Mohave County miner., 1899-10-14
A Land Not Unlike Arizona.

is land of remarkable interest. There
is found there some of the most an
cient history of the world. In the Val
ley of the Nile civilization sprang forth
and reached a mark which in some
features has hardly been surpassed
Yet man has just returned to the
United States who is probably the first
to thoroughly explore that country
along certain lines. He is the botani-
cal explorer of the Agricultural De
partment, Mr.. w. T. Swingle. For
eighteen months Mr.. Swingle has been
travelling about the Mediterranean
countries looking for plants and trees
and for the product of the agricultur-
ist and the horticuturist which might
be of value to the farmers and fruit
growers of the United States.
! Especially interesting" said Mr..
Swngle, in talking of his work, did
find the north African counties. They
| greatly resemble our own southwest,
and like q great portion of it, they are
arid. Carrying the parallel still far
ther, they were, like it, once fertile
through irrigation. This green area
was once part of the Roman Empire
aud the Romans seem to have known
how to irrigate to perfection. For there
is evidence that all of north Africa
! co. 10 l. ha
of the Nile. The waters of the rivers
seem to have been stored for irrigation
i'll series Of reservoirs, one above the
other. The ruins of Algeria indicate a
wealthy and populous community.
| But long since, the land has reverted
to its natural aridity, dams have dis
| appeared, and irrigation has ceased;
yet the ruins of great cities rise from
out of the hot, sandy waters, well pre-
served monuments, in the dry atmos-
phere, to the former grandeur of the
| Romans. Many of the buildings in
these cities are almost entire, showing
clearly the style of architecture, the
triumphal arches, and other types of
Roman work. and until one gets into
their midst, it seems hardly possible
( that they have stood uninhabited for
long centuries. Where now the burn
ing sand of the desert is swept about
by the hot winds, covering and uncov-
ering carved stone and pillars, the
green verdure. the swaying palms and
the luXuriant growths of the tropics
once held sway under the magic in
! fluence of water, artiiicially distrib-
uted. The French government is now
making some interesting excavations
in Algeria, but otherwise no desecra-
tion of the wonderful ruins is allowed.
! One of the most interesting bits of
information which ! picked up was
that we as nation are being delight
fully imposed upon in the use of
| Egyptian tobacco. Since the Chicago
exposition and its Midway Plaisance.
which brought with it many eastern
customs and an American demand for
: Egyptian tobacco and especially
Egyptian cigarettes in this country to
considerable extent. These cigarettes
in fact, are considered the finest of i'm
ported brands and cost accordingly.
Yet here we are paying two and three
cents smoke for gold papered cigar
cites which never saw the light of
Egypt. Strange as it may seem, not
withstanding the supposed fine eli
mate of Egypt for growing tobacco.
and the extensive irrigation system of
the Nile, where agriculture reaches a
high state of perfection good tobacco
cannot be grown in Egypt, and as mat
ters decreed against the growing of
any tobacco whatever within its juris-
diction. All Egyptian tobacco is
raised in Turkey. The Turks are fine
tobacco growers and expert tobaccon-
lists. For some reason they adopted
the name of Egyptian" tobacco to sell
their goods. The Egyptians on the
other hand, being able to raise only
inferior grades saw that unles, some.
thing was done, these fine Egyptian
brands would soon be discredited, so
in order to keep up the high standard
of Egyptian tobacco, and to retain
the prestige aud glory which the Turk.
ish tobacco had brought them. the
Egyptian government employed the
drastic measure of prohibiting any
growth of the plant in Egypt.-Stock.