Chapter 53: Potato Farming

Chapter 53: Potato Farming

December 16, 1866.

Karatu, the capital of the Northern Plateau region.

To the northwest of Karatu lies the famous Serengeti Plain, a true wildlife paradise. Currently, in the East African colonies, except for the Upper Coastal area, which underwent a thorough cleansing, most other areas are still dominated by wild animals. Even the indigenous people, whose population is relatively large compared to immigrants, seem small and insignificant in the face of the vast animal herds in East Africa.

These abundant animal resources allow the indigenous people to live prosperous lives just by hunting. After hunting each day, they sing and dance, and when night falls, they sleep without worries. After all, there are so many animals to hunt, there's no need to worry about food for tomorrow.

As for the immigrants who came to farm in Africa, they obviously couldn't live like the indigenous people, relying on hunting to survive. Their ideas are influenced by thousands of years of agricultural culture, emphasizing hard work to achieve wealth. They cannot easily adopt the indigenous people's attitude of focusing only on the present and not thinking about the future.

In fact, human concepts are shaped by society. For example, the indigenous people didn't develop nations, but the African environment allowed them to thrive under the most primitive tribal systems. Once they entered more advanced social structures, their development slowed significantly. After all, humans who left East Africa millions of years ago faced survival issues and learned to plant and raise livestock. In places like Egypt, the vast desert couldn't support farming without the Nile River, and life itself became a problem. In the end, humans left Africa and began competing in the world.

When Europeans returned millions of years later, they essentially outcompeted the African tribes, driving them to extinction.

In the East African colonies, immigrants are required to first clear the local wildlife and any hostile indigenous tribes when arriving at a new location. To avoid accidents, immigrants work and act in groups, reducing the risk of attacks from wild animals.

Karatu is surrounded by thick vegetation, but in the dry season, it turns yellow. The yellow vines and weeds cover the land in thick layers. The immigrants who first arrived in this area burned the dry grass and plants. After the fire, a thin layer of ash was left on the land. They then used shovels and hoes to clear the plant roots buried in the soil. Once the soil was turned, a shallow reddish-brown soil appeared.

Thus, the immigrants' residential area and the cultivated land in Karatu are all brightly red, contrasting sharply with the surrounding yellow vegetation. The strong sunlight and the hazy low sky give the place a somewhat oppressive atmosphere.

Karatu experiences low rainfall because of its location in the inland and plateau region. The water vapor from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans cannot penetrate this area easily. There are two large lakes in the east and west of Karatu. The western lake, Lake Eyasi, is a seasonal shallow saline lake, while the eastern Lake Manyara is also a saltwater lake. Both are located in the East African Rift Valley and are home to flocks of flamingos and other water birds.

North of Karatu is the Ngorongoro Highlands. Ngorongoro is a volcanic highland, and Karatu lies at its southern edge. The Ngorongoro area is unique, featuring a variety of ecosystems such as grasslands, forests, hills, lakes, and marshes. Numerous species of wildlife live here, forming an independent ecological system. The word "Ngorongoro" in indigenous African languages means "Big Hole."

Lake Manyara serves as the gateway to the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. In the past, Hemingway described this area as "the loveliest place in Africa." The famous Maasai people live near the Ngorongoro Crater and lead a nomadic life. In the dry season, the crater's lake becomes a water source for the local animals, and large herds of animals gather to drink.

As the new capital of the East African colonies' Northern Plateau region, Karatu is not particularly outstanding, and its future development potential is not as high as that of other regional capitals. It was designated as the capital mainly due to its central location in the Northern Plateau region.

Other places in Africa, such as Mwanza, Kigoma, and Dodoma, enjoy more favorable natural conditions. The Eastern First Town is where the colony's earliest settlements were established. Only Karatu and the Lower Coastal area's Ronroda were randomly selected on the map by Ernst to become regional administrative centers.

In the East African colonies, all cities are essentially starting from scratch, so the future development of Karatu and Ronroda depends on whether they can take advantage of their early positions.

Karatu receives little rainfall, so instead of growing rice and wheat, the immigrants chose potatoes. Potatoes are a typical low-maintenance crop, similar to agave, requiring minimal care. Potatoes prefer cool temperatures and Karatu's high altitude keeps the temperature between 10 to 20 degrees Celsius. The plateau's light conditions are ideal for crop growth, with thin air, shallow clouds, and strong sunlight. The soil is slightly acidic due to the addition of plant ash before cultivation.

Karatu's soil is also loose and not sticky, which allows potatoes' roots and tubers to expand easily. There is also no need to worry about water for potato farming, as although rainfall is low, there is enough water in the rivers.

Immigrants use tools to turn the soil, creating ridges. They plant sprouted potato tubers in groups of two sprouts each, spacing them about 20 to 30 centimeters apart, with the sprouts facing up. After adding fertilizer, the planting process is complete.

As for economic crops, Karatu also chose agave. The Ngorongoro Highlands have rich forest resources, which makes construction in Karatu convenient. Most houses are made of wood, and tools like waterwheels and windmill grinding mills are easy to produce.

Currently, the immigrants in Karatu are only active in the southeastern part of the Ngorongoro Highlands and have not moved into the interior of the Ngorongoro Highlands. Thus, the northwest direction of the entire Northern Plateau region, which is mostly the Serengeti Plain, remains free of East African colonial influence.

To the west lies the Great Lakes region, which has the second-largest immigrant population after the Upper Coastal region. There is no natural barrier between the Great Lakes region and the Serengeti Plain. So, the Serengeti was included in the Great Lakes region, but the Serengeti's wildlife is truly a paradise.

In documentaries from the previous century, one can see tens of thousands of wildebeest crossing a river in the Serengeti, the Mara River, which flows between Kenya and Tanzania. Every year, wildebeests and other animals migrate between the Maasai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania.

Although the Serengeti is a vast area, it had not been effectively developed by Tanzania in the past and had been designated as a national park. The East African colonies did not forcefully develop the Serengeti either.

With so many wild animals, it is indeed hard to manage. Moreover, the early development of the East African colonies would have been chaotic, and other regions had already suffered due to wildlife destruction. It's better to leave the Serengeti as it is to preserve a sanctuary for East Africa's wildlife. Currently, the East African colonies have plenty of land and can expand northward or westward.

Although the Serengeti is large, its impact on the East African colonies is quite limited.

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