CHAPTER XT 

 AGRICULTURE— GENERAL 



INTRODUCTION 



SINCE Africa must always be primarily an agricultural country, 

 the practical value of agricultural science hardly requires com- 

 ment, but certain introductory remarks are necessary on the 

 various branches of African agriculture and on the influences 

 which are impeding progress. The subject is so vast that some 

 division is necessary as a basis for the discussion of present ten- 

 dencies in different parts of the continent and the results of research. 

 At first sight the division of plant from animal industry, the latter 

 to include veterinary studies, would seem practicable, but methods 

 of cultivation are so often dependent on stock, and mixed farming 

 is coming to be so widely regarded in many places as the ideal of 

 agriculture in Africa, that it is almost impossible to separate these 

 subjects. 



More satisfactory is the division into three categories: Firstly, 

 native subsistence agriculture, including both cultivation of the 

 soil and animal husbandry, is important all over the continent. 

 This subject has been relatively less thoroughly studied by scien- 

 tific research than the other two. Secondly, native agriculture for 

 export, especially the growing of cash crops such as cocoa, coffee, 

 cotton, and groundnuts, is increasing in importance every year and 

 will probably continue to do so, especially if the sale of animal pro- 

 ducts can be developed side by side with that of crops. Thirdly, 

 the agricultural activities of non-native peoples, especially Euro- 

 peans, are of importance mainly in the southern and some of the 

 eastern parts of the continent. 



Even the distinction between European and native cash crops 

 is difficult to maintain, for there is a constant and increasing inva- 



