PRODUCTION AND COMMERCE

1343

Egypt, are beiug produced annually. Experimental cotton growing is also being conducted in the Gezira, the fertile tract of country between the Blue and White Niles, where with a proper system of irrigation, it is believed, an extensive area may be put under cultivation.

The opening of Egypt as a market for the surplus cattle of the Sudan, which has been rendered possible by strict veterinary organisation, has resulted in the growth of a very considerable trade in slaughter cattle and sheep, which it is estimated were worth about 250,000l. during 1911. Increased railway and river transport facilities are widening the area of supply and already the nomad Arabs from Western Kordofan and from Kassala are recognising the profits to be gained by disposing of their stock.

Along the Blue Nile and its affluents, the Rahad and Dinder, the soil is rich, and a wide area which now bears such crops as dura, millet, sesame and pulse, might be converted into a cotton and wheat-producing region. The vast forests which line the river banks, rich in fibres and tanning material, extend to the frontiers of Abyssinia. On the White Nile the soil is less fertile, but the forests contain valuable trees — the ebony tree, the gum acacia, the bamboo, and the rubber creeper. The finest gum forests are in Kordofan, and the best rubber in the Bahr el Ghazal.

In July, 1905, a Proclamation was issued rendering illegal the sale of land by natives without the consent of the governor of the Province in which the land is. This measure is intended for the protection of the natives. A cadastral survey of cultivated lands, accompanied by the settlement and registration of titles to land, has been nearly completed in the northern provinces. An extension of the system southwards is under consideration.

Gold is the only mineral at present b^ing successfully exploited in the Sudan and mines are being worked at Um Nabardi.

The imports include clothing, coal, machinery, and railway material ; the exports, gum, ivory, ostrich feathers, cereals, cotton, dates, cattle, and sheep.

Imports and Exports.

Year.

Imports.

£E 1,952,970 1,820,115

Exports.

Year. Imports.

Exports.

1908 . . .

1909 . . .

£E

585,925 765,465

I

I ' £E ' 1910 . . 1,931,426 1 1911 . . 2,273,949

£E

977,621 1,376,958

Trade by countries for two years :—

-

Imports.

Exports.

Country.

1910 £E

1911 £E

1910

1911

£E

£E

Egypt

874,768

902,513

640,751

757,330

United Kingdom

_

600,370

793,416

100,273

226,230

Australia

135,9.50

112,504

3,821

3,925

India and Aden

108,715

155,069

20,931

6,069

France .

11,635

17,611

56,992

136,055

Germany .

17,563

24,503

42,569

92,516

United States

3,552

2,2G0

32,233

48,625

Other countries

178,878

266,073

80,051

106,208

Total

l,931,42(i

2,273,949

977,H21

1,376,9.^.8