AGRICULTURE. Agriculture and cattle-raising are the chief occupations of the settled natives. Millet is grown in most parts of the colony, while wheat, sesame. tobacco, and rice are con fined to certain localities. Bananas are cultivat ed chiefly on the coast. The German Government is furthering agricultural development by estab lishing experimental stations and plantations among the highlands of the northeast part of the colony, to which the German plantations are still almost wholly confined. Nearly all European vege tables thrive in some of these high districts. Hun dreds of thousands of coffee-shrubs have been reared. on the German plantations; the crop thrives and exports are increasing. The tobacco crop is rapidly increasing, but it is of poor quality, and is only sold to the natives and Arabs. Cotton has not succeeded, but sugar and copra are impor tant. The collecting of india-rubber makes steady progress. The commerce of the colony is chiefly in the hands of German firms. The chief ex ports are rubber, cereals, and coffee, while the imports consist mostly of provisions, textiles, hardware and iron, and rice. The total trade of the colony for 1900 amounted to somewhat less than $3,750,000, of which the exports amounted to a little over one-third. The trade is largely with Zanzibar, British India, and Germany, and passes chiefly through the ports of Dar-es-Salaam, Bagamoyo, Pangani, Kilwa, Lindi, Mikindani, and Tanga. In 1899 there were in the colony over 100 trading and industrial companies, not including numerous small Indian concerns. The
colony has regular steam communication with Germany and Bombay. The three boundary lakes are navigable by steamers. The main roads are generally good, the Government having con structed over 1000 miles of roads for wheeled traffic. The Usambara Railway line was com pleted in 1901 for about 45 miles. It has been in operation from Tanga to Muheso since 1895, and is being extended through Usambara to Korogwe. The chief ports are connected by tele graph with Zanzibar.
At the head of the colony is the Governor, ap pointed by the Emperor. The whole colony is divided into eight districts and fourteen stations, the former administered by distinct officers and councils. The German army of occupation num bers over 1700 men, of whom over 1500 are colored. There are Government schools at Dar es-Salaam, Tanga, and Bagamoyo. The revenue of the colony is derived chiefly from import duties and a hut tax, and covers only a small portion of the expenditures. Thus, in the budget for 1901 the latter are estimated at $2,927,400, including over $1,000,000 for railway construc tion and about $550,000 for the colonial army. The revenue for the same year is given as $770, 000, necessitating an Imperial subvention of over $2,000,000.
According to an enumeration of 1900, the col ony had a population of over 6,100,000, including 1139 Europeans (872 Germans). The natives are of the Bantu race, but there is also a strong Asiatic element on the coast. The seat of gov ernment is Dar-es-Salaam (q.v.).