— 101 — 
phoric acid, and there is therefore every reason to believe that they are 
rich in this ingredient. So far as the texture of the soils is concerned, 
little can be said except that they differ from those previously examined 
for Ken a Mudirieh, in containing a large amount of coarse sand 
1-3 m.m., which is entirely absent in most Egyptian soils; No. 6 would 
probably be too light for agricultural purposes in its present condition. 
“ The nitrogen is as high as one would expect but is lower than is 
necessary for fertile soils. It would be necessary therefore to en- 
courage the growth of leguminous crops to increase the quantity of 
nitrogen in the soil and to employ nitrogenous manures. It must be 
borne in mind that in soils of this class the nitrogen is usually in a 
highly insoluble and un-nitrifiable form. 
“ The salt is in no case high; 0.25 °/ 0 is usually considered to be the 
limit for satisfactory growth ; all the samples are well below this limit.” 
I had complete analyses made of numbers (1) and (2). The results 
were as follows : 
No. 1 No. 2 
Silica etc. insol in mineral acid 74.76 73.85 
Lime (Ca.O.) .. 6.07 4.56 
Carbonic Acid (C.0. 2 ) . . . 3.64 2.40 
Equal to Chalk (Ca.C.O. 3 ) 8.27 5.46 
Potash.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 0.23 0.34 
Phosphoric Acid .. .. .. 0.14 0.12 
Organic Matter . . .. .. 2.88 4.07 
Nitrogen .. .. .. .. 0.075 0.062 
Calculated on soil dried at 100°. 
Though none of these specimens contained salt in excess, Nile 
deposit in certain localities has very large proportions of common salt 
and sulphate of soda. The dark soil near the Atbara mouth at El- 
Damer is largely exploited for common salt, while similar soil south of 
Khartoum is free from it. 
The extent of this Nile deposit soil is very great indeed and if irri- 
gation could be assured, there would be a great future before the 
Sudan. 
In Mr. Dupuis’s Report which is the last appendix to Sir William 
Garstin’s Report, he speaks of this soil as being met with on the Blue 
Nile, on the Rahad, on the Atbara and on the Graash. From Khartoum 
northwards the main Nile flows between berms of this soil. 
The extent and quality of this soil may therefore be considered as 
an undisputed asset of the Sudan. We have next to consider the 
seasons. 
