GENERAL 

 CROPS. 



HORSE 

 BREEDING. 



THE FUTURE. 



planters have cleared heavy forest for their planta- 

 tions, ^Yhile others have taken the lighter scrub land 

 on the red soil, but the coffee appears to thrive equally 

 well on either. It is the local custom to raise maize 

 as a catch crop between the young coffee trees, and 

 quite big returns have been reached. A ready market 

 is found locally among native traders at prices equal 

 to those ruling at Railway centres. An experimental 

 crop of wheat yielded 40 bushels per acre. Citrus, 

 api^les, peaches, plums, figs, pineapples, paw paws, 

 bananas and several other fruits are all being suc- 

 cessfully grown, while every farm has its patch of 

 delicious strawberries. Flax has been experimented 

 with on several farms and proved quite a success. 

 Sugar also is being grown experimentally and pro- 

 mises well. 



Horses are likely to be a feature of the district 

 in the future. They have thriven for the past ten 

 years, and there seems to be no disease. Some nice 

 South African brood mares have lately been im- 

 ported, and are doing excellently. 



With the extension of roads and general opening 

 up of the district it is inevitable that the Sotik will 

 receive considerable attention. The land next for sur- 

 vey, the Indanai hills, adjoining the Sotik in the 

 direction of Kisii, is among the richest in the Protect- 

 orate if not in the world, and a great deal of it is suit- 

 able for small holdings. The wonderful scenery of 

 the Sotik is probably the feature that impresses itself 

 on most people on their first visit. The wooded hills 

 and beautiful parklike plains, interspersed with belts 

 of forest fringing the rivers, make the views except- 

 ionally attractive, especially when viewed in the bril- 

 liancy of the morning sunshine. 



T. MORGAN. 



112 



