CUCUKBITACEOUS FEUITS IN EGYPT. 



35 



with an average circumference of 1*25 m., and an average weight of 

 17-20 kilos. In the Cairo market it is known as ' qara Soudani,' but this 

 is evidently a misnomer. The retail price varies between 4s. and 6s. 

 each. 



The plants which now remain to be mentioned are the luffa, or sponge 

 gourd, and the calabash. Although luffas are not exported to a great 

 extent from Egypt, large quantities are used in the country for washing 

 cooking-utensils, &c. They are grown everywhere — on fences, trees, out- 

 houses, &c, but there is a ready sale for all produced. The ripe unpre- 

 pared fruits bring from 10s. to 16s. per hundred. Three varieties, all 

 belonging to Luffa aegyptiaca, are grown. These differ chiefly in the 

 length and thickness of the fruit. The ' rumi tawil,' which is the kind 

 most valued, produces fruits 45-50 cm. long. 



The fruits of the calabash — Lagenaria vulgaris — assume many 

 different forms. Some are used as receptacles for water, while others are 

 used as floats for fishing-nets and as household ornaments. The only 

 variety which is of any value as a food plant is that known as 1 qara atraj.' 

 This has a straight cylindrical fruit, one metre or more long, with a light 

 green skin and greenish pulp. Gathered in a green state, they are eaten 

 cooked, or they may be allowed to ripen and be made into jam. 



The cultivation and marketing of the Cucurbitaceous crops give 

 employment to large numbers of people. Donkeys laden with cucumbers 

 and vegetable marrows may be seen coming into Cairo any morning 

 during nine months of the year. Sweet and water melons are chiefly 

 collected in boats and brought to Cairo by river. These cargos are 

 mostly discharged at Giza, whence they are taken by camels, donkeys, and 

 conveyances of every kind to the market, shops, &c. The unloading of 

 the boats in the early morning forms one of the busiest and most 

 picturesque scenes in Egypt. Large numbers of water-melons and 

 ' agours ' are also brought direct from the fields to Cairo by camels. 



The returns from an acre of melons or water melons vary between £20 

 and £40. As the expenses do not exceed £10, good profits are made by 

 the cultivators. In view of this fact and of the large quantities of fruit 

 grown, it is somewhat surprising that Egypt imports melons and water 

 melons to the value of £66,000. In spite of the enormous consumption, 

 however, there is no doubt that Egypt could quite easily supply her own 

 wants. The principal reason why she does not do so at present is that 

 the number of people who understand the cultivation is limited. The 

 fellah is very conservative, and unless he has been taught to grow melons 

 by his father or other relation, he is not likely to commence later in life. 



Experiments carried out on a large scale have also shown that an 

 extensive and highly lucrative export trade may be established in long 

 cucumbers and melons with Europe in late autumn. For the develop- 

 ment of this part of the industry, however, it will be necessary to look to 

 European enterprise. 



