asked if in the Gezira district of the Sudan, there are 5,000,000 acres of land suitable for the growth of first-class cotton of the kind which Lancashire needs for her mills; and, if so, how many European experts in cotton growing has the Government sent out to this district?

The British Cotton Growing Association has been carrying on investigations as to the possibilities of the Sudan for cotton growing, and the conclusions at which that body arrived were put before the Prime Minister by a deputation last January, a full account of which has already appeared in the Press. There has been no occasion, so far as I am aware, for His Majesty's Government to send out special experts. The whole subject is already receiving all possible attention.

asked what the Government is doing to encourage the inflow of population to the Sudan, where there are millions of acres of land of excellent quality awaiting the agriculturist?

The population of the Sudan is steadily increasing owing to natural causes, and the reasons for that increase are dealt with in Lord Kitchener's Annual Report published last May, page 52, to which I would refer the hon. Member.