The farmer and mechanic., 1907-08-20

age WELD for all Egypt nets profit
Of $35 per acre, and that of lower
Egypt amounts to much more, Some
| lands yield so much that they are
J renting for $50 per acre. and there are
| instances where 500 an acre Is paid
! Such lands bring two or three crops
| q year. and those who rent them
know what they are doing. The rent
/ ing value Of the lands Of Egypt In
| 1892 was over a hundred and ten mil
| lion dollars, and the selling values OF
the best lands now range all the way
from two hundred to a thousand dol
lars per acre.
I see in today's newspapers an ad-
vertisement Of the Egyptian Lands
Company, announcing an issue Of two
| and one-half million dollars worth OF
stock. The syndicate says in it's pros
pectus that it expects to buy 5000
acres of land at 1.-The low rate OF $500
per acre." and that by spending $780,
| 600 1t can make that land worth S400
per acre within three years Some
of this land Is now worth from $3.50
to $500 per acre, and it Is renting for
| $40 per acre per annum The tract lies
fifty miles north Of Cairo and is plant
! ed in cotton. wheat and barley.
Egypt Belongs to the Egyptians.
Such estates as the above do not
often come into the market. The most
of Egypt is in small farms. and there
are thousands here of one acre or
only a little over six million acres
Indeed, it is not right to think of
Egypt as owned by foreigners. Six
sevenths of all the farms belong to
the Egyptians. and there are more
than q million native land owners The
most Of the holdings are small, and
over one million acres are in tracts Of
from five to twenty acres each. Many
are even less than an acre In size. The
number of prOprietors Is increasing
$1n fn11 11Sl,c
crazy to possess land OF their own. 1t
used to be that the khedive had en-
orlnous estates. but when the British
government took possession some of
the khediyial lands came to them.
They have been divided and have been
sold on longtime and easy payments,
the lands going to the feHahs Many
who then bought these lands have
paid for them out Of their crops and
all are rich. AS IT is now there are
only 5000 foreigners who own real
estate in the valley of the Nile.
Among the Farmers.
I wish I could show you the farmers
of Egypt as they live here IN the
Delta. They have one Of the garden
spots OF the globe to cultivate. and
composed is from thirty to sixty feet
deep. II rests on the bed rock Of the
desert and has been brought down.
through the ages. from the highlands
of AbysStn1a by the river Nile Inc
Nile is bringing more every year, and
the land. If carefully handled needs
practically no fertilization As 1t Is
now 1t is yielding two Or three crops
every twelve months and is seldom
idle. Under the old system of basin
irrigation the farms lay falloW during
the hot months of the summer. but
the canals and dams which have Of
late been constructed enable much Of
the country to have water all the year
round, and as soon as one crop Is
harvested another is planted.
The Cities of the Delta.
The whole Of the Delta IS one big
farm dotted with farm villages and
little farm cities. There are mud towns
everywhere, and there are half q
dozen agricultural centers of consider
amle size outside the big cities of
Alexandria and Cairo. Take for in
stance Tanta. where / am at the writ
ing: 1t has $1,000 people and is sup
ported by the farmers. 1t is a. cotton
market and 1t has a great fair. now
and then, to which the people come
from all over Egypt to buy and sell
/ A little to the east of it is ZagaSss.
which has more. than 10000. paopie.
and -1u<rhsH- HoEtnk upon the 'ses1