Cotton, again, sown in April, is not ready for gathering till even later. 
8. The third season is the autumn — a comparatively short season, 
lasting only 70 to 80 days, but sufficiently long to yield in the Delta its 
harvest of Maize, which, next to Wheat, is the most important of Egyptian 
cereals. This season is from August to October or November. 
The principal products are, amongst cereals. Wheat, Maize, and 
Barley, also Eice, but this is cultivated only in the Delta, and we did not 
see it growing. I must not omit to mention the Durra or Sorghum. 
Amongst leguminous products are Broad Beans, Lentils, Lupins, Peas, 
and Dolichos. 
Clover, Lucerne, Cotton, and Flax are the principal green crops. 
Poppies we saw under cultivation, which, we were told, were for the 
sake of the opium, and at Alexandria we saw large quantities of Onions 
being shipped. We were informed that the export value of this article 
alone is quite £50,000 annually. 
Henna [Laiusonia inermis) is much used for dyeing the nails, palms 
of the hands, and soles of the feet a brownish-red colour, a very ancient 
custom. Saffron also is cultivated. 
Of oil-producing plants, the Castor Oil, much used in Nubia for oiling 
the hair and body, Eape, Mustard, and the Sesame {Sesamum indicum) 
were noticed. 
The Sugar Cane is very extensively cultivated in Upper Egypt, where 
there are large sugar factories, but the quality of the sugar is coarse. 
It finds a ready market, however, in Lower Egypt and in the eastern 
Mediterranean ports. At the time of our visit the harvest was nearly 
finished. We visited one or two of the larger factories, and saw the 
process of sugar manufacture. Only brown sugar is obtained. An 
inferior variety of the Cane is eaten raw in great quantities by the 
natives, and it seems to be cultivated in every part of the country. 
Of vegetables and fruits we met with comparatively very few, it being 
the wrong season of the year. On the Nile, as the water receded, we 
noticed Melon seeds being sown on the newly uncovered sandbanks, the 
Government deriving a considerable income from the letting of these 
lands, which have to be marked out fresh each year, the annual 
inundation always altering their contour more or less, and also removing 
the old landmarks. The channel of the river is always changing. 
Turning now to the Arboricultural and Horticultural aspects. Of 
course, as already remarked, the tree of Egypt is the Date Palm, of 
which, we were told, there were more than twenty varieties. One meets 
with these trees everywhere. The borders of the Nile are more or less 
lined with them for hundreds of miles. In some parts there are 
veritable Date Tree orchards, each covering many acres of land. All 
fruit-bearing trees are taxed, the Government deriving a very con- 
siderable sum from this source. The tax is Is. a tree. 
