Browsing by Author "Maher, C."
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Item Arabica Coffee and the Plant Breeder(January, 1937) Maher, C.; Department of Agriculture, Kenya ColonyIts well known that most tropical crops had not had attention devoted to them in the matter that of selection and breeding that has been given towards raising fruits, such as apples, beaches and other crops, to the stage of excellence, attained temperature zones. Many of the chief crops crops of the tropics are plantation crops - coffee, cocoa, rubber, sisal, coco-nut and others which often take several years to come in to bearing and still longer before individual tree or plant records may be procured that are sufficiently reliable to serve as basis of breathing operations.Item The Goat: Friend or Foe?(1945) Maher, C.; Department of Agriculture, KenyaThe barren, lean cow as currency has had a barter value-like the dirty and tattered Treasury note which has the same value as the clean and new one-equal in African eyes to that of the fat and productive cow. In the same way there has been little attempt to appraise goats according to their intrinsic worth as productive animals. In return for proper methods of husbandry goats may be valuable assets to many African farmers but this is no argument in favour of goats in their present role in African life.Item Goats, Fire and Blowing Sands(1946) Maher, C.; Soil Conservation ServiceThe report which has been reviewed contains a great deal of valuable ecological, geological and other information which is very relevant to East African problems. As has been mentioned above, too little attention seems to have given to the basic social causes of deterioration of the land. Nevertheless, a number of important recommendations have been made including suggestions for work to be done and that a Central Soil Conservation Board should be inaugurated.Item Hill Culture(July 1939) Maher, C.; Department of Agriculture, Kenya ColonyThe rapid loss in fertility that occurs on steep slopes is appreciated even by primitive natives. Steep hillsides may be cultivated for one year only, after clearing the bush, and the land will then be left in bush-fallow for periods varying with the degree of pressure of population upon the land. In the United States, steep lands are commonly "retired from cropping", and are restoring to pasture or forest by protection or planting. It is not often that this ideal land-use solution can be applied in East Africa. Population densities in crowded areas may be from 300 to over 1,200 per square mile, and it is not possible to remove people from steep hillsides in such areas owing to lack of more suitable land on which to resettle them. In the circumstances, the best that can be done is to recommend such measures as will slow down the rate of erosion, while still permitting a fair density of population.Item Mixed Farming in East Africa II.-Grassland and Arable Dairying in the Trans Nzoia District(1936) Maher, C. ; Agricultural .Officer, Kenya ColonyThe types of grassland occurring in the Trans Nzoia, a district of. 1, 155 square miles in the European area of Kenya Colony, are described, The grassland is classified as follows; (a) Natural grasslands, in the poorer parts of which such coarse grasses as Cymbopogon spp. and Hyparrhenia sp. multiply and cause a rapid deterioration of the pasturage. Under-grazed and unburnt areas include Setaria sp., Chloris gayana, Themeda triandra, Cynodon sp., Digitaria sp. Brachiaria sp., Hyparrhenia sp., Panicum sp., Amphilophis pertusa[Bothriochloa pertusa] (in the drier districts) Eragrostis sp., and others.m (b) Burnt veldt grassland. Grassland which has been burnt over tends to have fewer species and those resistant to fire predominate. Such species are Themeda triandra, Eragrostis chalcantha and Trichopteryx kagerensis. (c) Well grazed fertile grassland. Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) is indigenous in these areas and the Star grasses (Cynodon sp.), of good grazing value, occupy the land where fertility is high and the grazing is controlled. Kenya wild white clover (Trifolium johnstonii) is indigenous to the area, but is rarely found in natural pastures. Grazing legumes are uncommon but Trifolium subrotundum, an annual clover, is well represented. (d) Reverted pastures. Maize land is often allowed to revert to pasture and is first colonized by the star grasses and blue couch (Digitaria scalarum). The rapid spread of poor quality rhizomatous grasses renders the return of these lands to arable cultivation troublesome in moist districts. The feeding value of the indigenous veldt grasses may be improved by the prevention of burning and the substitution of paddocking followed by intensive rotational grazing. As a result of the work carried out at Kitale by the Department of Agriculture, a number of indigenous and introduced grasses are known which are suitable for permanent and temporary leys. In general, the English grasses introduced have failed to resist the heat and to withstand the dry season. A possible exception is cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata]which makes prolific growth. A list of African grasses suitable for the region is given and their uses are indicated. Less success was experienced with the trials of legumes, the most promising of these appearing to be Lespedeza stipulacea, Lespedeza striata and possibly Medicago denticulata. The need for the prevention of erosion in the district is emphasized and in this connexion overgrazing by stock should be avoided. Attention is drawn to the value of efficient windbreaks in preventing excessive evaporation and loss of moisture. A number of grasses are enumerated of value for hay crops, silage and green fodder. Eragros-iis abyssinica, Panicum maximum and Panicum coloratum may prove to be useful hay plants. For silage maize is recommended while for green fodder, elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and Sudan grass (Andropogon sorghum[Sorghum bicolor] var. sudanense) are usefuleau.Item Prospects for the Production of Tung Oil in East Africa A Comparison of the Results Attained in the Trials of Aleurites Fordii and A. Montana(1936) Maher, C.; Thomas, A. S.; McGregor, C. J.; AmaniThis subject was one of those discussed at the Agricultural Research Conference held at Amani in February, 1936. In opening the discussion, Mr. Nowell said that trials of Aleurites sp. had been going on in East Africa for several years. The original stimulus came from the British Paint Research Association, who found supplies inadequate for their nee s. Attention was at first concentrated on A. Fordii, good seed of which was readily obtainable from Florida. A small amount of seed of A. montana from China was distributed, but only a low percentage germinated. The memoranda before them which are printed below] from all five mainland territories showed how wide spread the trials had been. On the whole, it appeared that A. Montana grew without trouble, but A. Fordii, where it would grow at all, needed to be treated as an orchard tree. Therefore, under East African conditions, montana was much the more likely to survive. It has been grown successfully at Morogoro (1,200 ' feet) and Sotik (6,000 feet). At Amani it flourished. Two hundred acres were being planted, and there should be seed to spare in 1937.Item Review- Erosion in the Punjab(1947) Maher, C.It was a melancholy fact that British rule and British peace often had the result of producing conditions which were only too likely to lead to future wars, as growing populations were forced by deterioration of natural resources to find living space.Item The Use of Level Contour Banks and Live or Dead Wash Stops in Erosion Control in Native Areas(November 1939) Maher, C.; A.I.C.T.A., Department of Agriculture, Kenya ColonyThe setting out of terrace banks and channels on a variable grade for erosion control requires previous planning of terrace outlets and points of discharge for run-off water, planning which is done more satisfactorily on the basis of the minor or major watershed rather than for the individual holding. The setting out of the pegs for the terrace lines is not done very easily without the aid of an engineer's level in the hands of a skilled operator. In consideration of these two facts the decision is often made that in the native reserves, financial circumstances and absence of trained staff necessitate the adoption of simpler\methods. The methods must be such, it is said, as the natives can carry out themselves, or at least with a small amount of assistance by native instructors. It may be decided therefore that erosion control must be brought about by means of simply constructed contour banks, hedgeZ-Tines of grass or other live vegeta-,—ttori_or dead material such as lines of maize or sorghum stalks_ Provided the contour lines are set out accurately, and given that slope and soil are suitable under the rainfall intensities experienced, such methods may be effective, provided constant attention is paid to maintenance. There are, however, risks involved, which it is the purpose of this article to discuss.
