At a meeting of the Royal Colonial Institute on Tuesday
Mr. W. W. A. Fitzgerald read a most interesting paper on the commercial possibilities of the Soudan. Dealing in detail with the different provinces, he pointed out that, owing to the great extent of the territory and the variety of climates and soils contained in them, there was an oppor- tunity for unique agricultural development. An analysis of typical examples of soils by an eminent chemist places them on a level with the famous "black cotton soil" of Central India. Sir William Garstin has declared that the Soudan is capable of becoming one of the finest wheat-producing areas in the world, and there is also much to be done with oil-pro- ducing plants, bugar-cane, and rubber. But cotton must be its staple product, and all experiments go to show that we have there a cotton-producing country of unknown richness. The samples grown, even in the present imperfect state of the industry, have been highly commended by Manchester firms. The three factors needed to develop the resources of the country are labour, irrigation, and rapid communication with the sea. The last two the Government are doing their best to provide, and with regard to the first, Mr. Fitzgerald sees in the Soudan the natural outlet for the congested provinces of India.
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