1 8 CEREALS 



such an extent as to be a serious hindrance/' Wheat 

 must be grown under irrigation, either artificial or by the 

 rise of the Nile in flood. It cannot be grown as a rain 

 crop, for the rainfall is restricted to the summer months, 

 when wheat is unable to withstand the extreme heat. In 

 1909 I made milling and baking tests of six sample lots 

 of wheats grown in the Sudan. I found some serious 

 blemishes in them, such as excessive dirt and irregularity 

 of type, but they possessed good points, and were similar 

 to the Indian wheats of commerce. I was much interested 

 in learning subsequently that I had placed at the head of 

 my list "a sample of the wheat grown all over the 

 Dongola Province " by the native cultivators. It was 

 very far from being true to any one type, but some of the 

 varieties it comprised must have possessed fine quality 

 of endosperm, although I suppose they were indigenous. 

 We see, therefore, from this brief summary of Sudanese 

 wheat production, that the results are not unfavourable, 

 and that under certain conditions wheat may become a 

 much more important crop than it is at present or that it 

 is likely to be in the near future. The Government of 

 the country appears to have these possibilities in mind, 

 and is carrying on much experimental work. 



GENERAL. 



When I began to prepare this paper I was afraid lest 

 it would be profitless and uninteresting* to all concerned, 

 a case of " trying to make bricks without straw," for 

 corn trade literature is, apart from India, almost silent 

 concerning the " Production of Wheat in the Tropics." 

 But as I searched through much literature, a work in 

 which I was greatly assisted by Dr. Henry and other 

 officials of the Imperial Institute, and received the replies 

 to my inquiries from the authorities whose names I have 

 mentioned in the course of this paper, I began to realize 

 that, in fact, my subject was interesting, and that its poten- 

 tialities are important. From time to time we are told 

 that the world will soon be producing an insufficient 

 supply of wheat. In one celebrated case the fear was 

 stated to be immediately allayed by the consideration that 



