The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-09

Cairo, Egyptian axiom of agriculture
al America is that a look at the land is
a key to the welfare OF the tillers Of the
soil. If the dirt is rich its productivity
Is always reflected in the prosperity Of
the farming community. This is not true
of Egypt The soil Of the Nile valley has
responded literally 10 every tickling OF
the hoe for seventy centuries. yet the vast
majority Of those who farm its fertile acres
today live in mud nuts. The explanation
lies partly in the fact that the population
of Nileland has always been dense, but in
grea tear measure the condition of the
Egyptian farmer is due to his having been
oppressed by despOtic rulers and unequal
taxation since prehistoric times. Sing
ularly enough the reign of Ismail Pasha
who reduced the feilaheen to the great
est extreme of poverty. opened the way
TOT the ultimate deliverance OF the Egyp-
Uau FARMER frOm everlasting bondage.
In a purely agricultural country it is
difncult for bad government 10 bring
about ruin TO people as long as the tyran'
Is unable to raise funds save by extOrt-
Ing money from his subjects. When op-
preston becomes intolerabla there is a
change Of government and quick recovery
Il was when Ismail Pasha learned how 10
borrow money in Europe, upon his coun-
rys Il O. L., that collapse resulted
and the people found themselves under
a debt which their descendants must pay
But for 100 years before lsmaiFs reign.
bad government had always made the
farmers the bearers Of the financial bur
dens of Egypt and slaves 10 a system of
graft, beginning with the headmen OF
villages and extending To the throne. To-
day the English point with pride to the
fact that the fellah approaches the dawn
ing of d better day.
Formerly the Egyptian farmer was
logged with the 'courbash" when he
protested against paying ruinous taxes
part OF which the tax collector stole and
the rest of which went TO the khedive
Even so recent a ruler as lsmail used the
'courbash' whenever he needed money.
The farmer was also driven by the whip
to labor upon public works or till crown
lands, or the lands of court favOrites
without pay. Nowadays taxes are levied
as they are in European countries. and
the system Of graft is obsolete. All that
is left of the corVee. the system of en-
forced labor. is that the feliahecl must
guard their dykes during the season OF
mundatiOn. The Introduction of puren-
NAL irrigation has greatly reduced the
that within Few years it will not be nee
eSsary TO call out the COTVee,. except IN
seasons of exceptionally high Nile. In
1901, for the first time in the history of
the country, no cOrvee was called out
north Of Cairo.
But up to the present time the benefits
that have accrued to the Egyptians have
not visibly affected the nature of farm
Z
tons TO the rule. the Egyptian farmer
methods are the same today that they
were during the first dynasty. Looking
upon the remarkably preserved features
Of a Rameses or q Sci In the national
museum in Cairo, il is difficult To realize
that thousands of years have passed since
the mummies of these kings were wrap
ped. Looking from car window at the
Nile valley farmer growing his crops II
is more difficult to realize that this is the
I ne h.a &c
waiting land that grows from two to -four
crops "a year.
Along the canals that convey water
[ from the Nile to the farms there are seen
the same devices for lifting water that
were in use when the earliest monuments
of Egypt were builded. The shadoOf is d
Contrivance consisting Of a pole which
rests upon pivot, with a bucket at one
end and a weight at the other. The man
at the shadOOf dips water from the ca
nal bucketfu by bucketful, tipping the
bucket above a smaller canal fifteen feet
above the level of the larger one. He
works for ten cents a day, two piasters
in Egyptian money. and never goes on a
strike for higher wages. He seldom miss
/ IS a days work and rarely proves unre-
liable in any way From countless gen.
eratiCns of oppressed ancestors ne in
herits patience, humbleness and habits OF
hard labor. He lifts some LOO tons OF
water during the dry season. When the
weather is warm he wears nothing more
than a iOin cloth and his wardrobe is not
expensive at any season. He and his
family live upon what the average Am
ertcan working man would spend for to-
baccO.
Another apparatus for lifting water TO
the fields is the screw of ATchimedes.
The name suggests its ancient origin II
is a wooden tube with spiral flange in
side Turned with a crank it brings a
stream Of water to level about two feet
higher than its lower end. The more
prosperous farmers employ wafer wheels.
The patient water buffalo, turning the
water wheel without beng driven is as
dependable. and almost as poorly fed, as
the feilah who works al the shadoOf. He.
too, inherits the instinct of unceasing
toll Sometimes two buffaloes or a buff
fslo and camel. are used to turn a wa