Anglo-115 - Egyptian] ANIMAL PRODUCTS Ostrich Feathers have hitherto formed one of the staple products of the country . Practically all the export is obtained from wild birds. The chief market for the feathers is at El Nahud , in Kordofan, and the bestqualities are said to come from the northern parts of that province . No great advance is likely to be made in the feather trade until circumstances favour the establishment of breeding farms. A successful experimental farm has been carried on by the Govern ment for some years at Khartum .

Beeswax is collected by the natives and sold in a crude state to European and other traders, who clarify and strain before exporting it . Most of that exported from the Sudan comesfrom Abyssinia, via Gambela, and the eastern districts of the Sudan . In the drier ironstone districts of the Bahr el-Ghazal, towards the Nile -Congo watershed, unlimited quan tities of honey and beeswax could also be collected, for here, as in other bush-covered countries annually sub ject to grass fires, almost every tree has some hollow or bole in it of which the bees take advantage. Every tenth tree would seem to have honey bees in it, or a nest of the little " eyefly ” bee, which, though the smallest species in the world, seemsto produce almost asmuch wax as the honey bee. The market value of Sudan beeswax is about £10 per cwt.

( 6 ) Methods of Cultivation Native Methods. — Methods of cultivation, especially in the Upper Sudan, are still primitive. The chief agricultural implement is the hoe, the type most generally in use being the long-handled pushhoe , with a half -moon blade. Seeds are sown in holes dibbled into the soil with a curved and pointed stick , which is long enough to enable the operator to carry on his work without suffering from the fatigue of a bent back . Various small knives are used for harvesting the dura,