Dec. 1, 1900.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
421 
SUiS^FLOWER CULTIVATION IN RUSSIA. 
bur Conaul-General at Odessa says in his last 
report that tbere is a growing demand in Russia 
for oil-yielding seeds, particulaiiy for those of the sun 
flower. Until recently there were but few mills for 
expressing this oil, and the grocers finding no 
market sent their seed abroad. Now, however 
there are mills in Russia which require large 
quantities of it, and they offer the growers higher 
prices than those obtainable abroad. With the 
increasing home demand a decline in the exports of 
oil-seeds may be looked for in the near future. 
Samples of sun-flower seeds were asked for by the 
Government of Bengal, where it is intended to try 
them. Tae Consul-General from personal esperienoe 
states that the plant will grow very luxuriantly 
in. East Africa, and be suggests that it may be 
found a suitable crop for other British colonies. In 
Russia it is found that the best results in sunflower 
cultivation are obtained from a well-tilled soil, with 
not too much clay in its composition ; it should be 
well-ploughed in the autumn and harrowed in the 
spring. The seed should be sown in April or May 
in every second or third furrow, One or sometimes 
tyFO cr three seeds should be put into the ground 
at a distance of two to four inches apart. Broad- 
cast sowing may also be resorted to, care being 
taken that only one seed falls in every two square 
feet. The quantity of seed required per acre is twenty 
pounds ; the yield, if good, should be about 1,600 
pounds. The yield in oil of seed in husks is seven- 
teen per cent ; without husks, twenty per cent. 
Tie seed is much liked as a light refreshment by 
the poorer Ruasiaus, and is sold in the streets 
by hawkers, to be eaten as nute are eaten in 
England. — London Times, Oct. 8. 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUDAN. 
FORESTRY. 
The Anglo-Soudanese Government has taken 
uj) the question of the development of the vast 
Soudanese forests, which may be a very pos- 
sible source of future wealth, and an expert in 
fbrestry from Burmah has been appointed to 
4tudy and report on the best methods of intr o- 
diicing improvements and utilising this potential 
source of wealth. Mr. C E Muriel, Deputy 
Obnservaror of Forests in Burmah, has, wit h 
the consent of the India OiBce, joined the Anglo- 
goudanese Government for one year, the un- 
expired portion of his furlough. Mr. Muriel 
arrived in Cairo on Wednesday from England, 
and will shortly proceed to the Soudan. 
Sir William Garstin, in his report on the 
Soudan, says : 
" It is very much to be hoped that a scientiiic 
(examination' of the Soudan forests may erelong 
be carried out under the superintendence of an 
expert. An Indian forest officer (from Burmah 
for choice) might be deputed for this purpose. 
It is certain that much valuable information 
■would be obtained from his report. Such an 
appoii|itment needs no recommendation— its neces- 
sity is obvious. A trained forest officer could, 
moreover, render good service by advising the 
Government as to the best method of preserv- 
'iner the valuable fuel supply which at present 
exists on the banks of both rivers." 
■ Although it is only a little ov^r a twelve- 
month since the report was published, the advice 
•has been acted upon, and it is to be hoped that 
some serious attempt will be made to restrain 
tlie enormous waste of most valuable trees that 
now goes on. The supply, although apparently, 
.'inexhaustible, must speedily diminish, unless the 
'cutting and felling of the areas is carried out 
upon some regular system which will permit of 
the young trees growing up and replacing those 
rOut down. It is, of course, inevitable at present 
that the felling should be carried out in a waste- 
ful manner. Fatigue parties are landed from the 
boats and are required to cut the largest amount 
of wood in the shortest possible time. The men 
have no idea of the value of the trees, and natur- 
ally select those which are nearest to the water 
and easiest cut. Should this practice be continued, 
it is certain that a few years must see a great dimi- 
nution in the belt adjacent to the river. On the 
Blue Nile even the valuable gum-producing aca- 
cias are being felled for fuel. 
The vast forests of the Soudan line the banks 
of the Upper Blue Nile and extend, in an easterly 
direction, to the Abyssinian frontier. In the 
Bahr-el-Ghazal Province also, particularly in the 
Bongo country, large forest tracts exist. The 
ebony tree (Datbergia ilelanoxylon) is met with 
south of Karkauj, on the Blue Nile, and again in 
the vicinity of the Sobat River. This tree does not, 
in these latitudes, attain to a very large girth, 
nine inches being apparently its maximum dia- 
meter. It must, however, be very common in 
these forests, as most of the principal houses in 
Omdurman are roofed with it. The value of the 
Acacia Arabica, from which the white and red 
gum is obtained, is well known ; while the other 
kinds of acacia, such as Acacia Nilotica (in 
Arabic, " Sant "), is the chief source of the fuel 
supply. The bamboo is met with in the ranges 
of hills to the south of Famaka, and, according to 
some, the mahogany tree is found in the forests 
round Fazogl and in the Beni Shangul country. 
The means of transporting such woods can only 
be by the river. Unfortunately, neither the ebony 
nor the acacia will float in water, and, therefore, 
such transport is debarred in these cases. If a 
good and serviceable timber tree can be 
discovered in the Blue Nile forests which, 
can be floated down the river to Egypt, a 
large source of revenue will undoubtedly 
have been found. Extensive saw-mills might be 
erected at Assouan, utilising the power available 
at the dam, now under construction, and an im- 
portant timber trade might one day arise. 
On the White Nile, in the Bongo and Rohl dis- 
tricts, the india-rubber creeper (ZandoZp/im Flori- 
buncla) is found in great profusion. If the rubber 
yielded by this creeper be not of quite so good 
quality as that obtained from the india-rubber 
tree (Fie s Elastica), it is still of sufficient value 
to be counted as an important asset in the 
future trade of the Soudan. This plant, which has 
large laurel-shaped leaves, and a white flower 
resembling a jasmine, requires several years to 
mature before yielding rubber in any quantity. 
The natives obtain what they require by tapping 
the stem, usually in such a reckless manner 
that the creeper dies under the operation. The 
india-rubber tree should certainly flourish well in 
most parts of the Soudan, more particularly south 
of Khartoum. Although this tree take's from 
twenty to thirty years to arrive at a girth suffi- 
cient to permit of regular tapping, its yield is 
so valuable (about 3Z. per tree per annum) that 
its introduction into the country is well worth 
attempting. 
The above brief resum6 fully shows the neces- 
sity of beginning a canful study of Soudanese 
forestry. It will be long before the Soudan will 
have a Woods and Forest Department organised 
on the Indipn model, but the Anglo-Soudanese 
Government is to be congratulated on having 
secured the servicesofanexpert, and we shall look 
forward to Mr. Muriel's report with great interest, 
TOBACCO CULTIVATION IN THE SOUDAN. 
A proclamation, signed by Lewa Jackson Pasha, 
as Acting Governor General of the Soudan, ap- 
pears in the Sudan Gazette giving notice that the 
cultivation of tobacco is entirely prohibited North 
of Khartoum. South of Khartoum it is permitted 
