ever is needed for the purchase of machinery and 

 working capital for the fourth year. 



CAPITAL RE- In the case of mixed farming with coffee 



QUIRED FOR included, a start may be made on as little as ;it50o if 

 MIXED FARM- the man is a practical farmer with colonial experi- 

 ING. ence, equal to plenty of hard work and of the type 



that recognises and seizes oi>portunities. Five 

 hundred pounds is not, however, sufficient for the 

 inexperienced. Working on the minimum sum it 

 would be necessary to exercise the utmost care in 

 selecting the land (which would be brought on ex- 

 tended terms of payment), to lose no time in getting 

 the largest area possible under maize or some such 

 quick return crop, to be satisfied for a year or two 

 with primitive buildings, simple living and hard 

 work. B.E.A. has plenty of room for thousands 

 of such men, and can offer them as rich rewards as 

 any other part of the world. The first year no 

 attempt would be made to plant coffee (though the 

 nurseries would be got ready), but the following 

 year 20 acres might be planted and again 20 the 

 next. In the fifth year the first 20 would be bearing 

 and successive lots of 20 coming on. 



RETURNS. Since it was first introduced to the home 



markets, East African coffee has steadily won its 

 way into public favour, and of late years has in- 

 variably commanded the highest market prices. 

 Prior to August, 1914, it was selling in Mincing- 

 Lane at from ;£6o to ;£9o per ton. Since the out- 

 break of war prices have fluctuated considerably, 

 falling as low as ;,^5o and going as high as ;^i30. In 

 every case, however, the prices realized were equal 

 to the best market prices of the day. Assiuuing an 

 average price of £ys per ton (first grades selling 

 better and the lower grades at less); a yield of one- 

 third of a ton per acre (which is a conservative, esti- 

 mate), the cost of preparing and shipping at /,2i, (an 

 advance of 20% on pre-war rates), the gross return 

 per acre should be ;^i8. If from £2> to £s per acre 

 be allowed for cost of maintenance and picking the 

 crop, a nett return of £\s to £i2> is obtained. Tf^hese 

 figures, to the writer's knowledge, are well below the 

 average returns of existing plantations. 



That they will be maintained for some years io 

 come is more than likelv. 



80 



