118 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
there wattle timber has a ready sale, being used for 
props in mines ; further, the wood is used for fuel by 
the railway, for which purpose it is reported excellent. 
In British East Africa we have as yet no mines, and 
the railway reports unfavourably on wattle fuel. It 
may be assumed, however, with confidence that a 
State-owned railway will see their way, and indeed 
must see their way, to utilise the timber, even if it be 
inferior, which is itself an extremely doubtful point. 
It is possible that it will make the whole differ¬ 
ence between the success and failure of the 
industry. 
The man, or company, who determines to go in 
for wattle will proceed to choose his ground. And 
here it may be said, as is so often said of farming 
land in England, that the best land is generally the 
cheapest. In the long run it will be found best to 
pay a high price for an area which has all the 
essentials highly developed than to pay a reduced, 
even a considerably reduced, price for that which is 
deficient in some or other desired characteristic. 
The ideal situation would be an area of, say, 4,000 
acres at an elevation of 7,000 ft. where there are 
considerable periods of mist. It would lie alongside 
the line. This is a vital consideration in a bulky crop 
of comparatively low value; and, indeed, unless in 
exceptional circumstances, the cultivation of wattle at 
a greater distance from the line than twelve miles 
could not be recommended. The soil would be deep, 
loamy, and nicely drained. The rainfall would be 
between 50 and 70 inches. Clearing would be an 
easy task. Labour would be plentiful in the vicinity. 
There would be water-power, fuel, and an absence of 
the mischievous species of game or mosquitoes. For 
