39. =Development of the Sudan.=--Lord Cromer’s wise decision to construct the Suakin-Khartoum railway immediately and the Abu Hamed-Dongola railway as soon as possible, is the charter of the development of the Sudan. With these railways and especially the former in working order, we can arrange for irrigation works for the production of cotton and wheat for export, knowing that they can be exported at a cost of transport which will not be absolutely prohibitive. The soil of the Sudan along the Blue Nile, the Atbara, the Main Nile and a great part of the White Nile is the same as that of Egypt itself. It has all come from Abyssinia. When at Khartoum last February, I collected specimens of typical Gezireh soil from points 10 miles south of Khartoum and from near Khartoum itself. They were analysed by Mr. Frank Hughes and reported on by Mr. Foaden. The specimens were numbered as follows:-- (1) Typical Gezireh soil from a point 10 miles south of Khartoum near the Blue Nile. (2) Typical Gezireh soil from a point 2 miles south of Khartoum near the White Nile. (3) White Nile side under cultivation in 1904. (4) White Nile side below flood level. (5) Blue Nile side, not so common as (1). (6) The sandy soil generally within 5 miles of Khartoum. Nos. 1, 2, 5, and 6 are above high flood level of both Niles. “The nitrogen and salt were determined in the samples, as received, without drying. Nos. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nitrogen 0·078 0·059 0·062 0·057 0·056 0·052 Common salt 0·050 0·020 0·010 0·090 0·170 0·020 “All contain abundance of carbonate of lime; Nos. 1 and 2 might almost be called calcareous. All gave a strong reaction for phosphoric acid, and there is therefore every reason to believe that they are rich in this ingredient. So far as the texture of the soils is concerned, little can be said except that they differ from those previously examined for Kena Mudirieh, in containing a large amount of coarse sand 1-3 m.m., which is entirely absent in most Egyptian soils; No. 6 would probably be too light for agricultural purposes in its present condition. “The nitrogen is as high as one would expect but is lower than is necessary for fertile soils. It would be necessary therefore to encourage the growth of leguminous crops to increase the quantity of nitrogen in the soil and to employ nitrogenous manures. It must be borne in mind that in soils of this class the nitrogen is usually in a highly insoluble and un-nitrifiable form. “The salt is in no case high; 0.25% is usually considered to be the limit for satisfactory growth; all the samples are well below this limit.” I had complete analyses made of numbers (1) and (2). The results were as follows: No. 1 No. 2