GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 57 



Maize seems to be almost unknown to many of the native chap. 

 tribes of equatorial Africa, probably for the reasons before UI - 

 given (*I"1T 21 and 30). It is grown by the Baambas to the 

 west of Mt. Ruwenzori, and by the Unyoros of Uganda, but 

 " bolu " (Eleusine Coracand) is said to be the favourite cereal 

 of the latter people. In the Acholi country, millets appear to 

 take the place of maize, except at a small Nubian settlement 

 near the Nyama River, where a red kind of maize is also 

 grown. A small quantity of maize is grown by the Bahoru 

 at Katonia in the Ankole country east of Mt. Ruwenzori 

 (Dawe, 1). Major Bright (1) states that maize is grown in large 

 quantities in the plain around Kasenyi, on the west shore of 

 Lake Albert, at about 2,170 feet elevation, where they are not 

 troubled by elephants and wart-hogs. 



In Nigeria maize does not appear to have yet supplanted the 

 native cereal, guinea corn {Sorghum vulgare var.) (Wkitlock, 1). 

 In Portuguese West Africa a limited quantity of maize is pro- 

 duced, and in the Congo country it is used in the preparation of 

 a beverage. In 1795 Mungo Park (Travels) found the natives 

 at Pisania, on the Gambia, cultivating maize in considerable 

 quantities. The French Sahara is too dry for maize-growing ; 

 water is plentiful in the country about Lake Chad, but the 

 heat is intense and the rainfall very scant ; during the rainy 

 season (July to October inclusive), the mean fall is about 5 '2 

 inches, while in the very wet year of 1908 it only reached 

 7"8 inches. In this region millet seems to be the staple 

 cereal (Tilho, 1). 



53. South Africa. — As a field for maize-growing, the 

 Union of South Africa takes front rank, and for the farmer 

 with energy and enterprise there awaits a rich reward in con- 

 nection with this industry. A young, vigorous, and steadily 

 (if slowly) increasing population provides an expanding local 

 consumption, and the world's markets — owing to the excel- 

 lent lines of communication linking South Africa with the 

 older countries — lie within easy distance. 



The climate of a large part of South Africa is peculiarly 

 well suited to the easy production of enormous quantities of 

 maize of exceptionally good quality, especially for manufac- 

 turing purposes. The rainfall is ample if the soil is cultivated 

 properly. The possible planting season lasts for two months, 



