Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-03-17


ingenious method Two ropes are at
tached to basket that will hold about
a bnshel. and man stands at the end
OF each rope. BY the same kind of
twist that sailor uses when he
dips bucket of water from the ocean.
these Egyptians fill their basket, hoist
II and empty 1t into the upper channel
as regularly and as rapidly as a man
viii move the oars of boat 1t is a
fascinating sight. and to do the trick
requires years of training. A gentle
man who has been among Egyptian
farms for several years declared that
1t could not be done by any other peo-
Pile. which is an exaggeration, for
have seen the same thing in syria and
Turkey
The river begins to rise In April and
continues to do so during the summer,
which Is the rainy season In upper
Egypt and Abyssinia. High water is
reached about the middle OF Scptemb-
cr. and will remain stationary for
week or ten days. when the entire val
ley is Hooded II begins 10 subside
about the first of October and gradual
ly flows into the sea, leaving the earth
refreshed and renewed with rich loan
and silt from the equatorial iungIes.
The amount of water discharged by
,he Nile into thu sea Is estimated at
65. 900, 100000 cubic yards, and ii is
calculated that $4,000 900 tons of fer
tilizer is deposited upon the soil each
year.
This annual renewal of the soil has
occurred ever since the creation Of the
earth and explains the fertility OF the
valley and the enormous crops it pro-
duces Writing about the year Is
D.. Strabo tells MS about the system
of regulating and distributing the wa
Ter. which was about the same al that
time that 1t Is now. and he says that
it was inherited from the ancients
The seasons of high and low water
were also the same then as now-high
water in September and the lowest
level In April. The ancient records
show also that there has been compar
atiyely little change in the foundations
or the area irrigated by them The
Nileometrcs at Assuan are the tests
When the water rises only % feet
above the mean level there is a poor
crop. Twenty-six feet makes good
crop and 2S feet a big one. If there
is less than "a feet of water there is a
famine in Egypt like those which oc.
Cured seven years in succession dur
ing the time of Joseph.
1. h...
ands or hundreds of thousands of
years the Nile has fed the soil of
Egypt, but without it the country
would be an uninhabitable desert. and
its benefits and blessings have excited
| the wonder. the admiration, the graft
tude and reverence OF countless gen
erations of men. 1t is no wonder that
the ancient Egyptians worshipped the
river, for they have not only been de
| pendent upon It for existence for thou
sands of years, but It has been the
highway for the transportation OF
| their products and for communication
| with The world.
To extend the blessings of this river
TO a larger number of inhabitants. to
| Increase the cultivated areas of the
| Nile valley the great dam at Assuan.
OF which you have doubtless read and
OF which shall give you a fuller de-
| scription in another letter, has been
constructed. There are limits to all
| things. but the Egyptian desert is lad
en- with the chemical properties which
produce cotton. sugar and other sta
pies in quantity that is unknown
| elsewhere. The sandy soil needs only
moisture. and wherever 1t can be sup
piled with water the most bounliful
crops can be produced. II is surpris-
ing to-see rich fields that yield two
and three crops Il year side by side
with sandy wastes upon which grass
hopper would starve. The desert may
be only an inch or two above high
water, but that is enough. Until wa
ter can reach 1t II is condemned to
everlasting sterility The same CON
ditions exist in Arizona The same
phenomenon can be seen upon the
Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific
railways. Passengers upon the trains
pass instantly lEpm repulsive desert
into a glowing garden.
The irrigation system of Egypt.
with It's certain crops repeated twice
and sometimes three times during the
year. makes the land it fertllizes very
valuable. Lord Cromers latest report
shows that in 1895 the total area OF
farming land appearing on the govern
ment books for taxation was 1860 40
acres, OF this 2G92.S2 acres. or So
per cent of the total, was held by 727.-
oi1 proprietors in farms OF less than
90 acres each. In 1901 the cultivated
area had Increased to 5.O97 .i31 acres.
gain of 1896 acres in six years
OF which SS,722 acres went to small
proprietors. which gives them &c 80
per cent OF the total. a slight gain n
ownership by the peasantry class.
In 1895 573,Sl9 acres, or 1l.4S per
cent of the whole. We're held by Euro
peans. In 1901 the assessments show
ed falling OF to 55i4O9. or 1O.9 per
cent of the total The actual number
of European proprietors decreased
from 6529 to 612G, of whom only 1854
cultivate more than 80 acres.
II VIII surprise American farmers
to hear that this I OO0 600 acres of