African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 147 Rubber Planting
A month later, when Professor Anton Perutz's team arrived in East Africa, the East African Agricultural Research Institute would be operational.

1868 8 Month 15 Day.

Northern Great Lakes Region (Uganda).

The immigrant who had just finished working in the fields began to plant trees without stopping.

This time, the rubber tree species imported from Brazil were planted. Under the guidance of Brazilian agricultural experts, the immigrants planted rubber tree seedlings according to the process.

"The saplings here should not be too close together. The ventilation and light transmission of the land must be ensured, and the transportation must be convenient, so that they can be better managed and harvested in the future." Albert Verga, a Brazilian agricultural (pseudo) expert Said to the agricultural workers in the colony.

Albert Verga is an ordinary rubber grower in Brazil with rich planting experience.

"Drainage must be done well, especially in places where the slope is very gentle, but the slope should not be too high, just a little bit."

"Mr. Albert Verga, does the temperature affect the growth of rubber trees?" asked an East African immigrant.

"No, no, this is not something you should be concerned about. As long as the temperature is tropical, it can basically meet the growth needs of rubber trees. Of course, if the altitude is too high, it will definitely not work. When the temperature is lower than [-], it may frostbite rubber trees, but I have lived in Brazil for many years and I have never seen low temperatures," Albert Verga said.

"You newcomers probably don't know that there is no spring, summer, autumn and winter in East Africa. The temperature is almost the same throughout the year, but it is divided into rainy season and dry season according to rainfall." An old immigrant said to a new immigrant on the side.

"That's very good. That's why we plant rubber here. The precipitation here is the most balanced and stable, so you need to plant it here on a large scale instead of other places." Albert Verga said .

Rubber trees like temperature and humidity. Temperature is not a problem in East Africa, but humidity is not easy to control. The annual precipitation in the growth area of ​​rubber trees should not be less than 1200mm. East Africa has a tropical grassland climate, and the rainfall is not very stable. The rainfall ranges from 600mm to 1100mm. It fluctuates around 7mm, and the Great Lakes region is a rare rainy area. The Great Lakes' water area is close to [-] square kilometers, which directly affects the local precipitation.

"Mr. Albert Verga, what is the use of this rubber tree?" an immigrant asked.

Albert Verga shook his head and said: "I don't know how to use it. In the past, I was only responsible for planting and harvesting, and then the merchants would purchase them. I only know that the semi-finished products harvested are jelly-like substances. It will harden over time."

What Albert Verga said was true. The rubber he planted was bought by the Europeans, and the Europeans reprocessed the rubber already on the other side of the ocean. Albert Verga didn’t need to know what rubber was. No, he just needs to know that planting this thing can be exchanged for money.

The purpose of planting rubber in East Africa is self-evident. No one knows the strategic value of rubber better than Ernst, and the demand for rubber in the future Hexingen consortium is destined to be inseparable, so it must be planned in advance.

The growth cycle of rubber is relatively long, and it takes at least six or seven years to produce value, so plant early and harvest early in the future.

This year, we will first build a [-]-mu rubber plantation, and then gradually increase it every year. More land means arrogance.

In fact, the rubber planting conditions in East Africa are far inferior to those in West Africa, where the tropical rainforest climate is the paradise for rubber growth.

However, planting rubber in East Africa, as long as you put in a lot of effort and ensure that soil moisture and light are taken care of, it is still very promising.

The reason why rubber plantation is eager to be promoted along the coast of the Great Lakes is because the Great Lakes is the most suitable place for rubber plantation.

If you don’t plant it now, it will take time and effort to change it in the future. All the conditions in the Great Lakes area meet the conditions for rubber planting, especially the precipitation. It is only slightly worse than the tropical rainforest climate, but it is obviously stronger than the tropical grassland climate. The dense forest near the Great Lakes Tropical rainforests are evidence of this.

"Don't worry about the usefulness of this thing, anyway, a lot of our food is enough. What these things are grown for is not something I should worry about."

"makes sense."

"Mr. Albert Verga, you just said that this thing needs to be harvested. I don't know how to harvest this tree? Is it cut down when it is mature?"

Albert Verga was speechless when he heard this. Sure enough, these Germans had never seen the world, and they didn't even know how rubber trees were collected.

"No, no, everyone, I think you have misunderstood. The rubber tree is not the same as the usual trees."

"Could it be that this thing bears fruit like a fruit tree and is picked?"

Albert Ver strengthened his smile and said: "Everyone, listen to me first, the harvesting of this rubber is like bloodletting, you have to cut a hole in it and let it bleed out , we will fix the collection container in advance, so that when the flow is full, we can collect a portion of rubber.”

"Ah! This thing sounds so scary."

"It's not scary at all. I'm just using blood as a metaphor, which is actually the sap of this tree, and the sap of the rubber tree is white, not at all like blood. I just wanted to show the scene of collecting rubber more vividly. "Albert Verga didn't want to hear these guys guessing and talking nonsense.

"So it is." Everyone suddenly realized.

Albert Verga went on to say: "And you don't have to worry about harvesting at all. It will take at least six or seven years for these saplings to grow up. Before that, you have no chance to touch them. Wait six or seven years In the future, it is estimated that new people will come to teach you how to collect rubber."

……

Naturally, Albert Verga was not the kind of person who could be an expert just by looking for it.

In addition to basic rubber planting experience, being able to speak German is the capital that East Africa hired him to guide rubber plantation in East Africa.

Otherwise, communication alone is a big problem, especially since many of the immigrants near the Great Lakes are new immigrants to East Africa in recent months.

There are quite a few Germans among them, so they can have a good chat with Albert Verga. Of course, the East African colony also mobilized a group of old immigrants to help the new immigrants adapt to the new life in East Africa.

The German teachers are also stepping up preparations, and soon the East African-style compulsory education in the three newly-built districts can be carried out.

Fortunately, the new immigrants have just arrived, even if they are families, there are not many with children. After all, the sea is very risky, and those with children at home do not dare to gamble.

Therefore, the education in the newly occupied areas will start with adult education, especially those Chinese, Serbs... they must first cultivate their oral communication skills.

(End of this chapter)