an acre of cotton receives a total of 3,150 to 3,500 tons of water, being equivalent to a rainfall of 31 to 35 inches.

FERTILIZING.

Owing to the more intensive cultivation of the soil since the introduction of perrenial irrigation, and also owing largely to the fact that there is at present very little Nile mud deposited on the land, whilst formerly at flood time, when basin irrigation was in general use, there was every year the restorative power added to the soil by the Nile mud, the question of adding manure becomes more and more acute. The heaps of manure which one sees at every village are a proof of the value which the native puts on it; every cultivator in Egypt acknowledges the value of manure as far as the cotton crop is concerned. The opinion is still held that stable manure is the proper dung for the cotton crop in Egypt; artificial manures have only proved a success on very poor soil. The mixture recommended by Mr. FOADEN is 10 to 15 tons stable manure, 150 pounds or 200 pounds soluble nitrogenous manure, and two-thirds nitrate of soda and one-third sulphate of ammonia. Comparatively speaking, few cultivators are using chemical manures for the cotton crop.

It is estimated that 10 to 15 tons of stable manure are used per feddan in Egypt; this is applied broadcast before ploughing. Leguminous forage crops, such as clover (berseem) form an excellent preparation for a good cotton crop and may be considered a manure.

In fact, green manuring is practised very extensively in Egypt. Mr. G. P. FOADEN says in the "Text-book of Egyptian Agriculture:"

"Crops are not grown except in the case of lupins with this as the primary object, but the ploughing in of berseem (clover) before cotton, which is so cominon, is a system of green manuring which is atttended with most excellent results. At the time it is ploughed in there is a considerable amount of stem and young leaves on the plant, though the amount of organic matter added to the soil is not so great as when

mustard, buckwheat, lupins, and other crops are grown primarily for this purpose in Europe. The frequency with which it is practised in Egypt, however, compensates for this, and it is impossible to overestimate the importance of the effect which it has had on Egyptian soils. In the first place, the mechanical condition of the soils has been improved, and when vegetable matter is thus incorporated in our heavy clay soils, it opens them up, making them more light and porus. For the improvement of light, sandy soils, no better system is known. than that of growing berseem, which not only greatly enriches them in. nitrogen, in which they are generally deficient, but also by the addition of vegetable matter renders them more absorptive and retentive and greatly enhances their value. In Egypt there is a great want of organic matter, and were it not for the system of indirect green manuring practiced by the ploughing in of berseem, it is difficult to see how the fertility of our soils could have been maintained."

I have often been told that 'berseem' is the salvation of Egyptian agriculture, and the Colonial Cotton Growing Association will do well to experiment with this Egyptian clover. Mr. G. S. HENDERSON, the present Deputy-Director of Agriculture in Sind (India), who a few years ago was employed by the Aboukir Estate Company in Egypt, has introduced successfully 'berseem' into Sind, and its cultivation is now being taken up by other provinces in India.

According to Mr. FRANK HUGHES, F. C. S., of the Survey Department, who as chemist of the Khedival Agricultural Society has executed a number of manuring trials in different localities, the usual practice among cultivators in Egypt appears to be to apply as far as possible the manure produced on the farm to the land destined for cotton. Where ordinary manure is insufficient it is frequently supplemented by the soil and dust from the sites of ancient villages (of which there are a great number). The manure tests carried out by Mr. HUGHES have not shown any marked increase by the use of artificial manures; sometimes even a negative result, in comparison with the experimental plot that was not manured. He expressed the opinion that probably good cotton soils do not require any

manure, whilst poor soils should certainly receive a good dressing of stable manure. The stable manure of the country is poor in organic substance. Whenever the last crop of berseem' is cut, the fellah allows the sheep and cattle on it, mainly for the purpose of obtaining the manure.

PICKING COTTON.

During the latter part of August, cotton picking commences as far as Upper Egypt is concerned, where only Ashmouni cotton is grown. In September the first picking begins in the Delta, that is, Lower Egypt.

The picking is carried out by children, boys and girls, and also old people, who put the cotton gathered into the folds of their loose smock. The pickers can certainly not carry in this way as much cotton as the pickers in America with their trailing. sacks over their backs. I have watched these children separating carefully fibers from leaves, etc.; where the latter will not readily become detached and fall off, they put the cotton into their mouth and blow the leaf or part of stock away, a process which they perform very quickly. To every lot of ten or twelve children there is an overseer, and I have seen some of them using their lashes amongst the children who had left cotton on the plants. The average quantity picked per day by one child is about 30 pounds; picking cannot be carried out in the morning owing to heavy dews, and night falls at 5 P. M.

At the side of the field a long piece of canvas is stretched out and the cotton of each picker is weighed and put into the farmers' long bags seen in the illustration on page 190 and carried away on the backs of the camels.

The wages earned by each picker are from 5d. a day upwards.

The cotton from each picking is kept carefully apart. There are generally three pickings, in some places only two, but in others even four. After each picking the field is watered. The first picking is of the best quality, more even than the others, and generally begins in September. The second takes place in October, and the last may be as late as December.