392 SCIENCE IN AFRICA 



suggested that much could be saved for use on arable land if a 

 simple form of paddocking could be substituted for kraaling. The 

 former method is certainly the more satisfactory on European 

 estates, and is being adopted rapidly, but in native areas the cost 

 of fencing is a serious obstacle to its introduction. Moreover, 

 kraaling can conserve manure if suitable methods are employed, 

 whereas paddocking can waste it in a dry climate, where the valu- 

 able nitrogen is lost when manure is exposed and the organic 

 matter is open to attack from termites. 



Cultivated land can also be manured directly by tethering or 

 penning cattle on the fallow fields. This is practised to a small 

 extent in some parts of Africa, for example in the Gambia, and it 

 is a common method in India, especially when combined with 

 folding sheep. In Tanganyika the housing of livestock as a means 

 of production of high quality manure on the lines of the existing 

 practices of the Chagga and the Ukara peoples is recommended 

 by the agricultural department, whose estimate of its value is 

 supported by their own experiences on stock farms. 



Wherever mixed farming is practised it is necessary to decide 

 what products are to be developed for export. In Eastern Africa 

 it appears that for a long while to come the plant production will 

 provide all the export, the cattle being regarded primarily as fer- 

 tilizing agents. Thus cattle and coffee farming can be combined. 

 At the same time there may be opportunities for the exporting of 

 dairy products and in some -places the wool industry is no doubt 

 capable of extension. The export of beef may never be practicable, 

 but its production for local consumption by the million natives 

 in East Africa must have possibilities. At present, however, the 

 experiment at Mwanza, as mentioned in Chapter XIV, seems to 

 show that there is little local demand. 



With the slaughter of stock, blood and bone-meal become avail- 

 able as fertilizing material. Preliminary experiments with such 

 material from the Mwanza meat factory have been made on 

 partly exhausted land in the Lake Province of Tanganyika. The 

 results were similar to those with farmyard manure and showed 

 marked increase in yields with very small applications. The agri- 

 cultural department has, however, advised against the deliberate 

 production of fertilizers from the desiccated remains of animals 



