74 ERYTHREA - AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY IX GENERAL 



4) Temperate zone having summer rains. — This zone comprises the 

 greatest part of the land of Asmara. Saganeiti and Adi Ugri, part of the land 

 of Cheren and a considerable part of the territory of the Habab. It is the 

 region most densely populated, both by natives and by Eitropeans, and con - 

 sequent!}' most widely cultivated. Fundamentally the crops are those of 

 FAirope. Some crops are alreadj' habitually and extensiveh' cultivated — as 

 ta-ff wheat, barley, neuk and dry vegetables. Agriculture on the high Er}-- 

 threan plateau neglects modern rules almost entirely : work is done without 

 method ; there is no manuring or succession of crops. It was thought that it 

 would be very difficult to establish a succession for the crops of the high pla- 

 teau. The difficulty lay in the choice of a crop which would renew the soil 

 and in the lack of vegetable fodder, but to-day it has been almost comple- 

 tely overcome. The most precocious varieties of the dura, potatoes, beans 

 for sowing, some vegetable fodders, clover of Alexandria and lucerne grass 

 can be used as being capable of renewing the soil. There is production not 

 only for local consumption, biit also for export in the case of linen, .grain, 

 neuk, colza, spices, potatoes and meal. 



5) Hot zone having summer rains. — The most important and charac- 

 teristic territory in this zone is that of Cheren. The irrigated cultivation of 

 tropical fruits and vegetable-garden plants is here of considerable import- 

 ance, thanks to the efforts made by Europeans and Sudanese. Ordinary 

 native agriculture produces dura, bultuk, haricot beans, neiik and cotton. 

 The lands of this zone might bear large crops for industrial purposes. In 

 well formed soil the short-fibred American cottons give good results, without 

 irrigation, even on hilly land. The arachis, the castor-oil plant, indigo and 

 agave sisalina justify the best hopes entertained for them. Manihot gla- 

 zovii or Ceara tobacco promises well and gives an excellent product. 



6) Zone having a torrid climate. — There is little information as to the 

 climate of this region. It seems however that usually it enjo^^s more rain 

 than the high plateau, and moreover — since the temperature is always very 

 high immediatel}!- after rain, its ordinary agriculture seems to be somewhat 

 problematic. The population is little addicted to agriculture, and such 

 as they do practise is faulty. Until a few years ago no ordinar>- agri- 

 culturewas undertaken by Europeans. It is how^ever in this legion that 

 the first attempts at growing cotton gave excellent results in 1902, and that 

 moreover the Milanese firms obtained their vast grants for cotton-growing. 

 It is however almost certain that the ctdtivation of long-fibred Egyptian 

 cotton cannot give sure guarantees, if it be not helped by irrigation, a mat- 

 ter which presents no great difliculties since this region has rivers (Case, 

 vSetit, Barca and their tributaries) having running water or layers of water 

 above their beds and subject to floods. The future of this region depends 

 therefore almost exclusively on the construction of w^orks of irrigation which 

 will allow its waters to serve agriculture (i). We will end this report with 



(i) In this connection it is important also to notice the Ca;/e speciali dei terreni coltivati e 

 dei terreni coliivabili ma non coltivati (Special maps of cultivated lands and cultivable but un- 

 cultivated lands) of several commissions of Erythrea, piiblished in Martini's report in 1913, 

 Vol. IV 2nd part, established by M. Checchi, G. Giardi and A. Mori (Sheets 6 bis to 11 bis). 



