Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-14

two-hundred-fold, and when 1t produces
It's best 1T yields even three-hundred-fold.
The blades of wheat and barley grow
there to full flour fingers in breadth. and
though l well know to what height
millet and sesame grow, shall not men
ton it,
The proposed reclamation, according to
the Wilcox report. can be completed
for $40,0O0,OOO, and bring under irrigation
more than 100000 acres, which he esti-
mates would be worth at east $1O0, 0OO,
600, or $50 an acre. The Assuan dam
system, which he has recently completed,
and only about half the area was re-
claimed.
Sir William proposes, by dams and
canals, to store the floods that are
brought down from the mountains in the
spring, in enormous reservoirs for use
during the summer, and has indicated
locations for at least five, which will, he
believes. answer every purpose. AT
least two Of these locations were used as
reservoirs by the Babylonians and prob
ably by previous civilizations, and Sir
william will adapt to modern use the
same canals that were then used to dis
tribute the water over the plains. Sew
eral dry river beds can also be made
available and thus economic the cost.
After the 100000 acres that will be
first reclaimed have been sold and settled
the area available for agriculture can
be doubled by the expenditure of $15,-
OO0, 900 additional, and ultimately the
gain would be 100000 acres capable Of
producing annually, according to his esti-
mates, 1000, 900 tons of wheat, 100000
hundredweight of cotton, and fabulous
In addition to whatever food will be
necessary to support a population of a
million people.
Proposes Building Railroad.
In addition to the agricultural products
he promises pasturage for millions. of
sheep and goats and hundreds of thou
sands of cattle in the delta, and he would
build a railway from Bagdad to Da-
mascus, with branches here and there to
tap the harvest fields. The total length
of this road would be about $50 miles,
and, according to his estimate. it could
be constructed for between s10,00O,CO0
and 81 100000.
The Turkish government has not yet
adopted the report. The scheme is so
vast that it bewilders the members of
the present ministry and the parliament
hasn't the intelligence to grasp, or the
courage to carry out such a magnifcent
| scheme However, an appropriation OF
100000 has been made to rebuild a
clares is absolutely necessary to protect
| the small area now under cultivation.
Sooner or later syndicates doubtless will
| be formed to carry out portions OF the
great pan by private tdpitdf. oCSCid
| English cotton manufacturers are taking
serious interest in the scheme and are
in consultation with Sir William Will
| cock.
| The high price Of cotton has caused
the manufacturers of Manchester and
other mill districts of England to seek
new sources of supply The attempts to
extend the volume of the product of
Egypt have not been successful, moth
| withstanding the investment of $4,000.
in irrfcQffOn nlantS. The trouble is
chiefly the lack Of labor and the in
or peasant farmers in the valley of the
| Nile. Nor can the product of Egypt be
| increased to. 1ny considerable degree
without the Importation Of labor Sew
eral planters have tried American ne
groes. but they wilt under the climate
OF Egypt and soon acquire the habits OF
the peasants around them.
The experimental plantations on the
disappointment for similar reasons.
In the British possessions on both coasts
| OF Africa are millions of available acres
| for planting cotton. but they lie idle be-
cause there are no hands to cultivate
them. The native African will not work.
He and his ancestors have managed to
survive until the present day without
labor and it is difficult to persuade him
that the curse pronounced upon our COM
mon father applies to him it does to
other human beings. Nature has sup
piled him with sufficient food thus far,
and he cannot be induced to go in the
cotton fields to earn money that he has
fnr