To take a stride now from the delicious and attractive to the homely and
useful, but at the same time more general and profitable growing crops
of Egypt, let us turn to the gardener's mainstay--his vegetables.
Here the first thing that strikes a visitor to this semi-tropical land
is the familiarity of many of the garden crops--some, to use an
old-fashioned term, grown out of knowledge; others perhaps wanting in
the qualities of the home country.
Most familiar of all--certainly the most homely and extensively grown,
with great profit, is the cabbage, in three varieties--the White
Drumhead, the Red Drumhead, and the Savoy. Here a little unfamiliarity
steps in, and that is in the usage, for the cabbage in Egypt is utilised
by the people as a salad as well as for cooking.
From a gardener's point of view the head is not so large and hard, the
vegetable not forming a solid heart as it does in England. But this may
be accounted for by want of sufficient manure and attention--good
gardening, in short--and perhaps the climate is not wholly to blame.
The cauliflower flourishes fairly well under similar cultivation to the
cabbage, but being more delicate requires greater attention; differing
from the latter, the heads are well formed, but it is necessary to shade
them when coming to perfection, the clean, white growth being liable to
be damaged by the too ardent sun.
Good cauliflowers command a ready sale at better prices than are to be
had in London as a rule, the average cost being from twopence-halfpenny
to fivepence per head.
Another very familiar crop is seen largely in Egypt--the leek. This is
a profitable vegetable, which grows to a good size, is easily
cultivated, and realises a total per acre of about fifteen pounds. The
carrot, too, is largely grown--in two varieties, the native and the
Greek. The native kind is sown in September, and is ready for lifting
in January; while the Greek variety, sown in the same month, is also
used for the production of a summer crop in February. A deep soil is
necessary, while its sandy nature in Egypt is most suitable for this
root, and when carefully cultivated a fair return may be expected.
One of the most extensively grown vegetables, a very general favourite
almost everywhere except in England, is the garlic. It does well in
Egypt, often in plots of as much as two acres, and has the advantages of
not requiring great care in cultivation, nor much water; while an
average crop will yield of the silvery bulbs enough to be valued at
about fifteen pounds per acre.
The onion, again, proves itself to be a most thriving inhabitant of this
Eastern country, growing hard, firm, clean-skinned, and healthy. In
this sunny clime it is extensively grown, and not merely for home use.
The kind most popular is the red Spanish onion, and it is cultivated
both in Upper Egypt and Lower, there being this peculiarity of
difference, namely, that the Spanish onion grows to a larger size in the
south, while the flavour of those grown in the Delta is superior.
A few words will not be out of place respecting the cultivation of this
vegetable in Upper Egypt, where it is grown most extensively as a farm
crop for export. The seed is sown in the month of October,
transplantation takes place in March, and, all going well, the crop is
ready for lifting in June or July. After the transplanting no
irrigation is required. The yield is approximately four to five tons
per acre, and the market price two pounds per ton.
The next vegetable on our list when grown in quantity looks wonderfully
familiar and home-like. It is the artichoke--not that of tuberous and
sunflower-like growth, but the deeply cut, acanthus-like leaved
ornamental plant of English gardens, with its majestic thistle-like
purple head.
This is one of the best-paying garden crops, these heads being greatly
in demand by Europeans, though not much sought after by the natives. In
the culture it will be found that the growth is excellent for four
years, when transplanting becomes necessary and should be resorted to.
Asparagus is decidedly one of the best-paying crops in Egypt, and
naturally always in great demand by the Europeans who visit or pass
through the country in ever-increasing numbers. The cultivation is the
same good old-fashioned style practised in England, the beds being well
prepared and generously treated with stimulants. All that is required
to secure a fine crop is proper attention under skilled direction, for
there are no drawbacks from frost, the grower never finding the sturdy
greenish purple shoots of yesterday drooping over and destroyed by the
morning's frost.
Well treated, the beds will remain good for from ten to fifteen years, a
very modest computation this, for if well-managed and not cut too hard,
a good asparagus plantation ought to remain prosperous for twenty or
thirty years. As the result of his generous treatment in the way of
stimulants, the grower may expect to receive wholesale from two
shillings to five shillings per hundred shoots, according to their size.
That easily-cultivated wholesome vegetable, spinach, is largely grown
from September till January; while now may be added, most extensively
raised, a vegetable new to Occidental eyes, in company with three more
which have long periods of growth, well fitting one to succeed the
other.
The first is a small-flowered mallow, whose period is from September to
October--it is much relished by the poorer Egyptians as a cooked
vegetable resembling spinach; purslane is another very easily-grown
plant, whose period is from March to September; Jews' mallow, too, is a
vegetable greatly esteemed by the natives. This is cultivated, and also
found growing wild in the fields. It is much in demand as a summer
vegetable. Okra is another dish held in high estimation; it is not
difficult to grow, and forms a good paying crop.
To return to the familiar vegetables of Western gardens, we have a great
favourite in the shape of the haricot bean. This grows exceedingly well
in Egypt, on condition of its being well supplied with water, while the
rapidity of its maturing is marvellous, showing, as it does, the beauty
of the Egyptian climate and the power of the sun, for it is fit to pick
thirty days after sowing, and the land ready for another crop, a fact
which seems almost incredible.
The next on the list of profitable vegetables is the ordinary broad
bean, but this is not extensively grown, as it is only consumed by the
upper class natives, the poorer people preferring the ordinary horse
bean, which is grown as a winter crop. These beans are a very common
article of food, and are bought by the peasantry, ready boiled, in most
public places. They are also largely employed as provender for the
working cattle. The roots of an arum and of the lotus, too, are largely
consumed, and no wonder in the case of the latter in such a dreamy land;
but the effects are not quite the same as the former Laureate described.
The turnip, so popular in England, finds little favour, though it is
easily raised as a medium-paying crop, and, odd as it may sound, it is
principally used pickled.
Colocass is generally grown upon the farm. The tubers are large, about
the size of an English turnip. This is a splendid paying crop, which is
largely consumed as a vegetable and forms one of the staple foods of the
fellaheen.
The sweet potato is also a common vegetable here, but the name sounds
foreign to an English cultivator. It is a plant with tuberous roots of
a white colour, mostly eaten roasted, and, like the colocass, it is a
favourite food of the farm labourer. The value of the produce of an
acre may be estimated at ten pounds, and the duration of the crop is
about four months.
The cucumber thrives very well in Egypt, and, of course, there is no
necessity for the protection of glass. It is as popular as in England,
but perhaps more utilised, lasting well through summer into autumn, and
proves to be a very paying crop, provided it has a plentiful supply of
water. This may also be said of the two varieties of vegetable marrow,
the green and white, which are largely raised. The fruits are most
popular when very young, and are much relished when treated as the
cucumber is in England--that is to say, served as a salad, though it is
cooked as well. This, like the cucumber, is a medium-paying crop. As
for the latter, it has been a favourite object of culture, dating right
back to the days of the Israelites. The allusion to the cucumber will
be recalled, and all species of this family are cultivated with
assiduity. Not that there is anything wonderful in this, for in a hot
country fruits and vegetables of rapid growth, and which cause little
trouble, are sure to be affected. We say rapid growth advisedly, for in
favourable seasons the shoot of a cucumber may be almost seen to grow,
achieving as it does, at times, a length of twenty-four inches in a day
and night.
The ordinary salads and herbs of the English garden are easily raised,
and form profitable crops, available summer and winter, and are highly
esteemed. Among other plants we have poppies, madder, indigo, flax and
hemp; while in the province of Fayoum one very charming form of
gardening is practised, namely the growth of the rose tree, from which
is prepared the rose water so popular all through the East.
As for flowers of all descriptions, where they are scarce it is the
fault of the people, for many of our most brilliant kinds, especially
the more tender, which are raised in our islands only with care,
brighten the land and flourish everywhere like weeds.
Our ornamental hothouse growth, the eggplant, here forms a most
important vegetable, which is extensively cultivated. It is similar to
the aubergine, which is used in France and seen occasionally in Covent
Garden Market; but the years glide by, and its bids for popular favour
have met with but little success.
It is the reverse in Egypt, where its use is general, whether as a
cooked vegetable, pickled, or in its raw state. It demands a rich, deep
soil, and is raised in both varieties, white and black, for use in
summer and autumn, and proves to be very profitable to the grower.