890F.61A/12
Press Release Issued by the Department of State, March 25, 1942
United States Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia
The Government of Saudi Arabia having inquired of the Government of the United States whether the services of two American experts in irrigation and agricultural matters could be made available, this Government has organized an Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia. The Mission will examine and report to the Government of Saudi Arabia upon the water and agricultural resources of that country and the possibilities of their development. It will also conduct experimental plantings. The personnel of the Mission, which has already departed, is as follows:
- Chief: Mr. K. S. Twitchell;
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Members: Mr. Albert L. Wathen, Acting
Chief, Engineering Branch, Indian Bureau, United States
Department of the Interior;
Mr. James G. Hamilton, Regional Agronomist at Albuquerque, New Mexico, Soil Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
Mr. Twitchell is an American citizen who has had extensive technical experience in Saudi Arabia. The other members are, as indicated, government experts familiar with conditions in a section of this country which are similar to those prevailing in Saudi Arabia.
This Government is pleased to have been able to respond in this way to the inquiry of the Saudi Arabian Government.
[The mission arrived in Saudi Arabia on May 10 and was presented to the King on May 11. After traveling a distance of 10,793 miles the mission completed its investigation on December 5, 1942. The reports of the mission are not printed.]