PART V. 
PART V. 
GENERAL. 
(All items in this Part were discussed in full Conference.) 
CHAPTER I. 
REVIEW OF AGRICULTURE IN KENYA. 
(In full conference at opening meeting with His Excellency the 
President in the Chair.) 
Mr. HOLM read the following paper (referred to in Agenda as 
T.C.(C)Ag.18): — 
The primary object of this paper is to describe in general terms 
the position of the agricultural industry of this Colony, in order that 
members attending this Conference may find greater interest in their 
visit, and may be in a better position to express their views upon 
matters which affect the prosperity and progress of agriculture in 
these parts of His Majesty's Dominions. 
Agriculture has through the centuries been the main pursuit of 
the native tribes. Upon it they depended entirely for their subsistence, 
and their peaceful existence, excepting during periods of internecine 
strife, was not disturbed by traders interested in outside markets. 
Things took a different turn about a quarter of a century ago when the 
activities of European farmers and commercial interests influenced 
the course of events, and {rom that time it may be said that 
agriculture commenced as an industry producing something more 
than the mere personal wants of a sparse population of Africans living 
in undisturbed possession of the land without any commitments in 
respect of charges ordinarily levied upon landowners or tenants. 
The experience of native agriculturists furnished no guide of great 
value to the alien farmer who had to depend upon the proceeds of 
production suitable for an oversea market. 
Picture a land of mountains, plateaux, forests, hills and valleys, 
well watered with numerous rivers and streams, clothed with 
vegetation ranging from the mighty cedars of the forest to shrubs of 
the open pastoral lands, and everywhere pasturage, nourishing and 
palatable to stock; a vegetation which in the main is not tropical in 
character or appearance although the region is equatorial and in the 
tropical zone; a land calling out for development and obviously 
possessing potentialities of a kind unknown to the newcomer. Such 
were the conditions which the pioneer settlers found. Not unnaturally 
in a country in which the pasturage was abundant and appeared 
nutritious everywhere did the early settlers regard stock farming as 
the main pursuit in the early stages of development. 
Apart from the extensive area known as the Northern Frontier 
District which is arid or semi-arid in character and but very sparsely 
populated, the main productive area of Kenya Colony and Protectorate 
comprises about 301 million acres as native reserves, including about 
nine million acres held by the Masai tribe under special treaty, some 
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