Uganda and Nyasaland, have been cultivated. The total 

 exportation of cotton from German East Africa in the year 

 1912 amounted to 7,526 bales of 250 kilograms. 



Unfortunately German East Africa does not possess any 

 extensive compact cotton district, but only a number of small 

 cotton areas of very varying character, so that special investi- 

 gations are necessary in each instance. The great hindrance 

 that manifested itself in many places was the uncertainty of the 

 rainfall, and this was partly a question of shortage of rain and 

 partly of rain coming at the wrong season. 



As lands suitable for cotton cultivation were available in 

 German East Africa for Europeans to purchase or rent, both 

 plantation and peasant cultivation have been introduced, but 

 in many cases cotton-plant pests and diseases, especially the 

 fatal " curl " disease, have been experienced. 



It is to be hoped that the excellent organization of the cotton 

 experimental service in the Colonies created by the Govern- 

 ment within the last few years may be successful in combating 

 these obstacles. 



The public-spirited efforts of the German Colonial Economic 

 Committee for improving cotton cultivation in German 

 Colonies particularly include the gratuitous supply of good 

 seed to natives, 1 the guarantee of minimum prices to natives 

 for the cotton produced, as well as technical investigations. 



During the years 1900 to 1913 the Colonial Economic 

 Committee and the Government have jointly expended a sum 

 of about 4 million marks in the advancement of German 

 Colonial cotton cultivation, and after conquering the initial 

 difficulties in repellent tropical Africa, where there were no 

 examples to follow or experience to guide, favourable develop- 

 ments may be anticipated. 



[DISCUSSION.] 



Mr. T. THORNTON (Nigeria) : Mr. Chairman I should like 

 to ask if you can give us any idea of the return per acre in, these 

 different parts of the German Colonies. It is very interesting to 

 listen to a paper on the development of cotton cultivation in the 

 German Colonies, and we who are working on cotton in other 

 countries would like to have an idea as to the returns which 

 are obtained. I am working in Northern Nigeria, and it is 

 possible that the conditions there are, to a certain extent, 

 similar to the conditions under which cotton is being grown in 

 the places you have mentioned. I should therefore like to 



1 Starting from the 1014-15 campaign, the supply of seed to natives 

 will be undertaken by the Imperial Government its'elf. 



