The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-08-13
have said. the first picking 0
along in September.
- r-H..a N.In Makes the Cotton.

ElGN6 "a -
along in September.
The White Nile Makes the Cotton
It viii surprise many 70 kho"
the cotton crop Of Egypt IS not re- =
the rich mud Of the Abysslnia- WhlCh
comes down in the waters Of the Nie
~ the time OF the foods. That mud
Is brought TO Egypt by the AthaTa ana
the Blue Nile Is poured over the hn4
during the seasons when the COTTON
needs il least The most o. the 49,
used for cotton raising comes doEn
during the summer. This Is from the
white Nile. which II almost as clear
and pure as the water you drink OF
your tables. The fertilizlng proper
ties must hence come from the ST.
deposited during the food or from ma
nure and other fertilization.
I am told that cotton, as II IS eto%n
here. exhausts the soil n that the
people are injuring the STAPLE anu
ducing the amount of the product oy
Oyercropping II used 70 be that COT
ton was planted on the same srouho
only every third year, the grouhd De-
ing used for other crops or alIo"eu -
lie fa1low during the emalhlns ~
years. At present some of the cotton
fields are worked every year anu
others two years out Of three. On
most farms cotton is now plalteu
every other year, whereas, the auI-ol-
tiles say that IN order 70 nave = ooe
Weld not more tnan AZ pei SSh
ones land should be in this crop from
year to year.
Fighting the Boil Weevil.
Egypt has had a lot Of trouble with
the boil weevil. This pestiferous cot
ton worm is TO be found all along the
valley of the Nile, and l am told that
il is doing great danage on the plan
tations of the Sudan, a thousand miles
above Alexandria. 1t is said that more
destroyed by it in 1904. and that num-
dreds of the smaller farmers were
ruined In the meantime the govern
ment has been doing all it can 10
wipe out this plague, but it Is work
ing under great disadvantages. The
Egyptian Mohammedans are fatalLsts.
and they look upon such things as the
boil weevil as a judgment or Goa
and think they can do nothing to avert
them. The government has had 70
inaugurate a system or forced laDof
in 1t has made the boys
and men of the cotton region turn
out by the thousands to kill the worms
under the superintendent of the offi-
Gals. The results have been excellent
and as those who have been forced TO
work have been we'll paid the farm
erS are beginning to appreciate what
has been done for them.
The government has been helping
- 1CA 1@4OIo IL llS WIS @N~S
an agricultural department which is
working much as ours. Last year 1t
sent out selected seed for planting
10000 acres in cotton, contracting
with each farmer who took it that
it would buy his seed at a price above
that Of the market. The seed. which
has come in from that venture is
enough to plant 5000 acres this year,
and this is to be distributed at cost
price to such farmers as want 1t.
Fertilizins Egypt.
The government is trying to induce
the farmers TO use artificial fertilizers.
1t began this six years ago., when it
was able to distribute $4,000 worth
of chemical manure. The demand a
SO increased for such fertilizers that
more than ten times as much vas
distributed last Gao
With our knowledge of the Nile
lands it seems a queer thing to talk
of their artificial fertilization, but
there is no soil on earth where manur-
ing pays better. On the grain lands,
where this stuff has been used to the
extent of about IS per acre. the
crops have increased from SIS to $40
per acre and the probability is that
the demand here for fertilizers will
steadily grow. During the past ear
the government has lent to the agri-
cultural department $1,000 600 at 2 per
cent per annum with the understand
ing that the money is to be used in
buying and distributing manures.
In another letter 1 will describe the
wonderful fertility of the Nile valley
and tell you something of the Abyssin-
ian mud of which it is made. 1t has
been farmed for ages with almost no
whatever and that the con-
ditions are such that if manure at
all is to be employed it must be
brought in from broad AS it is now,
the droppings Of cattle are gathered
up by the women in their bare hands
and planted into cakes to be dried for
fuel and about the only manure tina
is saved is that of pigeons which are
raised by the millions throughout the
valley of the Nile.
Another fertilizer is tina afforded
by the ruins of the ancient towns,
which were built Of unbaked clay, and
which now are mere mounds Of earth.
Out of these mounds. lax of the
rubbish Of a thousand years, comes
a kind Of earth containing a large
percentage Of soda, ammonia and
other salts. This stuff Is carried by
the peasants out to the cotton fields
and s%prinkled over the ground, and the
result is an extraordinary increase in
the yield.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.