PART IT
CHAPTER VII—CEREALS *
SOME ASPECTS OF CEREAL GROWING IN KENYA COLONY.
Mr. BURTON read the following paper (referred to in the Agenda
as T.C.(C)Ag.6) :—
The Highlands of Kenya Colony, though they lie about the
Equator, possess a climate which varies from sub-tropical to
temperate.” This is on account of their altitude, which ranges from
4,500 feet to 10,000 feet. The soil is, on the whole, rich and consists
chiefly of a lightish loam interspersed with patches of heavier soil.
The rainfall is usually adequate, the temperature warm in the day
time and cool at night, growing conditions being good. Apart from
purely stock raising areas, the highlands can be divided climatically
into four different groups according to altitude and rainfall.
Group No. 1.—Altitudes of above 7,000 feet and rising to 10,000
feet and with a prolonged rainfall such as the Solai and Mau Escarpments,
 and the Timboroa district.
Group No. 2.—Altitudes of about 7,000 feet and with a prolonged
rainfall such as Njoro.
Group No. 3.—Altitudes of under 7,000 feet with a prolonged
rainfall, such as the Trans-Nzoia, Uasin Gishu Plateau, Nakuru, and
Solai areas.
Group No. 4.—Altitudes of under 7,000 feet, with two short rainy
seasons, such as Nairobi, Thika, West Kenia, and Machakos districts.
The introductory remarks indicate that a wide range of crops can
be grown. Some of these crops are Coffee, Tea, Sisal, Maize, Flax,
Wheat, Beans, and Barley.
There are many people with a limited capital, who will look for
crops to grow which give a quick return on money and which require
a minimum amount of labour, a scarcity of labour being one of the
real problems of this country. The cereals are pre-eminently such
crops. They are furthermore most important food producing erops
and, with an increasing world population, are likely always to find a
ready market and command a good steady price.
These reasons are quite sufficient to induce the average man to
grow cereals and experience has shown that one or other of them can
be grown all over the highlands, and that, if all goes well, they show
a very good profit. Cereal growing, and in particular maize, is
already one of the most important industries of the Colony.
The cereals chosen for discussion in this paper are Maize, Barley,
and Wheat.
Large areas of the highlands are eminently suited to the maize
crop. These areas belong to groups Nos. 2 and 3, that is to say,
altitudes ranging from 4,500 feet to 7,000 feet, with a prolonged
rainfall. The main districts are the Uasin Gishu Plateau, the Trans-Nzoia,
 and the Nakuru districts. The rainfall extends from about
March to October, but it starts earlier in the year in the Trans-Nzoia
and on the Plateau than it does in Nakuru. In these maize belts the
soil is deep and is usually a lightish loam interspersed with heavier
and richer soils. The climate is warm. Altitudes above 7,000 feet
are generally too cold for maize, also it is not grown with much
success in districts belonging to Group No. 4, as neither of the rainy
seasons, except in exceptional years, is sufficiently prolonged for a
long maturing crop such as maize.
* See also Wheat Cultivation by Natives, page 94.

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