Soil Type and Soil Management in Relation to Plantation Agriculture in East Usambara

Abstract

The history of Arabica coffee planting in forest clearings in East Usambara (Tanganyika Territory) is briefly sketched, from its beginning in 1891, through the decline of the plantations during the decade before the war, to their almost complete abandonment at the present day. The soil (a laterized red earth on gneiss) is described in relation to the factors in its formation and particularly in its relation to the evergreen forest. The effects of clearing and of non-intensive plantation practice are traced, and the conclusion is drawn that the hope now being entertained of bringing the old coffee clearings again into production under other permanent crops depends for fulfilment on the adoption of intensive methods on small acreages.