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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