It had consequently been hoped that the completion of a first series of investi-

gations might have coincided with the inauguration of an agricultural school

affiliated to the Gordon College. Such an institution should provide a body of

trained agriculturists of local extraction to carry forward the work of develop- ment, and incidentally free the Sudan from an existing dependence on Egypt,

Syria and Asia Minor for this class of skilled labour. It is a cause for regret

that while ample facihties exist for professional and technical training in fields

of necessarily limited horizon, the potential demands of the agricultural

industry have as yet received scant consideration.

The Agricultural Mission.—To teach at first the few and then wait patiently

for the seed so scattered to spread from a single centre is, however, a method which will not commend itself to those who appreciate the vital necessity for

hastened progress in agricultural development, and other channels of communi-

cation must be sought. In addition to officers entrusted with research and

residential tuition, we require missionaries with a training at headquarters to

develop the agriculture of promising areas through the agency of the land-

owning " samad," who, despite bis antecedents, has shown himself abundantly

capable of benefiting from advice and assistance. An attempt to realise this

ambition on a tentative scale is reflected in the present report, and it is hoped

that the results obtained may justify a rapid extension of the system.. This class

of teacher should not be encumbered with administrative functions, but devote

his entire attention to the work of field education, receiving and distributing

selected seed from the research farms, possibly controlling the water supply,

collecting data, combating insect-pests and plant diseases, arranging for the

marketing of crops and sale of livestock, and generally accepting responsibility

for the agricultural welfare and development of the area undet his charge.

Such efforts applied even to a block of 5,000 feddans in a selected district, should

have far-reaching results of a value out of all proportion to the salary which

would be paid for the services rendered. Such functions would appear to

appertain fitly to the Government, as no other agency would command a

similar degree of confidence.

Decentralisation.—The mission field is broad and its problems far-reaching,

for adaptibility to a wide range of climate, topography and soils- must charac-

terise successful agricultural development in the Sudan. Systems must be

evolved for more or less clearly defined areas within which the choice of staple

crops, methods of cultivation and the part played by Uvestock should have

direct reference to the prevailing local conditions. Agricultural experiments

will similarly have an application Hmited by natural boundaries, and in the form

of field tests should be duphcated at as many points as may be financially

possible.