The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-09-03
BY FRANK q. CARPENTER.

7 ably that example that MADE ADoas
Hilmi a monogamist, and gave him a
home which, in its quiet and peace
corresponds faVoraDly with that OF any
ruler OF Europe. Indeed, Tewhk, the
father Of Abbas Hilmi. once expressed
/ himself strongly in favor OF monoga-
my. saying: I'm my own father ha-
STEDAY..6 50 % g % ..6-.--
rem I saw the disadvantages Of many
wives and OF many children by dinet
ent wives. and then decided that
when l came TO manhood | Would
marry but one woman and be true 10
her. / have done that and have never
regretted it,"
The present khedive is undoubtedly
of much the same opinion. He mas
been married thirteen years, and mat
t. a single wife, who is the mother OF
his six children.
\ Business Ruler.
Nv conversation with his highness
Abbas Hilmi covered a wide range:
1t dealt with the present prosperity nI
/ Egypt, and I can see that his hfghne5s
understands both his country and peo-
pie. He thinks the Nile valley mas ny
no means reached the maximum OF us
possibilities, and says that by increas-
ing the dams and drainage facilities.
Egypt might yield much greater crops
than she does now. I spoke to MIN
about having met his father ana re-
|! ferred to the great interest when
Tewfk Pasha showed in EgyEt anu us
future. The khedive expressed a sim
liar desire to do all he could for The
Egyptians, and had he greater power
| am sure it would be used Tor tneir
benefit. AS it is now, this country $
practically IN the hands of the British,
and almost every act of the Kaedlve,
so far as official doings are concerhcd,
is directed by them.
The ONLY matters as to which his
highness has full sway are those re-
garding his own estates, and MS man
agement of them is such as to snow
his great business capacity. He mas
an allowance of 100000 u year III 81
the public treasury, bus in addition, he
owns thousands of acres OF valuable
lands and the value of his private
property must run high into the mil
lions of dollars. He handles this In
such a way that it pays well, and his
experiments and improvements are
the talk Of farmers and business men
throughout the Nile valley.
Abbas Hilmi, the Farmer.
I have heard a great deal of these
farms of the khedive since l nave
been in Egypt. He inherited much
land from his father. but he has other
large tracts, which he himself has &c
deemed from the desert, and others
which he has made good by draining.
Not far from Cairo he owns $500
acres, which q few years ago were
covered WIFI SNo-li1Hp duoSi 60 LII
hillocks. He bought this cheap and
then began to improve it. He cut
down the hills, drained the swamps
and put water on the land. At pres
ent that estate is paying over $50, 600
a year, and it is bringing his highness
80 per cent. and upward on his in
vestn1ent.
He has another great farm not far
from Alexandria, which was all desert
not long ago. The khedive laid down
a small railway and put dump cars
On it. With this he hauled off the
sand which came from his drainage
works, and now has it we'll watered.
He has taken 1000 acres and turned
them into we'll cultivated fields. Farm
villages have grown up about them,
and his highness has so laid out the
estate with trees and lowers that it is
said to be a paradise. In one place he
has a plantation OF 5000 mulberry
bushes, the leaves of which furnish
food for his silk worms, and in other
places there are fir forests.
This estate is at Montzah, a few
miles out of Alexandria, IN a beautiful
bay of the Mediterranean sea. The
khedive has built q palace there, or
rather two palaces. He has a little
one for himself and a larger enc for
his family. In other parts of the 50
tate he is carrying On all sorts or
breeding experiments. He has chick
I'll Jus anu ldDpIl ilulClltS, DIS wen
as a tower containing thousands Of
pigeons. He has dynamos which fur
nish his palace with electric lights,
and carpenter shops and planning mills.
the machinery for which the same dy-
namOs operate during the day time.
In them all the woodwork required
for his various estates and houses is
turned out.
A Stock Breeder.
The khedive is for OF fine stock
and he is doing much to improve that
of Egypt. On mis- various farms he
has high bred horses, cattle and sheep.
He has a large number of Arabian
thoroughbreds, some Jerseys, Swiss
and other fine breeds of cows, and his
wathe buffaloes, known here as
~gamoushes, are far better tina any
others of the Nile valley. He is also
for draft animals. His highness be-
lieves in scientific farming. He wants
good stock and good seed. and he
works to some extent with the .Agri-
cultural Department here. He has Il
school on his estate near Cairo where
200 boys are being educated to take
places on his various properties. This
school is run at his own expense and
the boys are taught about stock farm
ing and surveying, as we'll as read
ing, writing and arithmetic. The
course of study lasts five years. and AT
49, O'1 IN - p1SNlS SUN u |
good position as steward or overseer
on one of the khedive's farms.
The khedive'< Railroad.
l have already written something
about the khedive's railroad. This
begins on his estate near
having connection with that .ity bv
the State railroad system, and then
runs for sixty miles or more west
ward, n idea being that it NAV be
extended to Tripoli. Much of the land
along the road has been redeemed
and a large part of this belongs
to his hlghness. He has put m a
number of villages here and there in
this reglon and l am old thai the
road is paying so we'll that the track.
which was originally a narrow gauge
has had to be widened. His hiehnoss
is much interested in the road. and If
is said that he sometimes mounts the
locomotive and manages the engine as
the train goes over it.
In speaking about this road. rs fold
me that he was we'll satisfied with its
present condition, and that he thought
that it might be extended along the
coast of the Mediterranean as far as
Tripoli and be made to pay.
| am told that the khediye has made
"a great deal of monev during the