PLANT INDUSTRY ^ 389 



MIXED FARMING 



In all parts of Africa where cattle can be kept, the use of animal 

 manure, whether or not combined with vegetable materials into 

 compost, clearly offers great opportunities for the development 

 of a balanced agriculture based on problems involved in settled 

 cultivation. The combination of animal husbandry with cultiva- 

 tion at the same time opens the way for that revolutionary change, 

 the replacement of the hoe by the plough drawn by cattle. It 

 must, however, be borne in mind that the basis of mixed farming 

 is the use of the manure supplied by cattle to maintain soil fertility. 

 Thus the area to be farmed ought to be limited by the amount of 

 manure available, rather than by the area that can be ploughed. 

 This introduction of mixed farming may be illustrated from ex- 

 perience in Northern Nigeria. 



In this region the whole agricultural system depends on the 

 short rainy season. Irrigation appears to be impracticable, except 

 on a small scale, and it has been mentioned that green manure 

 cannot be used. It is suspected that phosphate deficiency is the 

 most important cause of infertility. Imported super-phosphates 

 have caused big increases of crops at experimental stations, but are 

 far too expensive for general use. Phosphates from local deposits 

 have been tried with satisfactory results in the Southern Provinces, 

 but they are not sufficiently soluble to be of much use in the dry 

 northern climate. All conclusions, therefore, point to the use of 

 animal manure, and hence the agricultural department has con- 

 centrated on the development of systems of mixed farming. The 

 stock farm at Shika near Zaria is devoted largely to producing 

 animals to serve the dual purposes of draft combined with high 

 milking capacity; the interesting experiments in breeding carried 

 out there and elsewhere in West Africa are mentioned later. A 

 number of suitable animals have been distributed to native farmers, 

 particularly in the region around Kano, each farmer receiving a 

 loan of from ■£^ to £"] from the Native Administration towards the 

 purchase of oxen and farming implements, such as ploughs and 

 cultivators. This system was instituted in 1933, since when the 

 number of mixed farmers has doubled each year. In 1936 there 

 were 680 working successfully, and it was estimated that in 1937 

 the number would have increased to at least 1,200, and that in 



