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The difficult economical situation which has become so marked 

 in German Industry and German Trade has had a decidedly para- 

 lysing influence upon enterprise on a large scale in our tropical 

 Colonies ; still a few Estate Companies have been founded during 

 the past yeartho' each only with a capital of £15,000, their financial 

 situation therefore not appearing very brilliant. Also the Southwest 

 African Stock-breeding, with a capital of £25,000 is a creation of 

 the last year ; but it must not be forgotten that this would have 

 never been achieved without considerable support from the Colonial 

 Society. 



There is no doubt that the East African Coffee Estates as well as 

 the Cocoa Estates of Kameroon will have to face very bad times. 

 Most of these Companies have, in the hope of early dividends 

 planted far too quickly and have now, at the most unfortunate mo- 

 ment reached the end of their funds. Add to this a number of 

 mistakes made: Coffee planters in Umsambare have planted freely 

 away without troubling their heads about the depth of the soil; the 

 consequence is that whole fields are dying out. Most serious, 

 finally are the consequences of having formerly underestimated 

 certain expenditure. 



In Kameroon the greatest drawbacks are the difficulty of obtain- 

 ing labour, and the heavy cost and bad quality of the labour 

 obtainable. If the labour question cannot soon be settled in a man- 

 ner more satisfactory than heretofore by the combined efforts of all 

 concerned, we have the most serious fears that, notwithstanding all 

 the advantages of climate and soil in the Kameroon Mountains, a 

 profitable cultivation of Cocoa on a large scale wiil not be pos- 

 sible. 



The cultivation of Castilioa Rubber cannot be recommended, as 

 the caterpillar of a large beetle will gnaw into the bark of the young 

 trees thereby killing them. As on one Estate experiments with 

 this plant have been made on a large scale we hope to hear soon 

 more about the amcunt of damage done by this pest and about the 

 means of combating it. The growth of Castilioa as well as of the 

 indigenous Kickxia leaves nothing to be desired. We have no re- 

 ports yet how Hevea Brasiliensis and Ficus elastica, which seems 

 to do well, behave when grown on a large scale. 



The few Estates with Liberian Coffee and Coconuts in German 

 East Africa progress steadily and favourably. The same can 

 unfortunately not be said about the Estates with Coffee arabica. 

 Newly discovered tho' yet unknown animal pests of different kinds 

 seem to do enormous damage to those Estates and not knowing 

 the ways of these pests planters have no means of combating them, 

 li is high time that a Plant-Pathologist should visit these Estates 

 to make experiments before it may be too late. The Colonial 

 Economy-Committee deserves praise for having first indicated 

 the right course ; the news just only reaches us that Prof. Zimmer- 

 mann, who was for many years the chief of the Department for 

 Coffee at the Botanical Gardens of Buitenzorg, a noted connoisseur of 

 the enemies of the Coffee plant, is already on his way to German 

 East Africa. Tho' the most urgently wanted work has thus been 



