74 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. 99 > for the climatic conditions are such that European resi dents can only preserve health by careful observance of precautionary measures and by frequent visits to Europe.

(2) AGRICULTURE Except in the great forest areas where the Nains and the marginal forest tribes live by hunting, the natives of the Congo are almost all cultivators. Their only idea of cultivation, however, is to clear and burn the forest or bush and hoe the soil, moving on to another area after three or four years and leaving the old clearing to revert to secondary forest or bush . This universal system leads to enormous destruction of forest. Women do most of the field work , and the hoe is almost the only implement used.

The exploitation of the agricultural wealth of the Congo has as yet been scarcely attempted, owing to the difficulties of transport from the interior to the sea. Several Europeans, assisted by the Agriculture Depart ment, have attempted farming. In 1914, 2,270 acres were being cultivated, chiefly in the Katanga and Mayumbe districts, where there happens to be a demand by Europeans for garden produce. The small farmers then numbered 37, of whom 20 were Belgians. Some fairly successful cocoa, coffee, and rubber planta tions exist in the Mayumbe district. The rice cultiva tion is almost entirely in the hands of the Arabisés ( Manguana ' or 'Wangwana ' ) in the Stanleyville -Ituri regions. It is all dry rice, and irrigation is unknown. Mainly owing to the prevalence of malaria, no part of the Congo is suitable for white colonization, that is, for the squatter who intends to make a living off the land and bring up a family.

Probably no tropical African colony has expended so much money and energy on agricultural and scientific