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continued the washing and grown another rice crop this year, 
but owing to the shortage of water throughout the country, 
it was impossible to allow this to be done. Cotton is now 
therefore being satisfactorily grown on a fair proportion of 
this area, and it is hoped will bring in from £15 to £20 an 
acre. When we consider that there are about 1,500,000 acres 
of equally waste salt land in the delta waiting for development 
by drainage, the value of this experiment can, I think, be 
appreciated. ; 
The opening up of a new field for the production of 
Egyptian cotton in the Sudan is a matter of the highest 
importance. The results of experiments in growing cotton on 
the Gezira plain have proved that a fair yield of good quality 
Egyptian cotton can be produced there at a time of year when 
there is no special demand for water in Egypt; for the har- 
vesting of cotton in the Sudan synchronizes with the sowing of 
cotton in Egypt. Thus a great future is in store for the Sudan 
as soon as the irrigation works on the Blue Nile now being 
undertaken are completed, enabling the vast area available for 
cotton cultivation to be fully developed. 
The advantages which accrue from an International Con- 
gress such as this consist in the bringing together of the 
ideas of agriculturists and scientists from all parts of the world 
for the benefit of each other, and judging by the principle that 
two heads are better than one, the results obtained from this 
association should be of the greatest utility. 
Before closing this meeting, I wish to offer my best thanks 
to Professor Dunstan, who has been good enough to fill the 
chair during my unavoidable absence. 
The PResIDENT: Gentlemen—I should like first of all to 
suggest that you should accord a hearty vote of thanks to the 
readers of the papers this morning, all of which have been 
important and interesting. I regret, however, that we have 
not been able to give sufficient time for their full discussion. 
We are very sensible of Lord Kitchener’s kindness in coming 
here to preside at this meeting and in reading a paper illus- 
trated by diagrams. That paper, which was a surprise, is one 
which has a special interest of its own, and I fancy that Lord 
Kitchener wishes to press home a fact to which I have always 
attached importance, namely, that the results of scientific work 
in tropical colonies, including cotton cultivation, require to 
be brought home to the native growers by practical demon- 
strations. As you are aware, we are a Congress consisting 
not only of scientific experts, but also of users of materials 
grown by the tropical agriculturist, and there is no doubt that 
is a most important point for all of us to realize. I believe 
