XIII 
WHEAT, MAIZE, COFFEE 
125 
thankful to find anything that will grow at all. This 
product they get in maize. Take the Transvaal. 
Generally speaking, a maize crop can be grown on new 
land for four or five years and will yield during the 
same period an average crop of between four and five 
bags. There is nothing very great about that, but the 
crop is certain and diseases are very few. Consequently, 
the Transvaal Government determined to use every 
power of organisation and management to ensure the 
farmer a small but certain profit on his crop at an 
average price. Accordingly, arrangements were made 
and contracts entered into whereby the railway freight 
was reduced to 1 is. 4 d., and the sea freight to 14s. a ton. 
All other charges, including ordinary insurance, were 
effected at 4^. 6d. This in all makes a total charge of 
2s. Sd. a bag, for which sum also Government under¬ 
took to collect payment. Thus all the farmer had, 
and has, to do was to turn up at the station and hand 
in his bag of maize, to receive the market price less 
2s. Sd. 
Now in British East Africa the average crop is 
more like eight bags than five, and, moreover, in many 
parts we get two crops in the year. It was therefore 
felt, and rightly so, that though our freights would 
always be higher than theirs, yet our farmers could 
still compete on favourable terms with those in South 
Africa taken as a whole. Two points, however, were 
temporarily lost sight of. The first is that we have 
not the scope of ground available to provide a sufficient 
surplus stock of maize to induce ship-owners to lower 
their freights to a reasonable figure. The second and 
perhaps more obvious consideration is that we can 
grow a variety of very much more valuable crops. 
The local demand for maize is so great that large 
