gS ITALIAN SOMAULAND - AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL 



The colony's " experiment in agrarian management " was set up at 

 Genale in ^Middle Scebeli with the best results, and there is another flourish- 

 ing government experimental farm at Caitori. 



§ 2. Agricultural conditions in somaliland. 



vSomaliland is a fairl}' fertile country. The most varied crops do excel- 

 lenth^ (dura, maize, beans, sesamum, greens of every kind, indiarubber, 

 cotton, agave sisalana, palms, cocoa, papaw-trees, Kapok, forage grasses, 

 etc.), and seeds sprout within a short time even on the most desert land, 

 while so long as they are watered by rain or irrigation the plants rise to 

 heights unknown elsewhere — a proof of the fertility of this soil which 

 is formed of the alluvial deposits of centuries modified b}" meterological 

 agents, and provides potent elements of fecundity which few districts 

 of East Africa can match. 



Among crops which can give a large return cotton certainly stands first, 

 both for quality and quantity. Dr. Onor, agricultural consultant for Ita- 

 lian Somaliland, expressed himself as follows with regard to the cotton 

 obtained at Caitoi on the Scebeli (i) : 



" The quantity of fibre obtained at Caitoi was considerable in relation 

 to the cultivated area. From about 5,800 square metres (2) of cultivated 

 land 459 kilogrammes (3) of fibre were obtained, which gives the high ave- 

 rage yield of 790 kilogrammes a hectare (4). The cotton was shelled with 

 rudimentary native appliances exactty like those I have seen in Apulia, 

 which leave a small portion of the seed mixed with the fibre but not enough 

 to cause an^'^ important variation in the figures I have given. The yield 

 would have been even superior if parasites had not done damage after the 

 first harv-ests.It is my conviction that in favourable 3-ears the harvest 

 might surpass the rosiest expectations and surpass b}' much the average 

 of 900 kilogrammes a hectare which is that of Egypt's maximum yield. This 

 is easy to understand because in Benadir the vegetation is not impeded by 

 a fall in the temperature at the time of harv-est. Certainly the American 

 average of 200 kilogrammes a hectare and the Egyptain average of 400 ki- 

 logrammes would normally be surpassed ". 



These remarks refer to Afifi cotton. The following information was 

 given, in an interview reported in the English papers, by ]Mr. Henry Powell, 

 director of British agriculture in the colony of British East Africa, a most 

 competent person. In speaking of the experiments made b}' the State at 

 Alessandra on the Juba he made the following statements, equally appli- 

 cable to agriculture in the adjacent Italian colony. 



(i) statement No. 4 in Relazionc siilla Somalia Itatiana per gli anni 191 1 and 1912. Docu- 

 mcnti. Rome, Tipografia Camera Deputati, 1912. 



(2) I square metre = 1.196 square yards. 



(3) I kilogramme = 2.2 lbs. 



(4) I hectare = 2.47 acres. 



