126 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
areas, comparatively speaking, more especially of 
native land, will always be under maize. When this 
crop is above the average, there will be a considerable 
surplus to export. Further than this, maize export is 
hardly likely to become a great factor in the prosperity 
of the country. Our land is too valuable. Accord¬ 
ing to Mr. A. C. Macdonald, in a very lucid and 
interesting lecture given in 1910, the average price to 
be anticipated in London is about £5 3s. a ton, though 
of course it has often been higher. The farmer can 
grow maize and deliver it at Kilindini, including a 
reasonable profit, for £3 16s. The matter of freight, 
therefore, is still one of adjustment. 
There is no great secret with regard to maize 
growing beyond the usual maxim of plant early and 
cultivate well. Maize is a surface plant and is best 
suited by a good deep loam. While it likes plenty of 
moisture, it cannot stand being waterlogged. It is 
fairly greedy in the soil and after a certain period must 
or had better be grown in rotation with some leguminous 
crop. In those parts of the Protectorate where it is 
possible to get two crops, it stands to reason to plant 
an early ripening variety during the short hot season 
succeeding the little rains. Such a variety would be 
the Champion White Pearl. During the long mild 
period succeeding the big rains Hickory King is 
usually grown. 
Coffee .—Every year it becomes more apparent that 
the cultivation of coffee will prove one of the chief 
sources of the Protectorates wealth. There are 
several localities where coffee grows well and crops 
heavily, and as yet the Protectorate has not been 
visited by disease. Further, the quality is good and 
the price shows a steady upward tendency. From £45 
