Chapter 363： Million mu of rubber forest

Chapter 363 Million mu of rubber forest

"Hoo... Hoo... Hoo..."

White water vapor spewed out from the cylinder at the bottom of the car, hitting both sides of the rails like a puff of thick smoke, and some parts of the locomotive head began to operate, making a tick-tock sound, wheezing... With the release of the last burst of pressure, the steam that had just exploded The chimney with wisps of blue smoke erupted violently and dense black smoke in an instant.

A huge white steam rose into the sky from the chimney, followed by a crisp siren, "Woo. Woo... Woo. Woo... Woo. Woo..." It was like the scream of a monster.

The people on both sides of the railway were awakened by the deafening sound. The front of the locomotive exhausted for the last time, the wheels started to run, and the chimney was fully powered. With the sound of "whoosh", strands of black smoke were pushed out of the tall black chimney.

Bang   "Kutting...Kutting...Kutting..." The Constantine moved on the rails, and the huge steel hub pressed against the rails and made a loud noise.

The train departed from Dar es Salaam Railway Station, and continued to accelerate towards the direction of the first town railway station.

"Your Majesty, the maximum speed of the Constantine can reach fifty-seven kilometers per hour, but for the stability and comfort of this train, we will drive towards the first town at a distance of forty kilometers per hour." The compartment The technicians here introduced to Constantine.

Konstantin looked at the time with his watch and said, "That means we can return to the first town in an hour and a half?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Constantine’s carriage was specially ordered in Austria. The interior decoration is quite luxurious and basically the same as other European monarchs. The highlights are the lamps equipped in the entire carriage and the latest coffee stove produced by Hechingen Commodity Company installed in the drinking room , are powered by electricity, powered by a small internal combustion engine. So much so that when this carriage left the factory, the Austrian craftsmen thought it was a special train for the Habsburg royal family.

The train was speeding across the plains of East Africa, and the scenery on both sides reversed rapidly outside the window, which attracted farmers in East Africa to stop and watch when they passed near the village.

"Morse, look, there's a huge monster running on that railroad thing..."

This is the first time many East Africans have seen a train, even Austrian immigrants. Immigrants who arrived in East Africa must have taken a large ship, but they may not have taken a train. Even if there is a train station in Trieste, they may not have come into contact with it personally. Pass.

The train passing through the countryside really shocked the vast majority of residents along the line, but in the future they will be numb to the trains that pass by almost every day. Now for most people, it is a completely exciting feeling. Even Africa has trains, so is Africa still Africa?

This kind of impact is huge, and it completely changed the image and status of the East African Kingdom in the hearts of residents. Most people who come to East Africa are desperate. The stereotypes, now this stereotype has been broken by breaking the train, not because the African continent is not good, but because of people.

In contrast, immigrants from the Far East are better. At least before the East African Kingdom recruited people, they did not know the existence of Africa at all. Those with a little knowledge may have heard of North Korea, Japan, Annan and other dependent countries. No matter how far away, they have heard of Siam , Tianzhu, etc., like Africa, only sailors, pirate businessmen, officials in the Far East and very knowledgeable people who have been in the sea all year round may know.

…

Hessen Province and Mitumba Province are mainly located between Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika) and the Congo River, and the Mitumba Mountains cross the two provinces.

It is not too late for these two provinces to be included in the Kingdom of East Africa, half a year earlier than Zambia and the plateaus in the west, but the total population of the two provinces has only reached more than 70,000, less than the city of Dar es Salaam. This is not because the conditions here are not good, but because Zimbabwe and Zambia have higher priority than here.

Like the most developed Katanga Province (part) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the previous life, South Kivu Province and North Kivu Province (all) are within the scope of these two provinces.

The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo cannot be described as poor in the entire African region, but extremely poor. Although it is rich in mineral resources, its development level is even ten blocks away from Tanzania, which is separated by a lake, and even Rwanda. A small purely agricultural country without any resources can occupy its territory for a long time. Rwanda mainly covets the rich mineral resources of Congo, and this area is the junction of Hesse and Mitumba provinces in East Africa today.

Not only that, Uganda, Burundi, Chad, Namibia...all have ambitions for Congo. In other words, dogs can slap Congo twice when they come.

Of course, this is also related to the terrain of the Congo. The Congo Basin in the middle, the endless rainforest is like a large no-man’s land, and the capital of the Congo, Kinshasa, is in a small corner in the southwest. The eastern land basically does not have much control ability.

In the previous life, most of the mineral resources of the Congo are now concentrated in the territory of the Kingdom of East Africa, the most famous being the copper mines on the Katanga Plateau.

Hessen and Mitumba provinces are also extremely rich in mineral resources. However, given the current traffic conditions and population size of the two provinces, it is unknown when these mineral resources will be able to be developed.

Mineral resources cannot be developed, so the economic development of the two provinces will return to the old path of the East African Kingdom to develop agricultural resources.

In order to make full use of the population, climate and terrain of the two provinces, Ernst decided to build the largest rubber plantation in the East African Kingdom locally.

Earlier, East Africa had already planted rubber trees near the Great Lakes, but the scale was not large, at least Ernst felt that it was not too large, so starting this year, Ernst planned to expand rubber plantation in Hessen and Mitumba provinces area.

The most suitable places to plant rubber trees in the East African Kingdom are here and the southern part of the Ethiopian plateau, and the vicinity of the Mitumba Mountains has obvious advantages over the southern part of the Ethiopian plateau.

It is next to the Congo Basin, and it is also the windward **** of the Atlantic Ocean, with the most abundant precipitation resources. At the same time, the equator passes through it, and the temperature is much higher than that of the Ethiopian plateau (mainly affected by altitude).

Rubber trees are most afraid of drought and cold, which is why most parts of the East African plateau are not suitable for rubber planting, where precipitation is the most important factor. At the same time, the most suitable range for rubber planting in the world is about 17 degrees north and south latitude.

In the previous life, there was only one special place, that is, the Far East successfully planted rubber trees in a large area in the area of ​​18 to 24 degrees north latitude, overturning the myth of "forbidden zone" for rubber planting.

Hessen province is the most favorable area in East Africa where rubber can be planted, because the terrain here is the lowest, and the northern end is already part of the Congo Basin.

According to the rubber planting experience accumulated in East Africa, if the population of Hessen and Mitumba provinces are all used to plant rubber, the maximum can reach 2 million mu.

This is an ideal state, so Ernst halved the task load and planned to open up one million acres of rubber plantations in the two provinces first.

This task is absolutely achievable. One person can take care of 14 acres of rubber forest on average, with about 400 to 600 trees, and Ernst does not need them to participate in food production. In the current state of food surplus in East Africa , it can be supplied by the Great Lakes District next door.

The market for rubber is huge, so don’t be afraid to plant more. Anyway, it’s just a bunch of trees, and it takes at least six years for rubber trees to mature. If you plan ahead now, you can save a lot of trouble in the future. I’d rather let the trees wait for the market , nor let the market wait for the tree.

(end of this chapter)