LAND TENURE AND COLONIZATION 99 



" A plot of about one acre was planted with Abassi cotton and completely 

 irrigated, with the object of showing the capacity- of the soil in the most 

 favourable conditions and with the best possible agriculture. Over one half 

 of the land the furrows were traced at intervals of thirtj'-four inches and the 

 seed was sown on 6 May at intervals of eighteen inches. On the other half 

 the furrows were made at intervals of thirty inches and the seed distrib- 

 uted at inter\-als of thirty-four inches on the same day. The development 

 of the plant was marvellous on both areas. Mr. Filleul, vice-commissioner 

 of the province, found however that the closer plants did best, owing to 

 their greater density wliich allowed the bushes to resist the strong winds 

 prevalent in Alessandra. Three thousand pounds of seeded cotton were 

 harvested in this irrigated area (Alessandra) producing 1,000 pounds of fibre. 

 In view of the purposes which it can serve the value of the fibre can be placed 

 as low as 6d. a pound, at which rate the sale will produce nearty £30." Mr. 

 Powell says that "existing conditions in Alessandra are however extraordi- 

 nary ". He recommends the place as the site of experimental farms, thus 

 completely- recognizing its great fertilitj^ ■" From the anah^sis of a speci- 

 men of the earth made at the Imperial Institute it appears that the soil is 

 perfect. In such a soil crops would rapidly flourish, helped by the fertiliz- 

 ing waters of the Juba. Thus the large yield of cotton is comprehensible, 

 and it is to the interest of capital and of the colonists of all nations who ought 

 to come to the^ countr}- — and be induced to come to it — to give to Jubaland 

 that energetic development for which she offers so rich a soil and such abund- 

 ant waters ". Such are the uniform conclusions to which agricultural ex- 

 perts in the British and the Italian colonies have come as to cotton growing, 

 which is the true and the most productive form of agriculture in this land. 



Other crops might be no less rich and promising if this extraordinary 

 fertility of the soil were supported by an essential condition — irrigation. 



Although native crops (dura, maize, sesamum (i) beans) can be grown 

 in good years and bad years, with periods of al:i,undance and periods of scar- 

 city by means of the rain and the small canals which the natives assiduously 

 make along the rivers, to receive the waters in times of flood, crops 

 having a large industrial yield — such as cotton, indiarubber, tobacco etc. — 

 cannot run the risk of more or less rainy seasons. The rivers — the true 

 irrigating channels — are natural reservoirs against the variable rainfall, 

 and since the rivers are full precisely in the rainy season a system of mecha- 

 nical hydraulics is necessary, especialh' for raising and barricading the wa- 

 ters, in order better to regulate and utilize the rivers. The value of the co- 

 lony cannot be realized by its agricultural and industrial dvelopment apart 

 from the factor indispensable to such development, namely irrigation b}- 

 canals, dykes and mechanical means. But on the other hand it is certain 

 that the great productiveness can meet the expense these works would en- 

 tail and richly compensate for it. It is also necessary to recollect that 

 the River Scebeli provides sufficientlj- favourable conditions for micostl}' 



(i) Half a hectare (1.235 acres) planted with sesamum on the f ami of (ienale produced 

 a crop sold at Merca for 200 rupees — £13.65. ^d. 



