18 PLANTING IN UGANDA 



done, by good cultivation, to mitigate the effects of 

 drought. Another disadvantage the planter of 

 the past has suffered under, has been the scarcity 

 of seeds and seedlings of Para and Cocoa in the 

 country. Introductions of seeds of these have 

 been made from Ceylon and the West Indies at 

 great expense; and in many cases there has been 

 heavy loss through the failure of these seeds to 

 germinate. The result was that we have been 

 obliged to plant and treasure weak seedlings that 

 we would have been glad to be in a position to 

 discard. The effects of this are visible in the 

 great irregularity of growth in the early planta- 

 tions, clearly demonstrating how important it is 

 to start with only the strongest and most healthy 

 seedlings. One may see in a field two plants of 

 the same age showing differences of growth which 

 would seem to indicate that they differed in age by 

 as much as two years. Fortunately for the present 

 planter, however, this difficulty is at an end. Seeds 

 are now obtainable locally in sufficient quantities, 

 and at such prices, as to allow of the proper selec- 

 tion of plants, and the rejection of any but the 

 best. 



Para. The adoption of improved methods of 



