The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-02-26
FARMING In EGYPT.
ITS BACKWARD STATE IN THE
LAND OF THE PHAROAHS.
Primitive Farming Implements in
Use Two Kinds Of Soil
No Fences, Wagons,
Barns or Horses.

tuoSc uSeu Ill tue odyS VI Iue HdlodilS.
I went down into the tomb of I'll, under
the desert above Cairo, and near the site
of ancient Memphis. I'll was a great
nabob about four thousand years ago.
He built himself number of subter-
ranean chambers of granite, and adorned
their walls with paintings illustrative of
the customs of the age. Here saw
pictures of the shadoof as used to-day,
and beside these are pictures of men
plowing, showing that the Egyptian
plow of 1890 is precisely the same as
it was when Moses was baby. 1t con-
sists of pole or tongue about six feet
long fastened to piece of wood bent in
ward and shod with three-pronged piece
of iron. Affixed to the pole is the handle
which is held by the farmer. He holds
it with one hand, and he has a stick in
the other. The buffaloes or bullocks are
fastened to the plows by yokes, and l
saw no plowing in harness. These plows
merely scratch the ground. But they
seem to serve the purpose. The winter
crop of Egypt, which is sown Immediately
alter the inundation, is spread over the
ground without plowing. The seed is
tramped into the moist earth by oxen,
or rolled into it by a wooden roller, and
it is wonderful how it grows.
Egypt has two kinds of lands. One is
made up of those soils which need noth-
ing more than the yearly inundation to
make them fertile, and the other is CO..
posed Of the lands which are artiIc-ally
irrigated, and are given water through
out the different seasons. The first a-e
called Rel lands, and these form as to-
water subsidies. The difference in the
climate in the various parts of Egypt
makes great difference in the seed
time. In Upper Egypt, this begins in
October; in Central Egypt, and about
Cairo, it comes at the beginning of No-
vember, and in the lower Delta the soil
is not ready before December. In about
four months, the crops are ready for
harvest, and the winter harvest is the
chief one of the year. The winter crops
consist chiefly of wheat, barley, beans
and clover, and almost as soon as these
are harvested, the land is prepared for
the summer crop. This crop is raised
chiefly on the lands artificially irrigated,
and it consists of tobacco, rice, vegeta-
bles ana cotton from the pruned plants of
old stalks. The crop is usually har-
vested in August, and after it comes the
autumn season, which is the least i'm
portant of the Egyptian farming seasons,
and lasts only seventy days. Still, in
this season the greatest part of the In
dian corn of Egypt is raised, and maize
ranks next to wheat among the Egyptian
grain crops. At the beginning of Octo-
Der the delta of Egypt looks like tle
great cornfelds of Kansas and Nebraska,
and the whole country takes on new
beauty.
can hardly describe the beauty of ar
Egyptian landscape. There are nc
fences, and the farms and fields are
separated only by the character of the
crops and the canals. There are no
barns nor houses in the fields, which are
so small and so rich in their crops, that
they make the whole country look like
a vast garden. Everything grows like
the famous gourd of Jonah. The
patches of clover bend their heads over
with the weight of sweetness, the cotton
in the next patch bursts forth in its pods
OF whiteness, and beds of heavy green
point out the rich coming harvests Of
beans. There are few trees to be seen,
only here and there a cluster of tai
palms marks the site of mud farming
village, and a grove OF date trees reminds
you that you are in the tropics.
The fields are free to all. You may
ride anywhere on your donkey, being
careful to 60 along the edges OF the
crops, and you will find few wide roads,
and, away from the cities,n carriages OF
wagons. Iventure to say that there are
not one thousand wagons in the whole
land of Egypt. Camels and donkeys art
the beasts of burden, and bullocks anc
buffaloes are the chief farm animals
Even carts are rarity. Camels carry
the heavy loads, and you see everywhere
their great outlines in the blue sky
against the background Of the deselt.
They will carry as much as horse car
haul, and when loaded with grass OR hay
the bundles are so great that only thell
legs peep out below, and it looks a!
though the burdens were walking OF
bodily. 1t is the same with the LITTLE
donkeys, many of whom are not larger
than a good. sized Newfoundland dog
They are loaded so that onl.
their legs show and are driven in single
file across the country, carrying the crop
to market. They have no harness, NJ
halters, or pack saddles, and the farmers
who drive them are bare-footed men in
single gown of blue cotton. An ordl
nary donkey can be bought for from tc'
dollars upward. Camels are more ex
pensiye, and range in value from thlrt.
dollars up to one hundred. The last
however, is the price for a riding camel
and il ,,,av be. interesting to state tina
oon,a,s hove +,o,,' rats just as do horses
and there is quite as great uine.-
their endurance and speed.
Most of the riding in Egypt is done
upon donkeys. The Egyptian rides hin
usually without saddle, and guides hin
with stick, instead of a bride. In t-lt
cities the merchants, and in the country
the rich farmers, have men or boys tc
follow behind and whip up their donkeys,
and these, in order to Tighten their Ia,
bors not infrequently knock off a piece ol
barn skin the size of a silver dollar. and