PLANT INDUSTRY 39 1 



eases are fairly well under control. In the French Sudan mixed 

 farming has been introduced in a number of districts. Good pro- 

 gress is also being made in the substitution of the plough for the 

 hoe; for example, in the cercle of Segou there were said to be more 

 than 1,000 ploughs at work in 1936; a figure which compares 

 very favourably with that for Northern Nigeria. It is claimed 

 that the native oxen of the Sudan are easily trained for draft 

 purposes. 



In East Africa, similar efforts are being made in Tanganyika. 

 In the settlements made on land reclaimed from the tsetse fly, the 

 area allotted to each cultivator is large enough to accommodate 

 livestock sufficient for its working on the lines indicated by the 

 agricultural department, and to keep an area of bush land re- 

 served to counter erosion by rain and wind. This reserve area is 

 maintained along the contour wherever possible. In densely 

 settled areas attempts are made to incorporate the plots abandoned 

 after cultivation with neighbouring plots which are still under cul- 

 tivation. The object of this is to increase the size of the holdings 

 and to oblige the young men to venture on to new land at the 

 margins of the settlements rather than to occupy the vacated land 

 before there has been time for proper soil regeneration. In Uganda 

 again, the fact that some 15,000 ox-drawn ploughs were in use 

 in the Eastern and Northern Provinces by 1933, since when the 

 number has increased materially, indicates that mixed farming has 

 come to stay. Likewise in the native protectorates of Southern 

 Africa the chief change in agriculture has been the substitution of 

 the plough for the hoe. Sir A. W. Pim (Swaziland 1932) notes that 

 5,989 ploughs were in use in Swaziland during 1931, since when 

 the number has greatly increased. 



In some parts of Africa native farmers reject animal manure, 

 when it is obtainable, on the score that weeds and pests result from 

 its use. In this connection the claim that composting by the Indore 

 process destroys weed seeds by the heat engendered in the heap 

 may point to a method of preserving farmyard manure with this 

 end in view. It is evident that instruction in correct treatment of 

 farmyard manure will be necessary as it becomes more available. 

 At present the system of kraaling stock in animal husbandry 

 wastes practically all the manure, and consequently it is often 



