African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 155: Chapter 145 Rubber Plantation

One month later, when Professor Anton Peruz’s team arrives in East Africa, the East African Agricultural Research Institute will be able to operate.

August 15, 1868.

Great Lakes Region (Uganda).

The immigrants, who had just finished working on the land, immediately began the major task of tree planting.

This time, they are planting rubber tree seeds imported from Brazil. Under the guidance of Brazilian agricultural experts, the immigrants follow the procedures to plant the rubber saplings.

”These saplings shouldn’t be planted too densely. You must ensure the plot is ventilated and well-lit, and transportation must be convenient for better management and tapping in the future,” said the Brazilian agricultural (pseudo) expert Alberto Verga to the colonial agricultural workers.

In Brazil, Alberto Verga was just an ordinary rubber planter with relatively rich planting experience.

”Make sure to do a good job with drainage, especially in those gently sloped areas, but the slope shouldn’t be too steep, just a little is fine.”

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

”No, no, this isn’t something you should worry about. Temperature, as long as it’s tropical, can basically meet the rubber tree’s growth needs. Of course, if the altitude is too high, it won’t work. When the temperature drops below five, the rubber tree might freeze, but I’ve lived in Brazil for many years and haven’t seen low temperatures,” said Alberto Verga.

”You newcomers probably don’t know, but East Africa doesn’t have spring, summer, autumn, or winter. The temperature is about the same all year round; it’s just divided into rainy and dry seasons based on rainfall,” an old immigrant explained to some newcomers.

”Exactly, that’s why we’re planting rubber here. The rainfall here is the most balanced and stable, so we should plant on a large scale here rather than elsewhere,” said Alberto Verga.

Rubber trees love warmth and humidity. The temperature in East Africa is not a problem, but humidity is not easy to manage. The annual precipitation in the rubber tree growth area can’t be less than 1200mm, while East Africa has a tropical savanna climate with not very stable rainfall, fluctuating between 600mm and 1100mm. However, the Great Lakes Region is one of the few rainy areas, with a water area of nearly 70,000 square kilometers that directly affects local precipitation.

”Mr. Alberto Verga, what is rubber used for?” an immigrant asked.

Alberto Verga shook his head and said, ”I don’t really know the specifics of how it’s used. I used to only be responsible for planting and harvesting, then merchants would purchase them. I only know that the semi-product harvested is a gelatinous substance that hardens over time.”

What Alberto Verga said was honest; the rubber he planted was all bought by Europeans. The Europeans processed the rubber overseas, and Alberto Verga didn’t need to know what rubber was used for. He just needed to know that planting this stuff could be exchanged for money.

The purpose of planting rubber in East Africa is self-evident. No one understands the strategic value of rubber better than Ernst, and the future industrial needs of the Heixinggen consortium will be closely linked to rubber, so early planning is necessary.

The growth cycle of rubber is relatively long, requiring at least six or seven years to become valuable, so early planting means early harvest in the future.

This year, start with a rubber plantation of ten thousand acres, then gradually increase it every year. Having more land is the advantage.

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

However, planting rubber in East Africa is still promising as long as extra effort is made to ensure soil moisture, light, and other considerations.

The reason for urgently promoting rubber planting along the Great Lakes Region is that it’s the most suitable area for rubber cultivation.

If not planted now, changing later will be time-consuming and laborious. All conditions in the Great Lakes Region satisfy rubber planting requirements, especially rainfall, which is slightly less than the tropical rainforest climate but obviously better than the tropical savanna climate. The dense tropical rainforest near the Great Lake is evidence.

”No matter what this stuff is used for, as long as it doesn’t take away our food, it’s fine. It’s not up to us to worry about what these things are planted for.”

”True.”

”Mr. Alberto Verga, you just mentioned that this stuff needs to be harvested. I’m not sure how to harvest this tree. Do you cut it down when it’s mature?”

Upon hearing this, Alberto Verga was speechless. These Germans really hadn’t seen much of the world; they didn’t even know how rubber trees were tapped.

”No, no, everyone, I think you misunderstood. Rubber trees are not like ordinary trees.”

”So, is it like fruit trees, where you gather the fruit when it bears yield?”

Struggling to hold back his laughter, Alberto Verga explained, ”Everyone, let me finish. Harvesting rubber is like bloodletting; you make an incision on it to let the sap flow out. We will fix the collection vessel in advance, so we can gather a portion of rubber once it fills up.”

”Oh! That sounds scary.”

”It’s not scary at all. I just used blood as a metaphor. Actually, it’s the sap of the tree, and the sap of the rubber tree is white, not like blood at all. I described it that way to vividly demonstrate how rubber is collected,” Alberto Verga didn’t want to listen to these guys make wild guesses and spew nonsense.

”I see,” everyone realized.

Alberto Verga continued, ”Besides, you don’t need to worry about the harvesting process. These saplings, once they grow, will take at least six or seven years, so you won’t have the chance to encounter it before that. By then, someone new will likely come to specifically teach you how to collect rubber.”

...

Alberto Verga wasn’t just someone anyone could pick to be an expert.

Apart from the basic experience of rubber planting, speaking German was the key reason for his appointment to East Africa to guide rubber planting.

Otherwise, just communication would be a big problem, especially since many immigrants near the Great Lakes Region were new to East Africa in the past few months.

Among them, there were quite a few Germans, so they were able to have good conversations with Alberto Verga. Of course, the East African colony also assembled a group of old immigrants to help new immigrants adapt to their new life in East Africa.

Plans for German language teachers are also being sped up, and the East African-style compulsory education in the newly established three districts will begin soon.

Fortunately, the new immigrants, even if they came as families, didn’t bring many children. After all, the risks at sea are high, and families with small children wouldn’t dare to take the gamble.

Therefore, the education in the new occupation areas will start with adult education, especially for those Chinese, Serbian... we must first develop their oral communication skills.