LESSONS FROM EGYPTIAN AGRICULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2310, 9 June 1898, Page 4

LESSONS FROM EGYPTIAN AGRICULTURE.

No 2.

The Tayum — the iasfe of tlis Egyptian provinces inspected acd reported upon by Commissioner Fuller— lies outgide the Nile Valley and the Delta. Ifc consists of a deep depression in the desert, partially filled with .Nile mud, divided from the Nile "Valley by a range of low hills, which open atone place to admib the Nile water. Its lowest level is at least 2OOft below the bed of the Nile and 140 ft below the level of the Mediterranean Se*. Afe one time it mast faave formed an enormous backwater, originally filled, perhaps, by a diversion of the river, and thenceforward annually receiving sufficient flood-water to counterbalance loss by evaporation. The flood-water would deposit its silt as ib entered the lake, the bed of which would be in time raised near its intake to the Nile Valley level, rapidly sloping down to its farthest margin. This is precisely the formation as ifc is found now, the lowest level being occupied by a sheet of water in which the drainage is received and evaporated. Irrigation is now effected by a large canal, which ia dsunmed a short distance within the entrance, and is split up into a number of canals which radiate like the fingers of an outspread hand. Owing to the great slope of the country water-power is available, which is utilised in thoJturning of grain mills and in the automatic raising of the water by ingenious self-acting paddle-wheel lifts which raise in their hoilow circumference, or by a chain of earthen pots, a portion of the water which turns them. The cultivation of the Tftyum is in its more level portions generally similar to that of the Nile ■ Valley, with nn added specialty — viz , the growth of the olivo. It receives no inundation water, and is dependent on manuring, which here, perhap3, reaches i's greatest importance. The people of the Delta and the Tayum do not, then, trust to the Nile for maintaining the fertility oC their fields. In Upper Egypt the Nile 13 still the only renovating agent for the large single-cropped "basin" ares, but ib ordinarily only suffices to support a crop of grain when assisted by a leguminons crop iv the preceding year. The area annually manured (excluding part of the Delta cottoa lands and half the area appropriated to sugar cane in the Nile Valley) may be estimated at 2 500,000 acres, or nearly half jfchs total cultivated area of the country.

In reference to the important question as to ia&iiurial seaukemenii and suddlj, Mi' Fuller

affirms that it is pretty certain that nitrogen is the lacking substance in Egypt wh'ch manure is required to Bupply. Nile deposit is- exceedingly rich in potash. A. proportion of 0"25 per cent, is ordinarily consid-.red sufficient for fertility. Three analyses of Nile silt— two by Dr Lethcby and one by Dr Mackenzie (of the Cairo Agricultural College) — showed proportions of 182, 106, and 093 per cent, of potash. Ifc is in great measure the abundance of potash in Egyptian soil that enables it to grow leguminous crops with such extraordinary luxuriance. In respect to phosphoric acid the case is, perhaps, cot quite so e'.ear. Some of the ruin dust and nitrous clays contain a high proportion of this substance. But it has beea shown by a French chemist (M. Gay - Lussao) that tha estimation in which diffore&t samples of these fertilisers are held by the people is based. on their vslue aa nitrogenous, not as pho-> phatic, manures. The Nile seems to give all that the crops require. A proportion of 013 per cent, of phosphoric acid may be accepted as the minimum for a fertile soil. Dr Letheby fonod that Nile silt contained l - 78 p6r cent, in full flood time, falling to 057 as the waters subsided ; and the 12 field soils analysed by Dr Mackenzie gave a msx'mum of o'7o, a minimum of 0 15, and an average of 0"31 per cent. of phosphoric acid. The poorest contained more than the standard proportion, and the average is more than double the standard. There is unfortunately much uncertainty as to the amount of nitrogen which is annually gained from the tilt and waters of the Nile. The researches of a French chemist of repute (El. Mathey) led him to conclude that Nile water contained 0.00027 per cent, of nitrogen aparfc from what was contributed by suspended matter. This is, however, three times as much as the average determined by Dr Mackenzie from samples analysed each month, including matter in suspension. The practical difference between those conclusions may be stated thus : If in irrigation or flooding an acre receives water to an aggregate depth of 4Jft (the usual depth of basin inundation) and the soil attracts the whole of the nitrogen which this water contain?, it will receive, according to M. Mathey, 34-lb, bat according to Dr Mackenzie 101b only. In one case a crop of wheat would receive two-thirds, in the other case only a fifth of the nitrogen it 'require*. Nile silt separately analysed by Dr Macker zie gave 004 per cent, ot nitrogen, and as the ordinary annual depth of basin deposit is about 0 "06' m, an acre would according to this receive about 91b ni(roger), which agrees pretty closely with the conclusion far Nile water and suspended silt. The potability of Nile^, water is, of course, a practical argument against its containing an abnormal amount of nitrogen. On the other hand a number of the soil samples wh : ch have been analysed show a very high percentage. A proportion of (VII per ceat. in the upper 9in of arable land is accepted in England as an indication of a fair standard of fertility. O F 12 soils analysed by Dr Mackenzie only two contained less than this, and two contained four times , and fcuc others twice as much. Two of . the samples were accompanied by a statement of the selling value per acre of the fields from which they were taken. One, valued at £120, contained 0479 per cent ; the other, valued ab £80, contained 0"205 per cent. On the other hand, a sample cf a very productive soil taken by Mr Fuller immediately - after the removal of a crop of sugar cane yielded less than the English standard. The field grew sugar cane every other year, unmanured, but with clover in rotation, and it seems clesr that it is to clover the soil of Egypt owes a great part of the nitrogen ifc contains.

This clover, in Coraniisßioner Fuller's opinion, is of a kind peculiar to Egypt. Its roots, are densely crowded with nodular growths. Ife would seem also that owing to greater rapidity of nitrification, the soil is able to utilise its nitrogen more freely than is the case in moister countries, and requires, therefore, a much smaller stock to go upon. Experiments at Rothamsted have shown that a cloves crop leaves 'a field richer by over 200 ib of nitrogen per acre than it found it, and this amount, if all available for a succeeding crop of sugar cane, would amply suffice for it. Ifc is probable fchab lentils and vetches are le»s fertilising than clover, and this may explain the more abundant use of manure in the southern provinces, wher« clover will not grow. Generally, it may be said that one crop of wheat, cotton, or sugar cane may be grown on the strength of a preceding crop of clover, but not more than one crop, and even so the out-turn will be improved by manuring. Maize in Egypt generally requires manure, whether it follows clover or not. The cultivation of clover is limited by the demand for it, and can only, of course, annually be employed ;to renovate a portion of the total ares. A substance generally used as manure in the Delta and Tayuoi is a compost of cattle urine and earth. Owing to the scarcity of wood, the droppings from cattle are u?ed for fuel as inlndia,- but the nrine ia conserved in a very ingenious manner. Loose earth, renewed from time to time, is used as a covering for the cow-house floor. The valua of the compost depends very much on the care with which it ia made. Three samples analysed by Dr Mackenzie contained 2 09, 2 57, and 144 par cent, in equivalent of nitrate of soda. Two specimens taken by Mr Puller from heaps'lyiag in the field yielded respectively 25 and 1-5 of nitrate equivalent. Both were applied at the rate of 8 tons per acre, the former for sugar cane, the litter for maize. The use of columbine (pigeons' dung) is characteristic of Upper Egypt, where most villages contain dovecots in which pigeons are bred by millions, gathering a cheap subsistence by pillaging the crops of others. The dung finds a ready sale at from £3 to £3 10s per ton, chiefly for manuriog sugar cane and garden crop 3. It contains the equivalent of 31/6 per cant, nitrate of soda, and is also rich ia phoepboric acid.

Reference has already been made to the extensive use of the nitroua duet excavated from the ruin-mounds which are dotted about the country. The nitrogen ifc contains is partly organic and partly in the form of nitrate of potash, and attempts were formerly made on a larg? scale to utilise it for the production of saltpetre for military purposes. The mounds are not wholly composed of nitrous earth, and judgment is required in working them. The result of an analysis of 55 samples by M. G&yLusaac pointed to a general average of 0"35 per cent., buh ib transpired that because of the extreme poverty of the mounds from which the samples were taken the fellaheen had ceased working them. Generally, ili may be stated that the effective manure contained in tbe stuff carried by the fellaheen to their fidde, whether from their stables or from ruin-mounds in the neighbourhood, amounts to le3S Mian 3 per cent, of its bulk ; in other words, 97 &ut of every 100 loads transported merely acii as vehicles for the other three.

TLe most remarkable of the manurial substances in uss is, however, the nitrate-bearing clay known a3 " marog," or " t&fl-v," which is found in the desert hills fringing the soathernvanab of tbe Upper Nile provinces. It does not appear to occur, or even to be kaowD, much north of Kenan, three-quarters of the distance between Cairo and Assouan. South ai this

point it la of common occurrence, and is need by every ons who cannot End in neighbouring ruin-mounds a cheaper scarce of 6upply. To the agriculture of this tract ifc is indispensable, and it 13 hardly too much to say that without ib tha land could nob support half its preseuli population The basia lands are of poor quality, and the iuuadation. has often to be supplemented by artificial irrigation in the winter months, which always entails manuring. The enclosed area ia relatively large, and the pressure of the population (which, ia here actually denser than in the Delta) necessitates very intensive cultivation,' the winter crops as well *s the durra being irrigated, and both being heavily manured, Caltle are scarce, perhaps because clover will not grow here, and contribute little or nothing to the manure supply. As m soon as the winter crops are cut, the whole population engages itself in the transportation of marog to tha fields. Wb.es the clay beds are near the cultivators fetch the stuff on their camels or donkey, (the Egyptian donkey is a big powerful atiimal)'; from more distant beds the marog is brought by camel- carriers to the river-bank, where it is heaped and sold to people who come in boats for it. Iv many places the river-bank is in jthe summer months lined -with marog heaps, and the tracks between, the river and. the quarries are enlivened with dusty crowds of. camels, donkeys, and shouting humanity. The marog contains, as already stated, nitrate of sods, but in exc~edingiy< variable ,proportions. In six samples taken by Mr Fuller from a field the proportions ranged from over 2A to under 1 par cent. In another place samples o£ loose stuff contained over 50 per cent, of toluble salt, half of which was nitrate. This locality was reported to yisld the richest marog in use, which was sold on the river bmk adjacent to tfa« quarries at 6s 6d per ton. The conclusion formed by Dr Mackenzie, as the result o£ numerous analysts, is that, quarried in bulk within three or four miles of the Nile, the clay could not be expected to yisld more than 5 pec cent, nitrate all round. On the average the fellaheen carry afe least 20 loads of clay, for every load of nitrate that reaches their land — the caafc of transport is therefore a heavy burden. The people would obviously benefit greatly could they obtain, nitrate in a reasonably pure condition, and accordingly its extraction from marog on an extensive scale is contemplated by the Egyp'.ian Government;. .^

To the benefits which the English irrigation officers hare bestowed upon the country Eog- ' lishmen generally owe a popularity among the | villagers of which every da>'s experience brought Mr Fuller increasing proof. It is to their vigilance aad activity that the peasantry are indebted for a fair sh*re of the water, instead of seeing it monopolised by more influential neighbours. Farming in Egypt gives such alluring profits as to be as fashionable as Stock Exchange operations nearer home, and the Delta is honeycombed with large estates, the property of wealthy Turks, Grtek*, and Armenians. It hai been the task of the irrigation officers to hold the balance evenly between rich and poor, and, assisted by ' their Indan experience, they have acquitted themselves *o well as to earn universal grati* tude. Mr Fuller's report is, • very ■ properly, largely devoted to' details •of the. stupendou* irnprovemento <<if<*ol;sd by the Ax>g!o- Egyptian Irrigation Department in the" Ni<e embank* v ments and irrigation canals In 1842 Muhamraud Ali entertained & scheme pat forward by French engineers for forcing mote- water into the canals by damming the Nile below their intake, aud after 20 years of uninterrupted i working two large masonry bridges were com- ! pleted. These works constituted the great Nile Barrage, and could ba used as dams by closing the arches «rith sluice-gates. The foundations were insufficient, and when the sluices were — closed tha water-pressure produced a scour wh ; ch undermined . the masonry and caasad a dtfl»ctioß. Very little -use could accordingly be made of the work,- which at most held up 2ft of water. la 1884 its repair was taken in hand by the Anglo-Indian officers of the Irrigation department, and was brought to -a satisfactory conclusion in 1889. It now holds up the Nile 12ffe above its natural level. Most valuable aud instructive of all, however, for farmers everywhere are the pages Mr Fuller devotes to the 'agricultural practices current in the country, and which have prevailed for countless generations. So much ingenuity is shown by the peapantry in adapting processes that now they are freed from misrule and extortionate taxation the immense possibilities cf Egypt in the futureas a producing country can hardly be overestimated. Liberal users of manures, the cultivators correctly gauge the extent and timelimit of their influence, aad alternate their crops so as to prttvent exhausfi >n of the soil. Long before the "nodule" theory was "promulgated the Egyptian farmer was aware of, the renovat? ing effects on fche soil 'of clovers, tares, beans, peas, &<?., and ordered his plans of cropping accordingly. Mr Fuller's report, &b a whole, is about so complete as it could be, and is somewhat surpridug, inasmuch as it shows" that Egyptian agriculture is well in accord with sound scientific principles.