730 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [May 2, 1904. 
pricea in rupees for the different articles produced 
in Uganda. The GovernmeLt Commissioner for 
Uganda (Colonel Sadler) purposes opening up for 
cultivation different districts throughout the Protec- 
torate, to the extent of employing 300 labourers in 
each, working under the supervision of a headman. 
The Government will consequently have a considerable 
quantity of produce to dispose of, as to which Mr. 
Marsden makes recommendations. He speaks favour- 
atily of the quality of rubber produced, and men- 
tions that both Protectorates are full of the castor-oil 
plant, which grows in profusion and requires no 
cultivation. 
THE CULTIVATION CP COTTON, 
The country of the two Protectorates, he says, i^ 
well adapted for the cultivation of cotton, and if 
the Government can provide Egyptian seed it is 
capable of producing enormous quantities at a good 
margin of profit, particularly in those districts where 
access can be had to wnter, which cotton requires 
at one period of its growth. He adds : " There can 
be no question of the enormous injury which has 
been done to the Lancashire textile industries by 
the periodical ' corner ' which take place in American 
cotton, which is occasionally run up to a price at 
which it is impossible to ship the manufactured 
article to India. It is not apparently known even 
to dealers in the cotton market that when the fibre 
passes a certain price it goes out of cocsuinption 
for several purposes. Material for the clothes of 
the naiives of India cannot be sold at all when the 
price exceeds the equivalent of Gd. per lb. for raw 
cotton. Indian peasants and coolies sijaply do with- 
out the fabric and use any kind of temporary 
substitute until the price comes down again. It is 
with them not choice but necessity, as they have 
not the money to spare beyond their normal daily 
requirements. As there are many millions of them, 
an advance in cotton over Gel. per lb. means an 
enormous reduction in the manufacture of this parti- 
cular material. 
If Uganda and Bast Africa can supply Lancashire 
with the right kind of cotton in quantity — and experi- 
ments have hitherto shown that the quality is suit- 
able for Lancashire requirements — these periodical 
'corners' will be to a large extent checkmated, and 
the Empire as a whole will benefit more than by the 
discovery of new gold reefs." 
THE EAST AFRICAN HIGHLAKDS. 
Many of the products of the East Africa and Uganda 
Protectorates ought, we are told, to have a ready 
market in South Africa. Having visited Delagoa 
Bay and Durban, Mr. Marsden arrived last October 
in Johannesburg and proceeded to Pretoria, the 
Orange River Colony, and the Cape Colony. Most 
people in this country appear to know very little 
about British East Africa beyond the frequent 
mention of it as a possible source of supply of 
native labour for the Transvaal. One of the facts 
which the report will make clear is that a great 
portion of the enormous territory of the Protectorate, 
although situate within the tropical zone, is well 
suited for white settlers. The region in question, 
known aa the Highlands, corresponds with the high 
veld of the Transvaal and has a climate similar 
to the Scottish Highlands. As a sign of its salu- 
bi-ity and a test of its suitability for settlement, 
the fact is stated that European children born in 
this part of the country thrive extremely well. 
The East Africa Protectorate may be looked upon as 
A NEW COUNTKV 
which is destined to be developed by the Uganda 
Railway. A very few years ago all the region which 
lies between the towns on the eastern coast and 
the kingdom of Uganda was considered little better 
than a desert. Now that the railway line, 584 miles 
in length, has been thrown across it, the vast interven- 
ing conutry has been found to be different from what 
was presupposed, and indeed to consist of great 
tracts of healthy country promising in its fertility and 
only needing settlers to grow in importance with great 
rapidity. 
MARKETS AND FB IGHTS. 
An equally pressing need for the development of 
the country has been access to markets for the settlers' 
products. Now that the railway is completed the 
authorities are doing all they can to induce British 
settlers to come in. Already there are one or two 
hundred white settlers in the Highlands, whose suc- 
cess is expected to be a great deal advanced by the 
new conditions. In considering the trade between 
East Africa and South Africa, it is to be noted that 
South Africa imports annually, in the main from 
Australia, the United States, and the Argentine, about 
100,000 tons of mealies alone. Now 
THE CHIEF PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA 
for which a market is possible are mealies, potatoes, 
wheat, and other cereals. To supply South Africa 
is a question of cost. There is no reason why the 
producer in East Africa should not get his share 
of the trade, with a railway which will bring his 
produce to the coast at the rate of a penny per 
ton per mile, a rate, which, low as it is, would, it 
is thought, possibly be reduced. At present, how- 
ever, steamship freights to the South African porta 
are by no means favourable. Steamers belonging to 
the British India, German East Africa, and Austrian 
Lloyd lines which on their way to southern ports 
call at Mombasa carry little cargo from the east coast 
to the south, and such reduction as is suggested 
might obviously prove to their advantage. It is sug- 
gested that at Nairobi, the headquarters of the Uganda 
Railway, wbich is in the vicinity of most of the 
settlers' farms and some 350 miles from the coast, 
agents might establish themselves, and would, indeed, 
be necessary for the promotion of the trade. 
SETTLERS WANTED, FREE LAND GIVEN. 
As for the kind of settler desired, it appears it ia 
considered that he ought to be a practical farmer 
having a capital of not less than £500, and that the 
inducements ought to be sufficient to attract a large 
proportion of the people now finding their way to 
South Africa, Each bona fide settler ia offered a 
square mile of land free, only paying for the survey 
charges, which cost about £20. Additional land may 
be bought outright at prices varying, according to 
position, from 8d. to Is. 4d. an acre, or rented at 
id. to Id. an acre. It is important, of course, to 
know something of the productiveness of the soil. 
Mr. Marsden is of opinion that corn and vegetables 
may be produced in profitable quantities for the 
South African market. In Nairobi potatoes are sold 
for a shilling a load of 60 lb., or five pounds for 
a penny, while the latter quantity in the leading 
towns of the Transvaal brings a shilling. In the 
Highlands referred to, Mr. Marsden says, the soil and 
climate are so favourable that 
THREE CROPS OF POTATOES MAY BE RAISED IN 
THE YEAR, 
while the pasturage is sufficient to feed five sheep to 
the acre. This healthy country is situated at a level 
of from 7,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea. In his 
report, which in the course of a little time will be 
available for public use, Mr. Marsden specifies tha 
prices realised of dilierent commodities. During his 
visit through South Africa he was overwhelmed by 
inquiries, and the Commissioner has since informed 
him that emigrants are pouring into the country 
from South Africa. Many are Australians who went 
to South Africa during the war, and who, liking the 
country, settled there. They have, it appears, been 
somewhat disappointed owing to the effects of drought 
during the year after the war, and now a great many 
are flocking into East Africa, 
