MISCELLANEOUS CROPS. 



POTATOES. 

 /^NE of the earliest eflforts to establish an export early 

 ^^ trade in produce from the Highlands was made attempts 

 with potatoes, but owing to packing, transport and to Export. 

 shipping difficulties the trade was not developed as 

 under other circumstances it would have been. The 

 complete loss of one or more consignments in transit 

 helped to discourage exporters, and since the out- 

 break of war the quantity of potatoes exported has 

 been small. With proper organisation and improved 

 shipping facilities, however, considerable develop- 

 ment in this direction might be expected. Heavy- 

 crops of excellent quality can be raised without 

 manuring of any sort. Yields of nine tons per acre 

 are common on virgin forest land, but continuous 

 cropping rapidly reduces the output. Four tons to 

 the acre can be counted on without manuring, how- 

 ever, and as the cost of production is low this yield 

 should give a handsome profit to the grower on a 

 fair market. In the development of an export trade 

 a considerable output coidd be reckoned on from 

 native growers, but government supervision would 

 be necessary to ensure the planting of good seed 

 only. 



COCONUTS. 

 It is the confident anticipation of many that general 

 after the war the coconut possibilities of the Coast conditions. 

 Belt will receive wide spread attention. The coco- 

 nut palm is indigenous to East Africa, but has been 

 cultivated by the native and Arab only as a source 

 of liquor supply. Since plantations have been laid 

 down by European planters, however, efforts have 

 been made to discourage the tapping of trees — which 

 is disastrous to the tree as a source of copra supply — 

 and to demonstrate to the native the benefits of proper 

 cultivation. From Vanga to Ivamu — a distance of 

 approximately 200 miles — for a depth of 25 miles 

 inland, the deep sandy loams with coral-rag sub-oil so 

 eminently suited to coconuts, are found in large 

 patches, and as this belt is outside the cyclone and 

 hurricane zone, besides enjoying a regular ample 

 rainfall, the cultivation of coconuts should prove a 

 highly remunerative investment. Diseases and pests 

 are few, and with the exception of the Coconut 

 Beetle, of little account. Owing to the neglectful 

 methods of native growers, the Beetle has been 



