San Francisco water . ough it were cutoff by a gardener. Nearly every-where up the Nile from Cairo the. strip is so narrow that you can stand at one side of the valley and see clearacross it. Thus in one sense Egypt is the leanestcountry in the world, but it is the fattesl inthe quality of the food that nature gives the ages it has had one big mealevery year. At the inundation of the Nile,for several months the waters spread over theland and were allowed to stand there untilthey dropped the rich, black fertilizing sedi-ment brought down from the African moun-tains. This sediment has
San Francisco water . ough it were cutoff by a gardener. Nearly every-where up the Nile from Cairo the. strip is so narrow that you can stand at one side of the valley and see clearacross it. Thus in one sense Egypt is the leanestcountry in the world, but it is the fattesl inthe quality of the food that nature gives the ages it has had one big mealevery year. At the inundation of the Nile,for several months the waters spread over theland and were allowed to stand there untilthey dropped the rich, black fertilizing sedi-ment brought down from the African moun-tains. This sediment has produced from twoto three crops a year for Egypt through thecenturies and for a long time was the solemanure that the land had. The hundreds ofthousands of cattle, donkeys, camels, andsheep that feed off the soil give nothing backto it, for their droppings are gathered up,and dried for use as fuel. Recently the use ofartificial fertilizers has been encouraged withexcellent results. The irrigation of Egypt is now con-. sluice-gates of Assouan Dam are closed the Nile partiallysubmerges the beautiful ruins of Phils SAN FRANCISCO WATER January, 1928 ducted on scientificlines. The water isnot allowed to spreadover the country asit was years ago, butthe arable area is cutup by canals, andthere are immenseirrigating works inthe delta, to managewhich during the in-undation hundredsof thousands of menare required. Just atthe point of the delta,about twelve milesabove Cairo, is agreat dam, or bar-rage, that raises thewaters of the Nileinto a vast canalfrom which they flowover the fanlike ter-ritory of LowerEgypt. All through Egyptone sees men scoop-ing the water up inbaskets from onelevel to another, andeverywhere he findsthe buffalo, the cam-el, or donkey turn-ing the wheels thatoperate the crudeapparatus for gettingthe water out of theriver and onto theland. It remained forthe engineers of to-day to harness the Nile, to teach it how toflow, to defeat its weakness (for this mightyriver
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectwatersupply, bookyear
