THE LAKE 

 DISTRICT. 



CHARACTER- Range westwards a grey sandy loam exists, rich ui 

 iSTics OF THE hunius. All three varieties are very fertile. The 

 HIGHLANDS. climate is cool and healthy with an average 

 minimum and maximum temperature of 50 and 70 

 degrees Fahrenheit respectively, and a certain average 

 rainfall of about 40 inches. The altitude of the 

 occupied areas ranges from 5,000 feet at Nairobi to 

 9,000 feet at Londiani and the entrance of the Uasin 

 Gishu plateau. The chief products are coffee, flax, 

 maize, beans, wheat, barley, wattle bark, potatoes, 

 ■ citrus, sugar cane, deciduous fruits and sisal fibre. 

 These are but the chief products — those considered 

 the most profitable to grow — but it is claimed that 

 practically anything that can be raised in temperate 

 or sub-tropical climates, can be raised in the High- 

 lands of B.E.A. Furthermore, cattle, sheep, horses, 

 pigs and goats do excellently. 



Beyond the western boundary of the Highland 

 Zone the country suddenly drops in altitude to 

 between four and five thousand feet, the climate 

 being warm and humid, and the vegetation of a 

 decidedly tropical nature. The soil of the greater 

 part of this belt is what is known as Cotton soil, 

 which, though not so easy to work as the chocolate 

 loam of the Highlands, is capable of producing very 

 heavy crops. 



In. at least two respects the Highlands of East 

 Africa will bear comparison with any other part of 

 the world — one is soil, the other rainfall. There is 

 a great variety of soils, ranging from heavy black 

 cotton to a light sandy loam. That most favoured 

 for such exhausting crops as coffee is the immensely 

 deep chocolate loam of the hill districts, representing 

 the accumulated forest decay of ages. For such crops 

 as wheat, oats and maize, the lighter loams are pre- 

 ferred. As an instance of the wonderful fertility of 

 this class of soil the case is instanced of a field from 

 which eleven crops of maize have been taken in eight 

 years, and is still returning ten bags to the acre with- 

 out manuring of any sort. Except in the case of 

 black cotton soil, which though very rich is little 

 used for agriculture because of the greater labour 

 required to work it, the land is easy to cultivate and 

 to maintain in good condition. 



As will be seen from the returns appearing else- 

 where in this volume, the rainfall is abundant, regular 



WIDE RANGE 

 OP SOILS. 



