The The Egyptian agricultural_year includes three seasons or crops. leading winter crops, sown in November and harvested in May and June, are cereal produce of all kinds; the principal summer crops, sown in March and harvested in October and November, are cotton, sugar, and rice; the autumn crops, sown in July and gathered in September and October, are rice, maize, mullet, and vegetables generally. In Lower Egypt where perennial irrigation is effected by means of a network of canals tapping the Nile and traversing the Delta in every direction, the chief crops are cotton, rice, Indian corn, wheat, barley, clover, cucumber; in Upper Egypt where the basin system of irrigation, i.e. submersion at high Nile is generally adhered to, cereals and vegetables are produced, but in summer cotton and sugar-cane are grown in the Fayûm and Ibrahimia canal tracts. Where there is perennial irrigation two or three crops are secured annually; lands irrigated in flood only are under millet, or if low-lying are drained when the flood goes off, and then produce the winter crop of wheat, beans, or clover. Extensive reservoir works, consisting of a dam at Assouan, a barrage and lock at Assiout, and a barrage at Zifta have been completed. The storage capacity of the reservoir is estimated at 1,065,000,000 cubic metres. Irrigation and drainage works connected with the reservoir are in course of construction, and these will enable large parts of the country to profit by the extra supply of water now available. The production of cotton in 10 years (estimate for 1903-04) was :— The area under wheat is (in feddans), 1,236,737; maize, 1,740,111; cotton, 1,332,510; sugar cane, 72,679. In 1903 the sugar crop exported amounted to 43,650,850 kilogrammes, valued at £E873,000, and the cotton exported amounted to 5,588,511 cantars (of 50 kilogrammes), and valued at £E15,677,000. In the following table the agricultural condition of each of the provinces in Lower and Upper Egypt is indicated : The exterior commerce of Egypt, comprising imports and exports of all kinds of merchandise and of specie, is given at the following figures for five years : The following table shows the value of the commercial intercourse of Egypt with different foreign countries for three years : The value of the leading exports and imports of Egypt during the last three years is shown in the following table : The cotton tissues imported amounted in 1903, to £E2,363,188; in 1904, to £ E2,969,497. The quantity of raw cotton exported in 1903 was 5,588, 511 cantars, valued at £E15,676,808; in 1904, 5,912,958 cantars, valued at £E16,702,730. 2 Cigars. The receipts from tobacco were in 1899, £E1,068,282; in 1900, £E1,159,881; in 1901, £E1,221,483; in 1902, £E1,285,908; in 1903, £E1,304,078. Of the total imports in 1904 the value of £E18,125,496, and of the exports the value of £E19,703,721 passed through the port of Alexandria. Goods imported into Egypt are examined by experts, who determine their value according to the market price in their original country, plus the cost of transport, freight, insurance, &c. In order, however, to facilitate customs operations, the administration, in communication with the merchants interested, establishes, on the same basis as above, periodical tariffs for common articles of importation. In the statistics of the Custom House, the values are estimated according to the estimated price which served as the basis for the payment of duty now fixed at 8 per cent. ad valorem, without taking into account the amount of that duty. As regards exports, there are tariffs for nearly all of them, estimated in the same manner as the tariffs of imports. The quantities recorded in statistics are those declared by the merchants and controlled by the Customs. The origin of imports and destination of exports are declared by importers and exporters, and controlled, as much as possible, by the searchers and appraisers of the Custom House. The statistics of the Customs only give general commerce. In order to know the amount of special trade deduction must be made from the total of imports of the value of goods re-exported, which, however, has only an inconsiderable importance. In fact the value of these goods amounts to about three or four hundred thousand pounds, one half of which is due to tobacco re-exported in the form of cigarettes. The transit trade is of no importance except coal. At the utmost its value amounts to 800,0001. per annum, nine-tenths of which represents the value of coal imported at Port Said to be re-exported on payment of a duty of 1 per cent. ad valorem. Goods temporarily deposited or re-shipped are not included in the "transit." The Customs duties being levied on an ad valorem basis, the values declared may be considered as comparatively exact. The Anglo-French agreement as to equal commercial facilities and other matters is to last for 30 years and, in default of a year's notice, for additional successive periods of 5 years. The subjoined statement shows the total value of the imports from Egypt into the United Kingdom, and of the exports of British produce and manufactures to Egypt, in five years, according to the Board of Trade returns: The following table shows the values of the principal imports into the United Kingdom from Egypt, and of the principal exports from the United Kingdom to Egypt: Shipping and Navigation. Improvements were effected at Alexandria by the construction of docks, wharves, and quays, and by the opening of the new pass in 1894. Since then many other works have been executed. The long mole has, for half its length, been widened to three times its original breadth; adjoining its inner end the new Gabbary quay has been built; near this a graving dock is being constructed; in the harbour dredging has been executed, while on the quays new sheds have been built, paving carried out, and facilities provided for unloading vessels. The following tables show the tonnage and nationality of vessels arriving and clearing at Alexandria :Arrivals and clearances of commercial vessels at Alexandria in five years :— The vessels visiting the port in 1903 comprised: British, 716 of 1,194,722 tons entered, and 716 of 1,211,553 tons cleared; Italian, 182 of 310,190 tons entered, and 191 of 320,934 tons cleared; French, 115 of 305,288 tons entered, and 115 of 305,203 tons cleared; Austrian, 113 of 249,414 tons entered, and 101 of 245,095 tons cleared; Ottoman, 1,889 of 229,074 tons entered, and 1,864 of 233,985 tons cleared. Suez Canal. The following table shows the number and gross tonnage of vessels of all nationalities that passed through the canal in 1903 :— |