=Markets.=—Certain large cocoa-buying centres are recognised,

which, in the Volta River district, are situated at the foot of the

hilly country, in positions convenient for transport to the ports

of shipment. In addition to these, however, a good deal of buying

is proceeded with at smaller places in the midst of the growing

districts, but these probably represent the localities for the

transactions carried on by agents or middlemen. Until the produce

is actually in the hands of the shippers, the conveyance of cocoa is

almost entirely done by head-loads of about 60 lbs. The head-load is

the standard for trading, and the local price quoted is always with

reference to it. It is customary for the buying shippers to send

out their agents to the cocoa districts to arrange for the purchase

of the crops, and it is always necessary that such purchases should

be paid for in silver, no notes or cheques being accepted. Owing to

competition during the past few years, the agents have often paid

the grower a sum of money long before his crop was ready for picking,

in order to guarantee that it may be bought by no one else. This has

had the effect of making the grower careless in the preparation of

his crop, and has caused the production of much bad material. The

report that at another town, often distant by many days’ journey,

a higher price is being paid than that obtained in a market close at

hand, will frequently induce a native to convey his head-loads to the

distant market, regardless of the fact that the extra shilling or so

he may receive does not appear to be sufficient compensation for the

additional labour and time expended. This points to the fact that

the native does not put the same value on his time and labour when

he is working for himself as he does when he is employed by others.

The buyers of cocoa pack it in bags for shipment, and these are

conveyed to the ports by motor lorries or placed inside large casks,

similar to those used for palm oil, and rolled along the roads. Some

of the shipments are conveyed in river steamers on the Volta, and,

more recently, owing to the growers having found a better market

for a short time at Kumassi, a considerable amount was sent by rail

from that place to Sekondi. In consequence of the imperfect state

of dryness in which the cocoa is often sold by the planter, a great

amount of care should be exercised before mixing and packing. Sorting

is not much practised, and some of the beans often become attacked

by mildew before reaching Europe, which depreciates the value

of the whole package. It is partly owing to the disregard of the

precautions of sorting and final drying that the West African cocoa

has earned such a bad name, and if more shippers were to follow the

example set by the one firm that has erected a drying apparatus,

it would do much to improve matters in this direction. Cocoa is

difficult to dry completely in the growing districts by means of

the sun, as the atmosphere in these localities is often so humid

that the beans absorb moisture when removed from the sun’s rays,

and it is for this reason especially that the final drying should

be done by the shippers. Transport to the ports of shipment from

the growing districts will be facilitated by the construction of a

short railway, which it is contemplated making from Accra, and until

this is ready the carriage by head-loads, cask-rolling, and motor

lorries will probably continue. The presence of the “tsetse”

fly throughout the growing districts prevents the possibility of

draught cattle being used.

A system of pooling purchases was agreed upon some years ago by a

number of leading shippers, in accordance with which competition

among themselves was suppressed, and a fixed price was to be given

for all cocoa. This action was doubtless taken in order to prevent

ruinous competition, but had the effect of checking improvement in

the quality, as no encouragement was given to the planter to prepare

the cocoa with greater care. The few shippers who did not join in

this “combine” were enabled to obtain the better qualities at a

very slightly enhanced price. In 1906 the general quality of Gold

Coast cocoa had so deteriorated that the merchants were asked by

the Government for their assistance to improve it. This led to an

inquiry which revealed the state of affairs mentioned above. The

obvious remedy of paying a price according to quality did not find

favour with the combine, who appear to have argued that it would

not profit them to pay a higher price for the small variable lots

of improved produce which might result. It was stated by some of

the local merchants in Accra that Gold Coast cocoa was generally

suitable for sale in certain European markets, where it was adapted

for the manufacture of a cheap form of sweetmeat, and that, if the

quality were improved and the price raised in consequence, damage

would be done to a new and rapidly growing trade. The merchants

ultimately agreed to endeavour to improve the standard of quality,

and it was arranged that all the cocoa brought in to the markets

at Aimensa and Dodowa should be graded, with a view to regulating

the price according to grade. This plan fell through at the last

moment, as a test sample of picked cocoa was said to have been

priced at only 1_s_. 6_d_. per cwt. over ordinary “Accra” in

the European market. The fall in the value of the residue was said

to be uncompensated for by the small increase mentioned.

=Improvement of Quality.=—Inquiries conducted by the Imperial

Institute pointed to the fact that well-prepared Gold Coast cocoa

could obtain high prices in Europe. In 1907 a consignment was sent

to the Imperial Institute for examination and report, and proved to

be of good quality, and when subsequently sold, it obtained a high

price. This established confidence with regard to the possibility

of fine grades being prepared in the country. During this year,

owing to the action of the Fernando Po and San Thomé growers,

in withholding their crop, a greater demand was created for Gold

Coast cocoa, and the advent of large buyers, working outside the

“combine,” forced the local price to a high figure. This did

not assist in the improvement of the quality, as the competition

induced native buying agents to buy the produce in almost any form,

in consequence of which large quantities of imperfectly dried stuff

were obtained. On the market becoming steadier, many of the more

intelligent natives realised the advantage of careful preparation,

to which they are now turning their attention.

Towards this latter result Messrs. Cadbury Bros., Ltd., rendered

great assistance. This firm sent representatives into the country,

who proved to the natives that they were willing to pay an

enhanced price for cocoa prepared in a manner suitable for their

requirements. A fair amount of cocoa was purchased by them, and

demonstrations were made in some places with regard to the proper

mode of fermentation. In addition to this a number of seedlings

of the _Criollo_ variety were given to the Agricultural Department

for experimental work at the Aburi Botanic Station.

The _Forastero-amelonado_ variety, a hardy but commercially inferior

kind, has been mainly employed in plantations, and experiments

have been carried on for some years at Aburi with _Pentagona_,

_Caracas_ and _Cundeamor_ besides _Criollo_ mentioned above. Such

good results were obtained with _Cundeamor_ that, in 1913, keen

competition was aroused among planters to obtain seed. The years

1913 and 1914 are said to have shown an improvement in the quality

of the cocoa produced. The attention of the Agricultural Department

has been given to the general instruction of the natives in improved

methods of cultivation and preparation, both by means of lectures

and demonstrations at the Botanic Stations and by the issue of

pamphlets in English and the Twi language. There was at first an

insufficient staff for instruction to be given except at the Botanic

Stations, and only those growers who lived in the vicinity were able

to obtain benefit from it. After holding several conferences with

chiefs and planters in the cocoa districts it became evident that

the appointment of European Travelling Instructors was necessary, and

following this the Government detailed certain officers for the work;

the object being that they should occupy a large portion of their

time in travelling through the country in order to give personal

instruction to the natives in correct methods of treating cocoa

and other agricultural products. Persons selected by chiefs are now

trained to act as instructors in planting in their own native towns.

The preparation of a large quantity of cocoa of even quality is so

greatly dependent upon the similarity of the treatment and conditions

at a time when the material is undergoing fermentation and drying,

that it is almost imperative that a large quantity should be

prepared at one operation. This is an important consideration

in British West Africa, where native plantations range in size

from a few trees to about five acres in extent, the average

being perhaps about a hundred trees, or, roughly, one-tenth of

an acre. The production of each plantation is at present prepared

independently, and the result of one picking of pods, if all mature,

is often quite inadequate to yield sufficient for fermentation

purposes, it being recognised that a few hundredweights of beans

in their pulp are necessary for the satisfactory accomplishment

of the operation. The same difficulty has presented itself in the

West Indies with regard to the crops picked by owners of small

plantations, and arrangements are usually made by some larger

concern in the neighbourhood to purchase the pods from them. The

establishment of central fermenting and drying houses, controlled

by the shippers themselves, would perhaps get over the difficulty

on the Gold Coast and result in a superior class of cocoa being

produced. The planters would doubtless consent to sell their pods,

instead of performing the laborious work of preparation themselves,

and would probably be able to extend the size of their individual

plantations, which, by reason of their inability to prepare more

cocoa, single-handed, they have been unable, hitherto, to do. The

efforts of the Administration to improve the preparation have been

somewhat handicapped by the system employed by some merchants of

securing the crop for themselves, by money advances, with but little

regard to its preparation, and of pooling the produce.

Cocoa planting has revolutionised the native system of land

titles. Where only annual crops were under consideration, a

short, temporary occupation with subsequent reversion to tribal

ownership seemed an adequate provision, but with the establishment

of permanent cocoa plantations the planter claimed perpetual and

undivided proprietorship.

Further information regarding Gold Coast cocoa will be found in the

_Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, 1907, p. 361; 1912, pp. 240,

556; 1913, p. 154; 1914, p. 387; 1915, pp. 149, 645; 1916, p. 123;

1917, p. 117; 1919, pp. 49, 102; and Johnson’s _Cocoa_, 1912.

=Exports of Cocoa.=—The exports of cocoa from 1900 to 1919 are

as follows:

Year Tons Year Tons Year Tons

1900 536 1907 9,355 1914 52,888

1901 980 1908 12,743 1915 77,278

1902 2,396 1909 20,213 1916 72,162

1903 2,276 1910 22,631 1917 90,964

1904 5,112 1911 39,726 1918 66,342

1905 5,093 1912 38,647 1919 176,155

1906 8,975 1913 50,554

=RUBBER.= =Indigenous Species.=—The most important source of rubber

in the Gold Coast and Ashanti is the indigenous tree locally called

“Ofruntum”; a comparatively small amount is also derived from

some of the vines belonging to the same Natural Order, and from

one or more of the wild trees of the Ficus Order.

Reports on the quality and commercial value of some of the principal

kinds of rubber obtained in the Gold Coast are published in the

_Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, vol. v. (1907), p. 248.

=Botanical Position of the “Ofruntum” Tree.=—The

“Ofruntum,” or African rubber, is botanically placed in the

Natural Order _APOCYNACEÆ_, under the specific name of _Funtumia

elastica_, Stapf. Until recently it was referred to as _Kicksia

africana_, Benth. and others (a genus which is not known to occur

in West Africa), and it was also confused with a very nearly allied

species, occurring in the same localities, and now known as _Funtumia

africana_, Stapf. Owing to the great similarity which these species

of Funtumia bear to one another, it is important that the differences

between them should be recognised, _F. africana_ not furnishing any

but very inferior rubber. The most reliable method of testing the

species which produces rubber, is by rubbing a small quantity of

latex between the finger and thumb, when small particles of rubber

should be quickly formed, the latex of _F. africana_ becoming

only a sticky mass under the operation. The leaf of _F. elastica_

can usually be recognised by the presence of a small pit at the

origin of each secondary nerve or vein on the under-surface,

which feature is not characteristic of the leaf of _F. africana_,

although recently individual trees have been found exhibiting this

peculiarity. The flower bud of _F. elastica_ is typically much

shorter than that of _F. africana_, and the double seed pod of the

former species is shorter and more blunt than that of the latter.

=Distribution of _F. elastica_.=—The Funtumia rubber tree occurs in

a wild state in the forests throughout the Gold Coast and Ashanti,

although it has been nearly exterminated in some parts. It appears

to be most plentiful in the dense forest regions of Northern Ashanti.

=Native Methods for Preparing.=—Funtumia rubber is exported

under the names of “Ashanti lump” and “Niggers,” which

consist of much adulterated, evil-smelling substances, for which

a low price is procurable in comparison with that paid for pure

rubber. In certain years the demand for this has been maintained,

but the adequate supplies of good rubber from elsewhere, and the

rapid expansion of the cocoa industry, have caused a diminution

in the export of native-made rubber, which has been replaced to a

small extent by plantation rubber.

The wild trees grow from 50 to 100 feet in height, and often

have a girth of three feet at four feet from the base; the trunk

being commonly without branches for a considerable height. The

native ascends the trunk by means of a sling passed round it,

to one end of which is a loop which fits over his right thigh

and to the other a stirrup in which he keeps his left foot. By

moving the rope up the tree the ascent is quickly accomplished,

and when stationary, both hands are left free. The climber carries

a gouge, or semi-cylindrically-faced chisel, with which he cuts

vertical as well as transverse oblique grooves, forming a rough

“herring-bone” pattern, which may be continued for the whole

length of the trunk, and even extend on to the main branches. To

make the cuts the tool is either used in one hand or is held in

the left and driven by blows on the end of the handle, given with

the palm of the right hand. The flow of latex commences at once,

and is directed down the vertical channel into a calabash placed

at the base of the tree, into which the latex is guided by a lip of

clay or a chip of wood. The illustration shows a native in Ashanti

tapping a tree (Fig. 18). The quantity of latex procured at the

one tapping varies; an exceptionally large amount being about two

quarts from a large tree. The tree is not tapped again for several

months and until the wounds have healed. On the second tapping

the same form of cuts is made upon the opposite side of the tree,

and the transverse channels often intersect those made previously;

besides this, owing to the want of regulation in the depth of the

cuts, the inner or cambium layer of the bark may be so damaged that

the intersecting cuts may ring the tree and cause death. Few trees

probably survive the third or fourth tapping.

[Illustration: “ODUM” TREES _CHLOROPHORA EXCELSA_.

Fig. 19, p. 72.]

[Illustration: PARA RUBBER TREE (_HEVEA BRASILIENSIS_), TAPPED

AT ABURI.

Fig. 20, p. 66.]

[Illustration: RUBBER TREE TAPPED, HERRING-BONE SYSTEM IMPERFECT,

ABURI.

Fig. 21, p. 61.]

If the herring-bone cuts were made carefully upon the lower part of

the trunk, and attention given to their depth and direction, the tree

might be preserved for a longer period. An illustration given shows

the incorrect mode of tapping, where the transverse cuts are opposite

instead of alternate (Fig. 21). Experiments seem to show that there

is not the same “wound response” in the case of Funtumia trees

as is found in that of the “Para” tree (_Hevea brasiliensis_);

the paring of the wounds some days after tapping yielding no flow

of latex similar to that procured in the first instance. On cutting

the bark area between the transverse channels, the latex cells

appeared to be empty and to indicate that a large area is drained

on the first tapping. Further investigation is necessary in order

to compare the results obtained from this tree with those of _Hevea_.

The latex of Funtumia will remain in an uncoagulated state for

a longer time than that of Hevea, but it may become damaged

by fermentation if a quantity is kept in bulk for a lengthened

period. The native does not usually produce a pure Funtumia rubber,

but mixes with the latex the latices of several other plants, among

which may be named “Odum” (_Chlorophora excelsa_), “Osese”

(_Funtumia africana_), “Ofo,” “Okre,” “Sindru”

(_Conopharyngia crassa_ and _Alstonia sp._). Having mixed some of

these latices with that of the Funtumia, the whole is heated and

poured into a hole in the ground, which has been prepared to serve

as a mould. Coagulation and decomposition proceed together at a slow

rate, and finally produce a rubber containing a number of holes which

serve as receptacles for the liquefied decomposed constituents. The

rubber mass is black outwardly, but whitish within, and is more or

less sticky. It is said that the latex of _Landolphia owariensis_,

the vine from which “Krepi ball” rubber is made, is sometimes

mixed with the rest to hasten coagulation.

=Improved Methods.=—In 1906 attention was drawn to the use of a

plant called “Niama” in the Ivory Coast, by which Funtumia rubber

latex was coagulated by adding a hot decoction of the leaves. This

plant was subsequently found to be _Bauhinia reticulata_, which bears

the name of “Otakataka” in the Gold Coast. Experiments with this

afforded excellent results. An examination of the plant made at the

Imperial Institute proved that the tannin contained in the leaves was

responsible for the coagulation of the latex, and that the infusion

of any plant containing tannin is equally effective. The obstacle

to the general use of _B. reticulata_ for coagulation, is that the

plant does not occur in the same localities as the wild Funtumia

tree. Doubtless other tannin-yielding plants may be found in the

rubber forests which would answer the purpose equally well, among

them the pods of _Acacia arabica_. A simple method of coagulation,

which was demonstrated to the chiefs and rubber collectors in 1908,

is that of diluting the latex with about four or more times the

volume of water, straining and boiling it, when the rubber quickly

separates and can be collected from the surface of the water by

means of a stick and immediately pressed into a rough biscuit.

The rubber made in the manner mentioned above has been valued

at more than twice the price obtained for the adulterated stuff,

but it appears difficult to persuade the local merchants to offer

a higher price for it, and it therefore suits the rubber collector

better to make the inferior quality. So long as this state of things

continues, it is to be feared that instruction in the improvement

of quality will not lead to the adoption of better methods.

In 1908 a Commission of Enquiry was appointed and made certain

recommendations for legislation for the protection of the

industry. Articles on Gold Coast rubber will be found in the

_Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, vols. viii. (1910), x. (1912),

xi. (1913), xii. (1914), xii. (1915) and xv. (1917).

=Plantations.=—Large numbers of Funtumia seedlings have been grown

at and distributed from the Government Botanic Gardens at Aburi,

Tarkwa, and Kumassi, and some of the Ashanti kings and chiefs, who

have expressed a wish to attempt to renovate their rubber forests,

have obtained assistance from the officers of the Agricultural

Department, who have conducted planting operations in the forests

in the presence of those interested. Plantations under European

management and with European capital are in progress in the vicinity

of Axim and Sekondi. Most of the recently made plantations are said

to consist more of Para than of Funtumia rubber trees, although in

1913 one of these in the Dunkwa district of Ashanti was reported to

contain 20,000 trees of the latter kind. The tree appears to thrive

well when planted closely, and straight trunks are soon formed.

=Insect Pest.=—At Aburi and elsewhere the Funtumia tree is found

to be attacked by the larva of a moth of the family _Pyralidæ_,

identified as _Glyphodes ocellata_, Hampson, which denudes it of

leaves. No severe damage seems to be done by this pest, which has

only been observed in plantations, and was destroyed at Aburi by

repeated applications of lime and ashes.

=Fungoid Pest.=—A sooty fungoid growth is sometimes seen upon the

leaves, similar to that occurring on orange trees in the country,

and probably belongs to the genus _Meliola_. It is destroyed by

the application of sprays of Bordeaux mixture.

=Rubber Machinery.=—A fully equipped installation of rubber-washing

and crêpeing machinery was exhibited at the Kumassi Agricultural

Exhibition of 1908, and was subsequently taken over by one of the

leading mercantile firms at that place, where the local rubber

is now washed, crêped, and pressed before export. It might prove

advantageous to come to an arrangement with the rubber collectors

to bring the latex to Kumassi, where, under proper supervision,

it could be made into rubber of high quality. As the latex will

remain for a considerable time without alteration, it should not be

difficult to bring it in from places several days’ journey distant.

=Vine Rubber.=—Several species of vines, belonging to the Natural

Order _APOCYNACEÆ_, produce rubber in Africa, but the only one of

commercial importance occurring in the Gold Coast is _Landolphia

owariensis_, Pal. Beauv., from which “Krepi” or “White ball”

is obtained. Unless the plant is observed during the flowering

as well as the fruiting season, it is difficult to distinguish it

from some nearly allied, but useless, species of the same genus,

which are found commonly in the same localities.

The vine is found throughout the forest region of the Gold Coast

and Ashanti, climbing over and interlacing the main branches of

large forest trees; but an apparently terrestrial form of the same

species has recently been discovered in the ultra-forest region,

where the stunted habit in which it grows is probably occasioned

by the annual grass fires.

Under different atmospheric conditions the latex of _L. owariensis_

behaves differently. In the drier regions it coagulates upon the

wound almost immediately upon exposure to the air, whereas in other

and moister places it runs from the cut in such a manner as to allow

it to be collected in a vessel. The acid juices of some of the local

wild fruits are added to hasten coagulation, when this is necessary,

or the collector is said to smear the fresh latex upon his naked

body, until enough has been coagulated to form a small ball, which

serves as a nucleus for winding on the strings of fresh latex as

the new cuts are made. There is a quantity of “scrap rubber”

formed on the wedge-shaped cuts which it is usual to make, and this

is added to the ball, which attains a diameter of three or four

inches when complete. The crushing of the root and stem for the

manufacture of so-called “root-rubber” does not appear to be

practised in this country, although common elsewhere in West Africa.

On account of the colour and form of this rubber, the name of

“White ball” is usually applied to it, although, from the fact

that the Krepi tribes, living on the east bank of the Volta river,

produce a large quantity of it, the name of “Krepi ball” is

frequently given.

White ball rubber is seldom adulterated by the addition of other

latices, as these would retard coagulation and interfere with the

preparation of it in the manner mentioned. For this reason the

rubber sold under this name usually obtains a higher price than

other rubber.

_Landolphia owariensis_ presents many disadvantages for cultivation

in plantations, and the yield is small in proportion to the space

which the plant occupies. Several species of this and allied genera

are being grown experimentally at the Aburi Botanic Gardens.

“Flake rubber” is a name given to a very inferior quality of

rubber which is produced upon a small scale in many parts of West

Africa, but it has not been determined from which species of vine

that exported from the Gold Coast is obtained. In Northern Nigeria

_Carpodinus hirsutus_, Hua, is said to be the source of the exported

rubber of this name.

=Fig Rubber.=—One or more species of wild fig trees (_Ficus

sp._) are tapped for the production of what is locally termed

“Memeluku” rubber, and it is generally supposed that _F. Vogelii_

is that mostly employed. The trees attain a large size, and the

rubber is composed of the scrap, collected from a large number of

small cuts made on the trunk and branches. This scrap rubber is

pressed together into thick biscuits. The rubber has usually little

resiliency and breaks easily; it is, in consequence, of small value.

=Introduced Species.=—Experiments have been carried on for several

years with “Para” rubber (_Hevea brasiliensis_), “Ceara”

(_Manihot Glaziovii_), and _Castilloa elastica_, all indigenous

to South America. The last-named has been so badly attacked in

the Botanic Stations by boring beetle larvæ that it has shown

no promise of success. Ceara grows well, but for some reason

the production of latex from it is uncertain, and this has caused

little value to be attached to it in the Gold Coast, although in the

drier region of Togoland this species is being planted. Para rubber

seems to show much better results, although, up to the present, no

extensive experiments to ascertain the yield of rubber have been

made. Tapping two trees growing at Aburi, Mr. Johnson obtained a

larger quantity of latex than from _Funtumia elastica_ under the

same conditions; and following this an extensive area was planted

with Hevea trees at the Tarkwa Botanic Gardens, where the experiment

appears to be proving successful. Views are given of a tree at Aburi

(Fig. 20). Large plantations of Hevea are being made near Tarkwa,

Axim and Sekondi as well as in the Kwahu district, where the tree

seems to thrive remarkably well. A few of these plantations made

returns in 1913 showing promise of success. At one, on the Offin

river, there were said to be 90,000 Para trees of different ages,

20,000 Funtumia and 6,000 coffee (_C. robusta_). At another the

yield of rubber from a number of mature trees gave an average of

1·08 lb. of dry rubber per tree in eight months’ tapping, and a

third had 22,000 Para trees of which about 8,450 had been tapped and

yielded 10,565 lbs. of rubber, or 1¼ lb. per tree tapped. Labour

was reported plentiful and good. There are said to be many more

rubber plantations in the country from which returns had not been

received. Up to 1913 the Agricultural Department had distributed

250,000 Para seedlings and 1,500,000 seeds.

Commenting on the fluctuation in the exported amounts of rubber,

His Excellency the Governor (Sir Hugh Clifford), in his message

to the Legislative Council in October 1918, explained the

recrudescence during 1916 and 1917 as due to the development of

rubber plantations under European control. It remains to be seen

whether the Gold Coast will be able to successfully compete in

this work with the Far East. Articles on Para rubber from the Gold

Coast are to be found in the _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_,

vol. x. (1912), vol. xi. (1913), vol. xii. (1914), vol. xv. (1917)

and vol. xvii. (1919).

=PALM OIL AND KERNELS.=—Records are available showing that the

export of palm oil from West Africa has continued for over one

hundred years, but the quantity shipped from the Gold Coast during

the last fifteen years shows a rapid decrease from the average of

the twenty years previous.

The tree which yields the oil of commerce is known as _Elæis

guineensis_, Jacq., and is placed in the Tribe _COCOINEÆ_ of the

Natural Order _PALMÆ_, together with the genus _Cocos_, to which

the Coconut palm belongs. (Cf. _Bull. Imp. Inst._, 1909, p. 357;

1920, p. 209.)

=Habits of the Oil Palm.=—The oil palm occurs most plentifully

in the moist regions near the coast, although it will not thrive

on land which is perpetually marshy. The palm becomes scarcer when

the dense forests of Ashanti are reached, but it is not entirely

absent until the ultra-forest tract commences.

The tree often bears fruit when it has only attained the height of

ten feet, which it is said to do about the seventh year, but the

yield is supposed to increase annually until the tree is thirty

or more years old, often continuing for a much longer time. It

is not possible to give any positive assurance on this point,

as observations have not been recorded for any length of time.

Although the oil is principally obtained from wild trees, one

extensive plantation in the Krobo Hills has been successfully

carried on for many years by the chief of Odumassi. His trees are

planted at regular intervals and care is given to their upkeep and

cleanliness. Concessions have recently been granted to Europeans for

planting as well as exploiting the wild palms, and experimental work

in the mechanical extraction of pericarp and kernel oil have given

some promise. Two British companies that have erected extraction

plants in the Western Province have laid tram-lines designed to

keep them constantly supplied with the palm fruit.

Trees that have become old and practically barren are usually tapped

for the extraction of “palm wine,” being frequently cut down for

the purpose. In some parts of the country fruitful trees are tapped

while standing, and, as this necessitates the base of the terminal

shoot being cut into, the tree is generally killed in consequence.

Two crops of fruiting heads are yielded by a tree in full bearing

each year, but the autumn crop is heavier than the earlier one,

and the aggregate weight of fruit yielded by a tree in one year is

generally estimated at 40 lbs.

The fruiting heads consist of large bunches which hang from near

the crown of the tree, and each fruit is partly enveloped in a

husk-like covering. When removed from this it is found to be smooth,

somewhat conical or irregularly compressed, tapering towards an

abrupt point. The colour when fresh varies from orange-red to

nearly white, with a more or less broad black apex. In section

it appears to be composed of a thick fibrous layer over a hard,

somewhat rounded stone, which contains a whitish kernel. It is

from the fibrous portion, which is included in what is botanically

termed the pericarp, that the oil is obtained, but the kernel also

contains another valuable oil, for the extraction of which it is

shipped to Europe to a large extent.

=Preparation of Palm Oil.=—When the ripe head has been cut from

the tree, it is left upon the ground for a few days in order that a

shrinkage in the fruits may occur, which renders them more easily

dislodged from their husk-lined places. The fruit also becomes

slightly dull in colour. The heads bearing the fruit are often

beaten to remove the latter, or they are individually broken out by

hand. In order to facilitate the extraction of the fruit kernels, the

fruits are usually buried in the ground in a pit lined with plantain

leaves. Here they remain for from three weeks to a month, during

which time decomposition is set up. The subsequent quality of the oil

is dependent upon the degree to which this is allowed to proceed,

rancid and thick oils resulting when it has been overdone. On the

other hand, the higher the state of decomposition the greater is

the facility for separating the fibrous pulp from the stones. On

removing the fruits from the ground they are placed in an open vat

(Fig. 15) and pounded by a number of people using long poles, after

which they are covered up for several hours in order that the oil

may drain into the small well shown at the side. Several consecutive

poundings are applied, until the fibrous pulp is quite separated and

most of the oil has drained out, after which the stones are combed

out with the fingers, and the pulp is placed in a bag and pressed on

a horizontal bar until the oil flows from it into a pit below. The

oils from these extractions are boiled and cleared, and the residual

pulp is often placed in the boiling pot so as to extract as much oil

as possible. This is the method employed at the Krobo Plantations,

but the operation varies slightly in different districts.

=Kernel Oil=—The value of the kernel for the extraction of oil

was recognised at a much later date than the pericarp, although,

in a few places in the Gold Coast, oil had probably been expressed

from kernels for local consumption for some time. Among the Krobos

the medicine-men prevented the trade in kernels from becoming

established for several years, but they were finally overruled by

the chiefs. A large and increasing trade in kernels continued for

a number of years, but this has fallen off to a small extent more

recently. The shell of the variety of kernel which appears to be

the most common in this country is usually thick, and the laborious

work of cracking each stone individually between two stones, in

such a manner that the kernel is extracted in an unbroken state,

prevents a larger quantity being prepared for sale, and results in

much waste. Nut-cracking machines have been brought into the country,

and are said to prove successful to some extent, but the native is

not in a position to use machinery, and most of the material shipped

is extracted in the primitive method mentioned. Cf. _Bulletin of

the Imperial Institute_, vols. vii., viii. and xv. (1909-17). Before

the cracking can be accomplished without breaking the interior, the

kernel requires to be exposed to the sun and thoroughly dried. Kernel

oil prepared in a native way is of two kinds, one which expressed

without heat being white, whilst that made from the roasted kernels

is dark brown. Both are made by pounding and grinding the kernel

into fine meal, the extraction of the one being effected by cold

and the other by boiling water.

In 1916 a Special Committee was appointed to consider the position

of the palm-kernel trade, chiefly with reference to the protection

of the newly-established British oil-crushing industry against

German competition; and it was considered advisable to recommend

the imposition of a differential export duty of £2 per ton on all

palm kernels from British West African ports. The Colonies concerned

imposed the duty at the rate mentioned and in some instances have

since supplemented it by a direct revenue-producing tax.

=Commercial Uses.=—The chief commercial uses of the oils are for

the manufacture of soap, candles, and glycerine, some qualities of

palm oil being made use of in the manufacture of tin plates. With

improved methods the supply of palm oil and kernels could be

largely increased.

=Varieties of Oil Palms.=—In 1907 information was obtained from the

Imperial Institute that a variety of oil palm was being propagated in

the Kameruns the fruit of which contained a thin-shelled kernel and

was called “Lisombe.” Further investigation in the British West

African countries led to the discovery that a number of well-marked

varieties of _Elæis guineensis_ were distinguished by the natives,

and were called by distinct names. Among these one possessed

a thin-shelled kernel, and, together with about eight others,

has been under investigation at the Imperial Institute, with the

object of ascertaining their respective merits. The thin-shelled

“Lisombe” and the “Gamopale” varieties from the Kameruns

have recently been tried experimentally in the Gold Coast, and

the advantages they possess over the other kinds have been clearly

established. From the descriptions given below of the more important

varieties found on the Gold Coast, it will be seen that particulars

of the comparative weight of the fruit crop and the quality of

the oil yielded are required to determine the relative values. In

addition the proportions of fruit- and kernel-oil of each as well

as the facilities for extracting the kernel must be considered.

A reference is given below to six varieties, which have been fully

examined at the Imperial Institute. The native names are given, and

the percentages have been calculated for comparison, from the more

elaborate figures which have been published (_Bulletin Imperial

Institute_, vol. vii. [1909], p. 366; cf. also vol. xi. [1913],

p. 208).

The characteristic variations of each variety are as follows:—

1. “Abe-pa.” Fruit large, orange-red, with or without black tip,

pericarp thin, nut large with thick shell. This is the commonest

form in the country, and is probably identical with the variety

found in Sierra Leone.

2. “Abe-dam.” Fruit of irregular shape, fairly large, bright

red, pericarp slightly thicker than the last, nut large with a

thick shell. This is not uncommon.

3. “Abe-tuntum.” Fruit moderately large, dark purplish-black,

pericarp very thin, and nut with thick shell. Uncommon.

4. “Abe-bobe.” Fruit usually rather small, red and black,

pericarp thick and soft, nut with a thin kernel (easily broken in

the teeth). Trees rather scarce. This is probably identical with

the “Lisombe” variety from the Kameruns.

5. “Intermediate form between 2 and 4.” Similar to the last

but with a thicker shell to the nut.

6. “Seedless kind.” A very rare kind, nearly corresponding with

the “Difumbe” variety from Angola, which, however, possesses

a kernel but no shell.

The following are the percentages based on the total weight of the

fruit, in each case taken as 100:—

Name Pulp Contg. Fibre Nut Contg. Shell

oil etc. Kernel

1. “Abe-pa” 30 20·13 9·87 70 19·6 50·4

2. “Abe-dam” 37·5 24·03 13·14 62·5 16·87 45·63

3. “Abe-tuntum” 32·5 14·33 18·17 67·5 17·55 49·95

4. “Abe-bobe” 63 36·02 26·98 37 19·98 17·02

5. “Interm. 2 and 4” 51 30·34 20·66 49 20·58 28·42

6. “Seedless” 100 76·00 24·00 rarely a trace

Nos. 4 and 5 seem to be most valuable from a commercial standpoint,

although at present Nos. 1 and 2 are the most commonly used, owing

to the comparative scarcity of the first two mentioned. No. 6

is chiefly interesting from a botanical aspect, and is probably

incapable of reproduction. The sacred palm known in the Gold Coast

as “Abe-ohene,” and identical with “Ope-Ifa” of Southern

Nigeria, belongs to a new species called _E. Thompsonii_, Chev.,

but the fruits are not employed for the extraction of oil.

=OTHER OIL SEEDS.=—Experiments were conducted at the Imperial

Institute in 1908 with the kernels of the “Crabnut” (_Carapa

procera_, D.C.). The kernels were found to contain nearly 50 per

cent. of oil, which was reported to be worth about £20 10_s_. per

ton, but the residual cake could not be used for feeding purposes,

owing to the presence in it of a bitter constituent, and, on account

of the rather low manurial value, was estimated as worth only £2 per

ton (_Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, vol. vi., 1908, p. 362).

The oil seemed to be well suited for soap-making, but would not be

suitable for lubricating or for edible purposes. The nut does not

occur in such profusion as to warrant profitable exportation from

localities where the oil palm is found.

=TIMBER.= =Mahogany.=—The most valuable and commonly exported

timber is that known in the European and American markets as

“African Mahogany.” The value of that shipped from the Gold

Coast in 1913 was estimated at £366,000.

Several red woods are included under the name of Mahogany, but

the best quality is said to be obtained from _Khaya senegalensis_,

a large tree of the Natural Order _MELIACEÆ_. This tree is known

by the native (Fanti) name of “Dubini.” In the same language

the names “Okumankra” and “Akwabohori” are applied to two

trees which are said to be exported as Mahogany, but of these the

identity has not yet been determined.

=Other Timber-trees.=—The “Odum” tree (_Chlorophora excelsa_)

produces a hard and useful wood, which is much used in the forest

region, but is not often shipped (Fig. 19). In the dry country of

the Northern Territories _Pseudocedrela Kotschyi_ may be found of

value as a red wood for decorative purposes.

Among the other trees which show evidence of yielding hard and

useful woods are “Ahedua” (_Cyanothyrsus sp._), “Opapeh”

(_Afzelia africana_), and “Bako” (_Mimusops sp._). Information

about the working-quality and suitability for export of these and

other Gold Coast timbers is given in the _Bulletin of the Imperial

Institute_, vol. viii., 1910. p. 232.

The largest, and consequently the most valuable, trees belonging to

the different species mentioned, are found in the western part of the

Gold Coast and Ashanti, and most of the mahogany logs are shipped

from Sekondi, Axim, and other places farther to the westward. The

Pra and Ankobra rivers are utilised to float down the squared logs,

which are then moored at the river mouths, to await shipment. The

export of logs is only limited by the facilities with which they

can be brought to a river or the railway, and large, valuable

trees are plentiful in many of the forests, although they would be

unprofitable to fell and trim in some cases, owing to their remote

situations and the difficulties connected with conveyance.

=KOLA.=—Kola-nut is the name usually applied to the fruit of a tree

belonging to the Natural Order _STERCULIACEÆ_, and the wild as well

as the cultivated forms found in the Gold Coast and Ashanti are,

probably, all referable to the species _Kola acuminata_, R. The

fruits or nuts are borne in large pods, each of which contains a

variable number. The nuts themselves are irregular in form, and

have an inconstant number of cotyledons, or seed divisions, varying

from two to five. Some confusion seems to have been caused owing to

this variation, as well as on account of the colour and shape of the

nuts. In some trees they are red, in others white, and others again

pink, and they may be elongate or nearly round. These, however,

are not reliable as distinguishing characters, since nuts of the

three colours have been found on the same tree, and even in the same

pod. Analyses and commercial valuations of several varieties of kola

nuts from the Gold Coast are published in _Selected Reports from the

Imperial Institute_, Part III., “Foodstuffs” (Colonial Reports,

Misc., Cd. 5137, 1910), pp. 259-61; _vide_ also _Bull. Imp. Inst._,

vols. x. (1912) and xvii. (1919).

In the forests to the north of Kumassi large wild kola trees are

found, and the nuts are collected by the natives inhabiting the

villages in the vicinity, where they are sold at from 6_d_. to

9_d_. a hundred. In other places the trees are planted, commonly

on the outskirts of villages, especially in Akim and Kwahu.

Kola nuts are used in tropical Africa in the same manner as betel

nuts are in Asia. Their taste is somewhat bitter, and the mastication

of fresh nuts seems to increase the flow of saliva. Chewing kola

nuts is resorted to by the natives in order to allay thirst, or

even hunger, and for this reason they are in great demand among

the inhabitants of the Sudan, to which country they are largely

exported, being carried by men and donkeys in caravans, which

travel from the forest limits of Ashanti through the Northern

Territories. The donkeys, which are chiefly used to transport the

nuts, do not generally enter the forests, but the kola nuts are

packed in elongated head-loads, in bamboo or palm-stalk frames,

in which form they are carried to the place where the donkeys have

been left. The caravans bring shea-butter, guinea corn, cattle,

and skins, which they exchange for kola.

The weight of nuts exported from the Gold Coast is about 50 per

cent. above that of Sierra Leone, but, in value, the latter are worth

from three to five times as much per ton. The fresh nuts are shipped

to Lagos and are transported far into the interior by Haussa traders.

=COTTON.=—No record is available to show when the tribes of the

forest country commenced to cultivate and use cotton for local

requirements. It has been stated that the people of the kingdoms

of the Western Sudan were acquainted with the uses of the fibre,

and have cultivated the plant, from a remote period, and it is

probable that contact with these people, during their expeditions

against the tribes to their south, led to the adoption by the

latter of cotton-growing upon the small scale in which it still

remains at present. Cruickshank, writing of the Fantis in 1853,

says: “They spin the thread from the cotton which grows in

the country, but they more commonly make use of the thread out

of English cloths, which they pick to pieces.” In speaking of

the Appolonians, a tribe inhabiting the coast region near Axim,

Cruickshank remarks that they “make fine grass cloths, which are

strong and durable.” In Ashanti, until recently, a cloth was

commonly made from the inner bark of a tree, generally supposed

to be _Antiaris toxicaria_ var. _africana_, which was produced by

the removal of the woody portions by beating, leaving a pliable

material composed of the interlacing fibres. These instances are

cited to show that the value of cotton for cultivation has not been

recognised by some of the large and dominant tribes in comparatively

recent times. Since cotton clothing has begun to be appreciated,

the necessity of growing the plant and weaving has been somewhat

checked by the large imports of finished material from Europe.

Throughout the forest region occasional plants of cotton may be

seen growing near villages, but the systematic cultivation of the

plant is only met with on the outer northern boundary of the dense

forest and in the Krepi country to the east of the Volta river. The

inhabitants of the northern forest boundary are a mixed people,

many of whom have probably been driven from the countries farther

north, where cotton is a recognised field crop, whence they have

introduced the cultivation. The adoption of cotton-growing by the

Krepi tribes may be due to similar reasons, although there appears

to be no evidence in support of this conjecture.

In the last-named places the seed is sown in rows on the tops of

ridges, on the sides of which maize plants may be also grown, but

it is not uncommon to find cotton plants growing alone. This is

especially the case on the northern limits of Ashanti. The large

varieties grown in these places are often left in the ground for

a second season and produce two crops, the last of which is said

to be inferior. No system of rotation has been observed, although

it is probable that the cotton is planted during the early years

of cultivation immediately following the yam crop, which is the

practice in some other West African countries.

Three distinct forms or varieties of cotton are cultivated in the

forest region. The first variety is usually referred to as “Green

seed,” and is the commonest one grown. The lint is long-stapled

and nearly white, but experiments seem to show that this form does

not yield heavily. The second form is recognised by the seed being

dark brown or black, without any fuzz, except a small brown tuft at

the apex, which has a sharp spike. The lint of this kind is creamy

white, and the plant is known as “Volta.” The third form differs

in having the dark brown seeds adjoining one another, and forming a

conical mass, from which it is difficult to separate the individual

seeds. At the point of connection each seed bears a small light brown

patch. This form is generally known to the officers at the British

Cotton Growing Association plantation as “Kidney.” All these

varieties are cultivated throughout the forest country, and extend

to some distance beyond; being replaced in the drier parts of the

Northern Territories by a small plant with a white woolly seed. No

cotton in a wild state has been seen in the country, and isolated

plants, found springing up in open places surrounded by forest,

are generally easily traceable to formerly existing cultivation.

The “Green seed,” “Volta,” and “Kidney” cottons,

which are grown in the Gold Coast, are different in habit from

the American and Indian plants, although in form they are similar

to Sea Island and Egyptian, having, perhaps, arisen from the same

original stock. The forms mentioned as cultivated locally attain

the height of from seven to ten feet in nine months from the time

of planting, and the stem near the base is often thicker than a

man’s wrist. The cotton bolls continue to open for three months

or more, and often as many as two hundred bolls are produced on a

single plant in one season. If left for a second year the bolls are

generally diminished in size. The soil which appears most favourable

for growth is a sandy loam containing much humus.

From January to April the bolls ripen continuously, and the cotton

is placed in the sun as soon as it is picked, in order that the

“Seed bugs” may be driven out. In native markets small quantities

are usually exposed for sale in an unginned form throughout the

harvesting season. No gin seems to be in use in the Gold Coast for

native work, and the lint is pulled off the seeds by hand when a

supply is required for spinning.

The greatest damage is done by “Seed bugs” of three

species—_Oxycarenus hyalinipennis_, _O. Dudgeoni_, and

_O. gossipinus_—that infest the lint as soon as the bolls open,

and undergo their complete and rapid metamorphoses during the period

between the opening and the throwing out of the cotton, feeding

meanwhile upon the juices which they suck from the seeds. The injury

caused by the puncturing of the seed often renders it unfertile. A

“cotton stainer” is also common on the plants, and damages the

unopened bolls by puncturing, and the lint by a yellowish stain

which it makes. This insect is known as _Dysdercus nigrofasciatus_,

and it is at least four times as large as any of the species of

_Oxycarenus_, on which it may possibly feed to some extent.

An attempt was evidently made, in the middle of the last century,

to establish the cultivation of cotton for export, and Cruickshank

mentions that an association had taken the matter up, and that

several of the native chiefs were beginning to give it their

attention about that time. Very little success seems to have attended

these efforts.

About 1903 the Government of the Gold Coast commenced the plantation

of an area in the Krepi country, at a place called Anum, and, under

the control of the Agricultural Department, this was transferred

to a better site soon afterwards, at a place named Labolabo on

the east bank of the Volta river. In addition to the extension of

about two hundred acres of land, which were planted with native and

American varieties of cotton, encouragement was given to the natives

in the vicinity to grow more, on the understanding that their crops

would be purchased from them at one penny per pound. Unfortunately

no arrangements had been made to store or gin a large quantity of

seed cotton, and the entire native crop could not be taken over when

brought in. This seems to have induced the native growers to convey

most of their cotton into Togoland, where they were able to dispose

of it at a fair price. Arrangements had to be made with a local

firm possessing a ginning machine, which was erected about sixty

miles lower down the Volta river, by which, on payment of a certain

rate, the seed cotton grown on the Labolabo plantation was ginned

and prepared for shipment. It was soon recognised that the expense

of transport of the seed cotton for this distance, and the price

charged for ginning, prevented the production of cotton for export

except at a heavy financial loss. The co-operation of the British

Cotton Growing Association was asked for, in order to supply gins

at Labolabo, and in 1906 three hand gins were sent from the Gold

Coast Exhibition, which had just been held. The machines were much

damaged in transit, and it was some time before the large stock

of seed cotton, which had accumulated, could be worked off. Soon

after this the Labolabo plantation was transferred entirely to the

British Cotton Growing Association, and an annual grant was made by

the Government to assist in the working. In 1907 a large steam-power

ginnery was put up, and the native farmers again began to bring in

their seed cotton for sale, but still a considerable quantity was

reported to be diverted to Togoland, where the price offered was

a fraction higher than that paid by the Association.

The cotton bales are transported from the ginnery by means of native

canoes as far as Amedika, which is the highest point on the Volta

to which small steamers can ascend, but great risk is entailed in

descending the rapids between Labolabo and this place. The cost

of carriage by native canoe is arranged at twenty shillings a ton,

and the bales are pressed into a suitable form for conveyance.

=American and other Exotic Cottons at Labolabo.=—A large number

of different kinds of American cottons have been tried at Labolabo,

but most of them have proved unsuccessful. Those which yielded a

good crop for the first year have generally been found to produce

seed, which, owing to the greater susceptibility of the plants to the

attacks of insects, refused to germinate in the following year. Some

of the lint produced was, apparently, of excellent quality and sold

well, but the necessity for the renewal of seed each year formed a

serious obstacle to the establishment of a new variety. The plants

from American seed are not so hardy as those from native seed, and

the necessity for greater care in cultivation renders them unsuitable

for use by the natives. Sea Island and various Egyptian cottons

have not proved successful. See _British Cotton Cultivation_, by

Professor Dunstan (“Colonial Reports,” Miscellaneous, Cd. 3997,

1908, pp. 28-30), and the _Bulletins of the Imperial Institute_,

vols. vii., x., xi., xiii., xiv. (1909-16).

=Attempts at Hybridisation.=—In the early days of the plantation

the Agricultural Department made several experiments with a

view to the establishment of a cross between the native and the

American plants, but the subsequent changes in the management of

the plantation resulted in the disappearance of most of these;

subsequently several others were attempted in 1906 and 1907 by

Mr. Fisher.

In all cases plants of the “Green seed” or the “Volta”

native forms were made use of as female parents, and the descendant

plants partook of the characters of the native forms in every way

for the first generation, but in later generations seem to have

produced a number of various types, from which it is now necessary

to make a careful selection. The quantity of lint yielded by the

first generation of plants, from the experiments made by Mr. Fisher

in 1906, is said to have reached a higher figure, per acre, than

that of any other form grown on the plantation, and the quality

was satisfactory; but that of the second generation appeared to be

unequal in type, and could scarcely be compared for quantity owing

to the unfavourable season. The American plants used for pollination

in the 1906 crosses were those which have given the best results

among the exotic forms planted, and are called “Black Rattler”

and “Richmond.” Of the four crosses attempted in that year,

that of “Black Rattler” × “Volta” was said to have proved

the most successful in point of yield.

Small plots of native and American cottons have been planted at

Kumassi, and experimental plants at Aburi, but the conditions have

not been so favourable at these places as at Labolabo. At Obuassi,

in Ashanti, an attempt was also made, but the soil seemed too stiff

and the plants were not healthy. Land suitable for native cotton

farms seems to be that on the west bank of the Volta river, north

of the Labolabo plantation.

=Valuations of Samples examined at the Imperial Institute.=—The

following selection of specimens of Gold Coast cottons examined and

reported on at different times by the Imperial Institute will give

some indication of the relative values:—

Standard

at time of

Place Variety Staple Value valuation

“Middl. Amer.”

Labolabo Volta clean-seed 0·8-1·4 5-5½_d_. 5·05_d_.

„ Green-seed 1-1·4 5_d_. 5·05_d_.

„ Black Volta, small woolly 1-1·4 5½-6_d_. 6·43_d_.

seeded from N. Terr.

„ Black Rattler 1·2-1·8 7_d_. 6·7_d_.

„ Native × Allens 1·2-1·6 6_d_. „

„ Native × Russels 1·2-1·5 4½_d_. „

„ Native × Peruvian 1·2-1·6 7_d_. „

„ Native × Culpepper 1·1-1·5 6½-7_d_. „

„ Volta × Black Rattler 1·1-1·5 5_d_. „

„ Volta × Richmond 1·1-1·6 6-6½_d_. „

„ Greenseed × Black Rattler 1-1·4 5_d_. „

„ Greenseed × Richmond 1-1·4 7_d_. „

Tamale, N. Terr., Native 0·7-1·0 5½_d_. „

The cottons from native varieties crossed with American represent the

first generation only, as in no case were the following generations

found constant.

The large profits which have been made from cocoa in the forest

country have caused cotton-growing to be neglected, and it seems

improbable that large quantities of cotton will be exported from

this region during the next few years. In the same part of the

country palm oil and rubber are easily collected, and, besides being

more remunerative products, require comparatively small exertion

in preparation. An attempt to establish cotton cultivation upon

a commercial scale, among the industrious people of the Northern

Territories, was made by the British Cotton Growing Association,

but the immense distances of the inhabited tracts from a shipping

port and the consequent expense of transport, combined with the

uncertainty of the rainfall in these ultra-forest regions, compelled

the abandonment of the venture in 1916.

=FIBRES.=—Piassava fibre, which has sometimes been called

“vegetable whalebone,” is prepared from the sheath of the lower

parts of the leaf-stem of a tree belonging to the Natural Order

_PALMÆ_, and classified as _Raphia vinifera_, P. Beauv. This tree

is found growing in the vicinity of streams, and occurs commonly

in the forest regions near the coast.

The natives prepare the fibre, which is sold in the European markets

under the name of “Piassava,” by cutting the stem-sheaths and

steeping them in water for a considerable time until the fibrous

strands are easily separated by beating. After being extracted in

this manner they are dried in the sun. Only a small quantity is

exported from the country, but it is a more important article of

export from Sierra Leone and Liberia. As the specific name denotes,

wine is extracted from the tree, by tapping the standing or felled

tree, in the last case with the aid of fire.

On the estate of the African Plantations, Ltd., near Axim,

a fibre of excellent quality, commercially allied to jute, has

been prepared from the stems of a herbaceous plant, which was

supposed to be _Triumfetta semitriloba_, Linn., but which has since

been determined at Kew to be _T. cordifolia_ var. _Hollandii_,

Sprague. The plant belongs to the same Natural Order as Indian

jute—namely, _TILIACEÆ_. A description of this fibre is given

in the _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, vol. vi. (1908), p. 241.

This species has been observed commonly in a wild state in the

forests near Sekondi and Axim, but does not seem to be present in

the interior of Ashanti or in the country towards the Volta river.

Experiments made at the estate of the African Plantations, Ltd.,

are said to show that the best fibre is obtained from stalks which

have been retted or steeped in water for five days, but it will

probably be found that the period required for the operation is

dependent to a great extent upon the age of the stalks used.

The fibre may be prepared by stripping the bark layers from the

soaked stalks and beating these upon the surface of the water until

the actual bark is removed, when the fibre may be dried in the

sun; being finally picked over to get rid of the small remaining

bark particles.

The plant exhibits some advantages for cultivation over jute,

in that it may be cropped twice in one year and treated as a

perennial. Collection of the wild growths would be unsatisfactory

for the production of the fibre upon a large scale, owing to the

time occupied in searching for the plants, but it seems probable

that the plant would repay planting, especially if some better

method of extraction were devised.

The composition, quality, and commercial value of a large number

of fibres obtained from plants indigenous to, or cultivated in,

the Gold Coast are discussed in _Selected Reports from the Imperial

Institute_, Part I., “Fibres” (Colonial Reports, Miscellaneous,

Cd. 4588, 1909), pp. 43, 51, 84, 89, 90, 115.

=SILK.=—A species of wild silkworm is commonly distributed

throughout the forests to the north of Kumassi, and has been

identified as _Anaphe venata_. The silk cocoons of this species

and those of _Anaphe infracta_ are used in Nigeria for spinning

into yarn for weaving the “Saṉyaṉ” cloths of that country,

but no use is apparently made of them in Ashanti. The worms live in

small colonies, and form their cocoons in a common envelope of silk,

from which two or three somewhat tubular processes project to enable

the moths to emerge when the time arrives. The food plant of the

silkworm has not been definitely ascertained, but, as the cocoons

are found on a large number of herbaceous plants as well as trees,

it seems probable that several plants are eaten by it. The quality

of the silk is said to be good, and the colour is usually a golden

or light brown.[3]

=COPAL.=—The tree which produces this resin, often miscalled

“gum,” which is commercially known as “Accra copal,”

occurs throughout the forests of Ashanti and Akim, and has not

yet been specifically determined. Investigations have shown that

it is allied to _Cyanothyrsus oblongus_, Oliver, which yields the

“Ogea” resin of Lagos, and which belongs to the Natural Order

_LEGUMINOSÆ_. The flowers obtained from the Ashanti trees are of

a similar construction to those of _Cyanothyrsus_.

Locally the resin is commonly used for torches and for the

preparation of a scented pigment called “Krobo,” which is used

for elaborating patterns upon the skin, being commonly employed

by the Akim people for this purpose. For export the chief value is

for the preparation of varnish.

The quantity exported reached 178 tons in 1907, after which it

declined, and now no longer reaches a significant figure. The

overwhelming interest attracted by cocoa has led to its

disappearance. Cf. _Selected Reports Imperial Institute_, pt. ii.,

“Gums and Resins” (Col. Rep. Misc., Cd. 4971, 1909), pp. 172-5;

_Bull. Imp. Inst._, vol. xii. (1914), p. 220.

The copal-yielding trees are generally of immense size, and the

resinous liquid may be observed exuding from the main trunk as well

as the branches, in such a way as to form elongated “tears”

or slabs, which harden on exposure to the air. When these become

brittle they are broken off by wind and fall to the ground. Often

the flow of resinous liquid seems to be so profuse that quantities

reach the ground and form what is termed “fossil copal,” owing

to the fact that it is dug from the ground beneath the trees.

There is evidence to show that in some instances the original flow of

the resinous liquid is caused by deep borings in the sap wood made by

insect larvæ (probably _Coleoptera_—beetles), signs of which are

commonly apparent on old trees, which yield the most copal. Specimens

of branches, which have been tunnelled by these larvæ, have been

collected, exhibiting all the cavities filled with hardened resin.

Compared with the copal produced by _Copaifera Guibourtiana_, a

tree which is found in Sierra Leone, the Ashanti product is much

inferior, although the price paid renders it sufficiently valuable

for collection and export. Several different types of the Accra

copal are known, some of which appear to be of less value than

others, although apparently yielded by the same tree. That which is

deemed preferable is clear and pale yellow; milky pieces should be

sorted out, as they are valued at a lower figure. Blocks have been

obtained which weighed over twenty pounds. Sorting is said to have

been adopted by some of the local merchants, and as high a price as

60_s_. per cwt. is reported to have been obtained for sorted copal.

=COPRA.=—Some special attention has been given to the extension of

the copra industry on the coast, and it will be observed that the

average annual exports have nearly doubled during the last eight

years. The coconut (_Cocos nucifera_) is found on the greater part

of the coastline, and the dried contents of the nut constitute

the product known as copra. (Cf. _Oil Seeds and Feeding Cakes_,

Imp. Inst. Monograph, 1915.) No use is apparently made of the fibrous

covering of the nuts, which is exported from other parts of the world

under the name of coir. Locally the nuts are cut down in an unripe

condition, and the “milk” from the interior is used as a drink.

=DYES AND PIGMENTS.=—Camwood is the trade name applied to the

wood of a tree known as _Baphia nitida_, Afzelius, belonging to the

Natural Order _LEGUMINOSÆ_. It has been suggested that the bright

red colouring-matter is produced by decomposition on exposure to

air, the material shipped from different places in West Africa

being apparently in this condition, but investigations in other

parts of West Africa show that the fresh wood is frequently used in

making the colouring-matter. A very small quantity is exported from

the Gold Coast, but the natives make some use of it for staining

different materials.

=Indigo.=—This is prepared from two or three species of

_Indigofera_, which are found growing near villages, but the

process of preparation in the Gold Coast does not appear to have

been recorded, though probably similar to that employed in the

other West African countries.

The resin from the copal tree, mentioned above, is crushed, together

with the bark of a tree called “Krobo,” in Akim especially,

and the balls formed from this mixture are rubbed down, with the

addition of a little water, into a fine sort of lather, when a

greenish-grey-coloured thin paste is procured. With this designs

are traced upon the body and arms as an adornment for women, the

resin imparting to the mixture a pleasant odour.

=FIELD CROPS.=—The soil throughout a large part of the forest

country is very fertile, and no difficulty is experienced in

producing sufficient crops for local needs from a small area of

ground. The usual method is to cut down a piece of forest, leaving

those trees which are too large to be removed or burnt, or which

may yield one of the wild fruits which is appreciated. The stumps

and roots are not removed when only maize (_Zea mays_) is intended

to be grown, but are, to some extent, when yams (_Dioscorea sp._),

or groundnuts (_Arachis hypogea_), are to be cultivated. The

cut “bush” is permitted to dry in the sun for several weeks,

when it is burned, and the ashes are sometimes scattered over the

land. For plantations of maize, the soil is only turned up at the

spots where the seed is to be put in, and very little cultivation is

given for the remainder of the year, although weeding and earthing

up are resorted to in a few places. For the cultivation of yams or

groundnuts, the larger roots are dug out, and the whole field is dug

with small hoes, the soil being scraped together into small mounds,

on the top of which the yams or groundnuts are planted. In the

case of the former, stakes are also put in, upon which the yams are

trained to grow. In addition to this it is usual, in most places,

to plant maize upon the sides of the mounds, and okra (_Hibiscus

esculentus_) and peppers (_Capsicum sp._) in various parts of the

field. Guinea corn (_Sorghum vulgare_) is rarely seen within the

forest limits. Between the mounds, at wide intervals, plantains

(_Musa sapientum_) are generally grown, and occupy the ground after

all the other crops have been removed. In the country near the coast,

as well as in the Volta district, cassava (_Manihot utilissima_)

is a common terminal crop, although it is not frequently grown in

Ashanti. The length of time during which the land usually continues

to yield a grain or root crop, of the kinds above mentioned, seems

limited to about three years. Koko yams (_Colocasia antiquorum_)

are planted in damp places near the villages or beside streams,

and, in the Volta district, sweet potatoes (_Ipomœa batatas_)

are cultivated to a small extent. Small gourds (_Cucurbitaceæ_)

are cultivated in the villages, but are not common, and pineapples,

paw-paws, guavas, oranges, custard apples, sour-sops, and limes may

be found growing in the places near the older European settlements.

Plantains and yams seem to form the chief food of the people in

the interior, but maize is largely used by those near the coast,

who are better cultivators. Plantains are prepared by roasting or

by chopping up and boiling. In some parts, especially in the Krepi

country, the fruits are split and cut in pieces, after which they

are dried in the sun. They become hard and white in the process,

and can be kept for some time. Yams of several kinds are cut up

after peeling, and boiled with peppers or made up with palm oil,

when they form a favourite dish. They are sometimes pounded in a

wooden mortar and made into balls. Maize is ground on flat or grooved

stones by means of a stone hand-roller, after which the flour is

made into dough and baked, a little palm wine having been added

to make it rise. Cassava is treated in the same manner as yams,

but the former requires long soaking before cooking. Palm oil or

groundnut oil is generally used for cooking, and the pulp of the

palm fruit, after the oil has been removed, is eaten. A fermented

drink is made from maize, which is said to taste like weak beer,

but the chief intoxicant made locally is the fermented juice of

the oil and the fibre palms.

With the exception of cotton, which has been separately referred to,

groundnuts appear to have been the only field crop of importance

that has been exported. In 1908 a substantial figure was reached,

but has since declined.

PART II.—THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES

=Tribes.=—The country which is included under the Northern

Territories is inhabited by a number of tribes, now chiefly located

in the northern half; the central portion being liable to inundation

at certain times, and therefore almost unoccupied, and the southern

being, perhaps, considered unsafe owing to the proximity to the

warlike Ashantis. The more important tribes are the Mamprussis,

under the king of Gambaga; the Gonjas, under the king of Kombe;

the Walas, under the king of Wa; and two sections of the Dagombas,

under the chiefs of Savelugu and Karaga (formerly under the king

of Yendi, in German territory). The Lobis, Dagartis, Grunshis,

Kussassis, and several others were dispersed by Samory and Barbetu

in 1896 and 1898, and have now only nominal chiefs. (See _Colonial

Reports—Annual_, No. 566, “Northern Territories of the Gold

Coast,” 1907, p. 8.) The Moshis, whose country extended into

the northern limits of the Northern Territories, were employed

at one time as native levies, but since they were disbanded they

have interfered with the tribes on the Gambaga-Kumassi road, in the

Sapari Hills, and made trading by that route unsafe. (See _Colonial

Reports_, _loc. cit._, p. 10.) Steps have been taken to expel them

from the country, and it is hoped that the people living in the

hills, who are said to be good agriculturists, will now come into

closer contact with civilisation. The Dagombas are apparently the

most industrious tribe in the country, and they seem to be numerous.

Although there does not appear to be any actual record of the

invasion of the eastern part of the country by the Mohammedan

rulers of the Western Sudan, they are said to have overrun the

pagan countries between themselves and the region of dense forest

on several occasions. In 1483 the kingdom of Mossi (Moshi) was

conquered by Sonni Ali, King of Songhay, who was a native of the

Eastern Sudan, and had come from Egypt. Two years later he extended

his conquest through the mountain territory to the south and far into

the pagan belt. Sonni Ali was followed by Askia, who again overran

Mossi, in order to abolish paganism and establish the Mohammedan

faith. This occurred in about the year 1500, and doubtless the

people learnt to adopt the improved methods of agriculture which

the conquerors had introduced into the Western Sudan from Egypt

and the east. Many of the tribes have relapsed completely into

paganism, but amongst others there is a mixture of Mohammedanism and

paganism, which is evidence of the impression made. More recently,

Samodu Almami of Ouassoulou, generally known as Samory, was driven

from his kingdom in the Western Sudan by the French, and overran

the Northern Territories with his Sofa troops; subduing Wa, Bole,

and the whole of the western part of the country. It is, however,

unlikely that agriculture was further improved by his invasion,

as large tracts of country were devastated to feed his troops.

=FIELD CROPS.=—The soil is of a lighter and more sandy nature than

that generally found in the forest region, but it is well adapted

for the cultivation of many different kinds of crops, notably Guinea

corn, millet, groundnuts, and cotton, while it is less satisfactory

for yams. The latter are consequently of smaller size.

=Cotton.=—The cotton grown by the Dagombas is whiter than

those found in the south, and the plants are of small stature;

the species has a wide-opening pale flower, and has been grown

at Labolabo from seed procured in the Northern Territories. The

cotton fields are planted with regular lines of plants, and the

ground appears to be exclusively used for the crop during the

season. The seed is sown upon ridges which have been constructed

from the high conical mounds, upon which the combined crop of

millet (_Pennisetum spp._) or Guinea corn and yams were grown in the

previous year. Cultivation is performed by means of a short-handled

hoe, and the ridges are kept clear of weeds and grass until the

crop is ready. The seed-cotton is sold in the markets, and is in

good demand for the manufacture of native cloths. No insect pests

have been observed attacking the plants, and it is probable that if

an outside demand were established for the produce a large quantity

could be grown. It might be necessary to introduce a better variety

than that at present cultivated, as this yields a rather coarse and

short staple. If cotton from this part of the country is to become

an article of export, the difficulties at present experienced in

transport will first have to be overcome; indeed, this applies

to all the produce capable of being grown in the country. The

navigation of the Volta river and the two main branches seems to

suggest a means which might be employed, for, although there are

several rapids in the course from Daboya and Bole to Labolabo,

only one is impassable for canoes, even in the dry season. This

rapid is at Krachi where a short line has been laid for transporting

loaded canoes. The cost of the hire of canoes for making the journey

would probably be prohibitive, but if the British Cotton Growing

Association undertook the carriage by their own canoes of the salt

and stores required by the merchants who have commenced business in

Yeji and Tamale, the freight on these in the journey upwards would

probably be found to cover the cost of bringing cotton down-stream,

and the export trade in it could be developed in this manner. The

British Cotton Growing Association made an effort to act upon the

suggestion made here, but discontinued their operations in July 1916,

when they handed over their buildings, at Tamale, to the Government,

as it was shown that under the existing conditions and with but one

European representative to further its interests, cotton-growing

in the Northern Territories could not hope to become a remunerative

export business (Colonial Reports, Northern Territories, G.C. 1916,

No. 956). The irregularity of the rainfall is a matter which must be

borne in mind in any future attempts to develop the industry here,

but the possibilities of providing artificial irrigation should not

be overlooked, as large tracts of flat land exist near the White

Volta river capable of becoming fertile under proper irrigation

and drainage.

=Other Field Crops.=—Yams are grown as a primary crop on mounds,

and three different kinds are common, probably referable to

_D. alata_, _D. sativa_, and _D. colocasiæfolia_, the last being

what is termed the water yam and the first the winged yam. Guinea

corn is the most important food grain grown, but millet is sometimes

planted. A red species of sorghum (_S. guineensis_, var. _robustum_)

is cultivated on a small scale for use in staining leather, but is

not used for food. Rice (_Oryza sativa_) is grown in the vicinity

of the large rivers, but is said to suffer damage from elephants and

hippopotami. The variety seems to be similar to the red rice grown in

the Gambia and Sierra Leone. Very little maize is planted, but some

is grown near Salaga. Cassava is only seen in the south near the

forest boundary, and groundnuts are not plentiful, owing, perhaps,

to the fact that cooking oil is obtainable from shea butter trees,

which are common in a wild state. Pigeon peas are often planted

round the borders of fields, and are left to yield more than one

crop. This pea is identical with one of the common “Dhalls”

of India (_Cajanus indicus_); the origin of the introduction is

obscure. Small beans are grown as well as _Indigofera spp._ Sweet

potatoes, okra, capsicum-peppers, sorrel-hibiscus (_H. Sabdariffa_),

and the Fra-Fra potato (_Plectranthus, sp._, “Tumuku” of the

Haussas) are also grown.

=Fibre.=—Plants belonging to two species of _Hibiscus_ are

used for the extraction of fibre for the preparation of cordage,

the cleaned fibre being similar to jute. These plants grow, with

perfectly straight stems, to eight or ten feet in height, bearing

short thin branches with axillary flowers.

=Tobacco.=—The tobacco grown is used for smoking or the manufacture

of snuff in many parts of the Northern Territories, and is prepared

in a special manner. For smoking tobacco the green leaves are pressed

into small gourds until a quantity of juice exudes, the mass being

rolled in this until it assumes an oval form, in which it is sold

in the markets before drying. For snuff it is ground up between

heated stones until the requisite fineness has been obtained,

and is then mixed with a small quantity of the powdered seeds of

_Monodora myristica_. The tobacco fields are usually confined to

small patches near houses, and wood ashes as well as sweepings

are applied as a top dressing. This appears to be the only crop to

which manure or fertiliser is given. The leaves always seem to be

stripped off the stems at one operation, whereby old and immature

leaves are mixed with mature.

=GUMS.=—Two species of _Acacia_ (_A. arabica_ and _A. Sieberiana_)

are found, especially in the uninhabited tracts in the centre of

the country, and the last named appears to yield a large flow of

gum, which, however, is not collected. Examination of this at the

Imperial Institute has shown it to be about equal in quality to

inferior Sudan grades; _A. arabica_ does not seem to yield gum with

such frequency in this locality as elsewhere. _Burkea africana_

and _Pseudocedrela Kotschyi_ produce a quality of gum comparable

with “Talh” from the Sudan. (Cf. _Selected Reports from the

Imperial Institute_, Pt. II., Gums and Resins, pp. 153, 165-7.)

=WOOD OIL.=—By cutting deeply into the base of a tree known as

“Neou” (Dagomba), and “Kawa” (Haussa), a rather copious flow

of resinous liquid is induced, which, when solidified, is a resin

somewhat similar, but inferior, to copal. The tree from which this

is procured is botanically known as _Daniellia thurifera_, Oliv.,

and the so-called “oil” obtained was at one time shipped from

Northern Nigeria under the name of African Balsam of Copaiba. It

is used in the Northern Territories for lighting purposes,

as well as medicinally. The tree yields a handsomely grained

timber. (Cf. _Bull. Imp. Inst._, 1915.)

=SHEA BUTTER.=—A tree known botanically as _Butyrospermum Parkii_

bears a fruit, from the kernel of which this valuable vegetable

fat is procured. The fat forms the cooking oil of the ultra-forest

country, taking the place of palm oil in this respect. The mode of

preparation in the Northern Territories is, doubtless, similar to

that employed in Northern Nigeria. The prepared butter is one of

the products carried by the Haussa traders, who visit Ashanti for

the purpose of purchasing kola, and is much appreciated in Kumassi,

where it obtains a high price. A small quantity is carried down

the Volta river by the canoes which bring salt from Adda to Yeji

and Daboya. An analysis made at the Imperial Institute of Shea

butter from the Northern Territories showed that the material is in

no way inferior to the better-known “Shea butter” of Northern

Nigeria. Cf. _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, vol. vi. (1908),

p. 370.

=RUBBER.=—Recently some species of _Landolphia_ were found growing

in the district of Wa and elsewhere, and, upon examination, one

of these proved to be _L. owariensis_, P. Beauv. This was at first

thought to occur plentifully, and to assume the underground habits of

_L. Thollonii_, one of the most important sources of root or rhizome

rubber in the Congo. Specimens, which were found growing near the

south bank of the Black Volta river, in grass land, exhibited a

trailing form of growth owing to the absence of supporting trees,

but, although the plants were probably dwarfed by the annual grass

fires, no development of root growth was observed in excess of that

ordinarily produced within the forests. The plant is now reported

to occur rather rarely in the Northern Territories; another nearly

allied, though useless, species having been mistaken for it.

=DYES.=—For dyeing the yarn made from the native cotton, indigo

is made from a species of _Indigofera_, or from the young leaves of

_Lonchocarpus cyanescens_, but the process of preparation employed

in this country has not been carefully observed. It is, however,

probably similar to that in common use in Sierra Leone, Northern

Nigeria, and the Gambia.

=BEESWAX.=—Bees are attracted to hive in calabashes placed in

trees, the honey and wax being taken from them and sold in the

markets. The bee belongs to a small variety of _Apis mellifera_,

known as var. _Adansonii_. A sample of beeswax obtained at Tamale

was examined at the Imperial Institute, and proved to be of excellent

quality and worth £6 15_s_. per cwt. (Dec. 1908).

=LEATHER.=—Tanning of sheep and goats’ skins is done to a small

extent, the same process as that described for the preparation of

Kano leather in Northern Nigeria being followed. The _Acacia_ pods

used for the purpose are obtained from trees often found planted

in the middle of towns.

=CATTLE AND POULTRY.=—A large breed of cattle with a dorsal hump

exists in the Salaga district, and a straight-backed smaller kind

throughout the country to the north. Although “tsetse” flies

of three species are common on the stream banks, the cattle seem

to be healthy for the most part, and often form part of a caravan

travelling to the forest belt, where a good price is said to be

obtained for them from the Ashantis. They are usually killed for

food very soon after entering the forest, where they can no longer

be kept free from the attacks of the three species of “tsetse”

(_Glossina morsitans_, _G. palpalis_, and _G. pallidipes_), all of

which seem to attack them. Horses are bred in some parts, but not

to a large extent. Wire-haired sheep and goats are seen everywhere,

and can be obtained in many places at a low price.

Fowls and Guinea-fowls are reared in several villages, and are

carried to the south for sale. Long open-work baskets are used,

and the fowls are usually conveyed as head-loads. Guinea-fowls,

purchasable for threepence each in some of the villages south

of Daboya, are sold at four or five shillings each near the

coast. No coops seem to be employed in the villages to confine the

guinea-fowls, which habitually roost upon the house-tops and which

may frequently be seen in the adjoining fields. They are scarcely

distinguishable from the wild birds which occur usually in the same

localities. There is, however, a marked tendency on the part of the

domesticated examples to acquire white feathers upon the breast or

wings to a greater or lesser extent.

It should be recorded that a considerable local trade is carried

on in the country in the sale of a flour-like substance obtained

from the interior of the pods of _Parkia filicoidea_. This is made

up with the seeds of the plant into an edible paste, locally termed

“Dawadawa.”

=EXPORTS.=—Excluding cocoa, which is treated separately in its

place, the following table shows the progress of the export trade

between 1910 and 1919:—

KOLA. COPRA. COPAL.

YEAR. Lbs. £ Tons. £ Lbs. £

1910 5,156,500 77,716 755 13,032 53,847 647

1911 5,791,931 93,099 779 13,257 80,042 1,110

1912 7,133,165 134,231 620 11,841 67,133 1,077

1913 7,024,868 144,705 629 14,292 38,205 555

1914 7,862,414 142,190 656 11,825 18,549 265

1915 8,267,100 139,163 770 12,821 28,888 405

1916 6,760,898 130,566 633 14,384 12,549 132

1917 11,985,645 239,134 735 19,916 2,306 24

1918 13,254,538 262,144 99 2,772 1,693 35

1919 16,319,972 350,249 984 30,091 13,748 174

RUBBER. PALM OIL. PALM KERNELS.

Lbs. £ Galls. £ Tons. £

1910 3,223,265 358,876 2,044,868 161,388 14,182 185,058

1911 2,668,667 219,447 1,610,209 128,916 13,254 175,891

1912 1,990,699 168,729 1,444,432 112,885 14,628 205,365

1913 1,317,369 87,915 860,155 65,652 9,744 159,128

1914 654,133 21,631 495,763 37,646 5,633 88,671

1915 647,982 25,167 330,990 25,769 4,064 50,512

1916 2,215,973 78,865 450,360 38,299 5,857 85,899

1917 2,961,204 110,272 198,900 24,770 4,768 74,911

1918 1,391,097 57,006 670,867 83,689 8,933 152,922

1919 721,588 33,637 938,595 140,163 9,892 253,243

GROUNDNUTS.

LUMBER. COTTON. Tons. £

Feet. £ Lbs. £ 1907:

1910 14,938,749 148,122 11,421 263 197 1,815

1911 13,973,396 138,821 9,701 238 not given

1912 23,573,651 228,745 20,395 506 do.

1913 37,391,848 366,094 27,497 688 do.

1914 24,587,217 240,878 23,514 588 do.

1915 9,217,622 90,661 12,016 300 do.

1916 10,334,793 93,980 17,896 447 do.

1917 7,481,468 69,128 43,870 227 do.

1918 14,680,823 137,649 20,640 212 do.

1919 10,432,250 103,238 nil. 7 210

[Illustration: =NIGERIA=, SOUTHERN PROVINCES

Territory held by Great Britain under Mandate is hatched in

Red. [Legend]

_Stanford’s Geogl. Estabt., London._]

=NIGERIA-SOUTHERN PROVINCES=

=INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.= =Administrative Divisions.=—On January

1, 1914, the countries, hitherto administered separately under the

names of Northern and Southern Nigeria, were amalgamated and placed

under a Governor-General. It is, nevertheless, convenient, from

the point of view of their agricultural and commercial interests,

to deal with them in this place separately. The inhabitants of the

Northern and Southern Provinces are to a very large extent dissimilar

in languages, religion and customs, and the climatic conditions,

by which distinct varieties of life are so much influenced, are so

suitably defined by the artificial boundary which, until recently,

divided Northern and Southern Nigeria, that little excuse need be

offered for the maintenance of old division in the discussion of

the subjects within the competence of this book. Following then the

plan adopted in the first edition, Southern Nigeria, referred to now

as the Southern Provinces, is being first dealt with and treated,

as far as possible, independently of Northern Nigeria, now entitled

the Northern Provinces, the separate account of which follows.

=Geographical Position.=—Pending the adjustment of the eastern

frontier, occasioned by the outcome of the recent war, the Southern

Provinces of Nigeria extend from 2° 45′ E. to 10° 15′ E. long.:

the Western Province reaching 9° 10′ N., and the Central and

Eastern about 7° 15′ N. lat.

=Area and Population.=—The estimated area of the country before

adjustment was 94,000 sq. miles, and the census of 1911 showed the

population as 7,857,983.

=Natural Divisions.=—The Southern Provinces are conveniently

divided for agricultural considerations into _wet_ and _dry_

zones. In the former the rainfall ranges from about 90 inches

at Bendi to 250 inches at Opobo. In the latter zone the highest

rainfall is reached in Lagos Town, where about 75 inches are

annually registered; the lowest reading being that of 40 inches

at Olokemeji. The densely forested area is practically entirely

within the wet zone; this also including a tract of brackish-water

forest (mangrove) and swamp. In the dry zone grass-land and open

“bush,” with trees peculiar to such localities, occur, and it

is in this portion of the country that most of the agricultural

people are found. The inhabitants of the forested area in the wet

zone give more attention to the collection of forest products,

such as palm oil and rubber, and only grow sufficient grain and

roots for their own consumption.

=Inhabitants.=—The tribes found in the Western Province are chiefly

Yorubas, and among these are some of the most intelligent people

in the country. In the Central Province there are a large number of

tribes speaking different languages, but among these the Benis are

perhaps of most importance. The Ijoas, Ibos, Aros, and many other

tribes inhabit the Eastern Province, and are generally of a lower

grade of civilisation than the others mentioned. The country between

the northern part of the Cross river and the Niger is populated by

other pagan tribes, who seem to be careful cultivators, but very

little is known of them at present.

=Cultivation.=—The Yoruba race are industrious cultivators, and

show considerably more ambition than most of the other West African

peoples. The country in which they live is particularly adapted to

farming, and the climatic conditions are suitable for the cultivation

of cotton and fibrous plants, in addition to the various grain

crops. In some parts cocoa, rubber, and kola are being cultivated,

but these are not so suitable under the prevailing conditions as

they would be within the wet zone—the Western Province, which

these people inhabit, being entirely within the dry region.

Although farming is so extensive, continuous cultivation is not

found, and the use of manure is practically unknown. The usual

practice is to farm a piece of land for a few years, and to permit

it then to return to a wild state for a long period. In their want

of knowledge concerning the value of manure and the application of

artificial irrigation, the Yoruba farmers are behind the Haussas

of Northern Nigeria, but are more careful than the Nupes of the

same country. The depth of the Yoruba cultivation is greater than

that of the northern Haussa, and this in some measure compensates

for the non-employment of manure, etc.

The people of the Central Province are generally less careful in

their farming methods; the Benis often planting their grain crops

in only partially cleared land. Farther to the north in the same

province a better system is noticeable among the Ishans, Ifons, and

the people of Agbede. During recent years, owing to the energetic

efforts of the Forestry Department, the cultivation and better

treatment of the indigenous rubber tree (_Funtumia elastica_)

have been extensively adopted, especially by the people in the

neighbourhood of Benin City, where the climate is well suited to

the species. In addition to rubber, cocoa and kola plantations

might prove successful in the same localities, but as yet no large

plantations of either exist.

In the Eastern Province farming is generally of poor quality until

the region of heavy rainfall is left, when extremely large areas

are met with, highly cultivated, with the earth thrown up into

loose mounds, often five or six feet in height, for the purpose of

growing yams, maize, pepper, okra, Guinea corn, pumpkins, etc.,

all of which are found planted upon each mound; the yams being

carefully trained to climb along fibre strings towards central poles.

=Principal Crops.=—The chief crops grown in the Western Province

are maize, cotton, cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, and

to a small extent Guinea corn, sugar-cane, tobacco, Colocasia yams,

peppers, okra, rice, eggplant, and native beans.

Indigo is extracted from _Lonchocarpus cyanescens_, which occurs

in a wild state, and is preserved when making clearances for

farms. The _Indigofera spp._ are used to a smaller degree for the

same purpose. (See Sierra Leone Section, p. 39; also _Bulletin of

the Imperial Institute_, 1909, p. 319; 1918, p. 11; and 1919, p. 31.)

Fruits are not grown plentifully, and are generally left in an

uncultivated condition. The chief kinds are pineapples, bananas,

pawpaws, akee apple (_Blighia sapida_), oranges, and guavas. There

are several fruits and spices which are collected from the forest

strips, but, taken generally, the Western Province people are

not great fruit eaters. On the sea coast and for a considerable

distance inland, coconut plantations are common, and, near Badagry,

copra is prepared from them for shipment.

The crops cultivated in the Central Province are similar to

those of the Western, but yams become more, and groundnuts less

prominent. Large quantities of palm oil are prepared, and rubber is

collected, the labour available for farm work being thereby reduced.

The most important product of the Eastern Province is undoubtedly

palm oil, but fairly large quantities of yams and maize are grown

outside the forest zone and are transported by native canoes to

the coast ports, in the vicinity of which there is very little

cultivation.

With the exception of the oil palm, which is of general

occurrence throughout the country, the Lagos silk rubber tree

(_Funtumia elastica_) is of the most importance from a commercial

standpoint. Rubber vines of the genera _Landolphia_ and _Carpodinus_

are also valuable wild plants, from which some of the finest

rubbers are at present extracted. Copal, known as “Ogea” gum,

and collected from a tree which has been determined as _Cyanothyrsus

oblongus_ (syn. _ogea_), is exported in varying quantity according

to the market value. A fairly extensive local trade is done in

“chew-sticks” in the Western Province; the sticks being cut

from a tree which occurs in the grass country, and is recognised

as _Anogeissus leiocarpus_. The ash made from the wood of the same

tree is sold for use as a mordant in indigo dyeing. Camwood is

a red dye-wood prepared from at least three different species of

trees—_Baphia nitida_, _Pterocarpus tinctorius_, and _Pterocarpus

sp._—and is almost entirely used locally for staining the human

skin or dyeing leather. Fibre plants do not appear to be cultivated

in any part of the country, but occur to some extent in all the

forested parts. _Hibiscus guineensis_ and _Dombeya buettneri_

are usually employed for native ropes, and the bark of _Sterculia

barteri_ is said to be prepared for the same purpose.

=OIL PALM.=—A description of this tree and information in

connection with the principal characteristics and mode of propagation

have been given in the Sierra Leone portion of this work, and it

may merely be remarked that there is no difference in a general

way between trees grown in the two localities. With regard to the

form of fruit, however, that of Southern Nigeria is separated into

several kinds, varying in the relative proportion of pericarp and

kernel, and these will be referred to later.

The method of preparing palm oil varies to a large degree in the

different localities. The best quality of oil is that produced in

the Western Province. The oil, which on the market is classed as

“Lagos fine grade,” and obtains the highest price among West

African oils, is made from the fresh fruits boiled and pounded in

the manner described for the Sierra Leone oil, but the extracted

oil is further cleared by straining and boiling until a uniformly

clear and limpid product is obtained.

[Illustration: STRAINING OIL FROM THE FIBROUS PULP OF THE OIL PALM,

OSHOGBO.

Fig. 22, p. 97.]

[Illustration: COTTON BALES, MARLBOROUGH GINNERY, IBADAN.

Fig. 23, p. 113.]

[Illustration: AFARA TREE (_TERMINALIA SUPERBA_) AT OLOKOMEJI.

Fig. 24, p. 118.]

An inferior quality is that made at Oshogbo and north of Ibadan

generally. The fruits, after having been boiled for about three

hours, have the fibrous pulp sufficiently loosened, so that the

whole is easily separated from the nuts by pounding in a wooden

mortar. The fibrous mass thus obtained is then put into a pit, which

is filled to a depth of about eighteen inches with cold water, and

the oil is expressed by women and young girls, who tread it out with

their feet. After leaving the water undisturbed for a short time,

the oil rises to the surface, from which it is skimmed, or it may be

precipitated, by the removal of a plug placed in the side of the pit,

into a vessel placed to receive it. The treading process is repeated

until most of the oil is extracted. The oil is then separated from

the water which it contains by boiling. The fibrous pulp is next

removed, strained in baskets, and is placed upon rocks to dry in

the sun, after which it is pressed into large balls, which are sold

in the local markets at 1_d_. each. Much of this finds its way to

Lagos Town, where it is sold for fuel at the rate of 8_d_. for 8½

lb. In this connection it may be mentioned that there appears to be

no foundation for the statement which has been made to the effect

that this residual pulp is exported in large quantities from Lagos

for the further extraction of oil by chemical means in Europe. An

illustration is given showing a girl straining fibrous pulp in an

oil pit at Oshogbo (Fig. 22).

In the Central and Eastern Provinces “hard” oil is the

commercial name applied to the kind which is generally made. At

Onitsha the natives may be seen bringing in this oil, which is of

such a consistency that even at an atmospheric temperature of 90° it

remains in a solid wax-like condition. The earthen vessels in which

such oil is conveyed to the factories, when accidentally dropped

and broken, do not necessarily occasion the loss of any oil. The

thickened condition is entirely due to the method of preparation,

during which important chemical changes occur, which appear to

be detrimental to the oil for some of its most important uses,

especially that of soap manufacture, while rendering it suitable

for employment for making candles. The important difference in the

preparation of this oil lies in the fact that instead of the fresh

fruits being used, the pericarp is separated from the nuts by means

of partial decomposition, induced by burying the fruits in the

ground for a period varying from three weeks to two months. The

semi-decomposed pericarp is then easily removed by pounding or

treading out in a canoe-shaped receptacle, after which the fibrous

mass is boiled, and the liquid oil is skimmed and allowed to set

in earthen jars, in which it is carried for sale to the factories.

The extraction of kernels from the nuts is one of the usual

occupations of the women and children of a village, when not

assisting in the preparation of oil. The nuts are spread in the sun

for about a week or more until a shrinkage of the kernel occurs,

which renders the nut-shell capable of being easily cracked without

damage to the interior. It is said that in the Jebu district, to

the north-east of Lagos, the local price paid for kernels ranges

from 4_d_. to 4½_d_. for a filled tin bowl having the diameter of

nine inches.

The primitive method of extracting kernels, by means of cracking

the nut-shell between stones and picking out the contents, has not

yet given way to the employment of the various machines which have

been introduced from time to time to supersede it.

A black oil is extracted at Oshogbo by roasting the kernels in an

earthen pot until black, and stirring meanwhile until the whole mass

becomes covered with exuded oil. A small quantity of cold water

is then sprinkled into the pot after removing it from the fire,

and the contents are pounded in a mortar until an oily meal is

produced. This is boiled, and, when the mixture is cool, the oil

is skimmed from the surface of the water which has been added for

the boiling. This oil is apparently only used locally.

The existing native social system, under which the male head of

a family receives almost exclusive consideration, is opposed to

native co-operation in any mechanical process, whereby a relief from

labour of his numerous dependants—wives, children, and aged or

infirm relatives—would be incurred at the expense of his enhanced

personal labour; he being the carrier and disposer of the produce at

the market. By the conveyance and sale of nuts instead of kernels,

a much smaller return in value would be obtained for the same

weight of material, _i.e._ a similar amount of personal energy. The

dependants, incapable of assisting in transporting, would remain

idle, unless some similar work could be found for them. Up to a

short distance from the delivery point (which would determine itself)

the nuts instead of the kernels would be brought in for sale, and,

limited by the capabilities of the available palm-tree climbers,

the family dependants would be able to prepare larger quantities

of pericarp oil; but the increased accumulation of kernels would

further decrease the radius from the selling centre at which the

carriers would be able to work.

If the entire fruit were to be bought up for mechanical extraction of

pericarp oil as well as kernels, the carrying labour would be still

further enhanced, and the work of the oil-manufacturing communities

would resolve itself into three operations—viz. climbing trees,

chopping out fruit, and transporting—which would mean the exclusion

from work of all but the strong adults, or the reduction of workers

by 30 to 50 per cent. perhaps. The number of skilled palm-tree

climbers is said to be decreasing in many districts, and, owing

to the sparsity of the population in some localities, a very large

proportion of the annual yield of fruit remains unharvested.

The investigation of the several varieties of the oil palm of the

country is in progress at the Imperial Institute, and the characters

of the most important are now well known, and may be compared here

with the varieties from the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and

Northern Nigeria. The typical form, which, although subject to some

variation, possesses certain marked characteristics, may be said

to fall under the following general description:

Fruiting heads generally large. Fruit large, orange to scarlet

in colour, with a variable amount of purplish black suffusion

at the apex, which may extend over more than half of the fruit

or may be altogether absent. Pericarp thin, kernel large with a

thick shell. Names: “Ope yope” or “Ope pankora” (Yoruba),

“Ok-poruk-pu” (Ibo), “Udin” (Beni), “Ak-porro-jub”

(Efik), “Irök-Eyop” (Ibibio), “Abe pa” and perhaps “Abe

dam” (Fanti, Gold Coast), “Tug bore” (Mendi, Sierra Leone),

“Tabel-tiloli” (Timani, Sierra Leone), “Tengo” (Mandingo,

Gambia), “Kabe-kalako” (Jolah, Gambia), “Neul” (Joloff,

Gambia), “Qua-qua” (Haussa, N. Nigeria), “Yi-ku-niche”

(Nupe, N. Nigeria). Only the typical form has as yet been observed

in Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Northern Nigeria.

The other particularly important variety is that commonly referred

to as the “_soft-shelled_” or “_thin-shelled_” palm fruit,

which has been recorded from many localities in West Africa. The

following description will include the forms contained in this group:

Fruiting heads often large. Fruits large or small, generally the

latter, dark coloured. Pericarp thick, kernel rather small, with a

thin shell. Names: “Ope-Arunfo” (Yoruba), “Au-su-ku” (Ibo),

“Ivioronmila” (Beni), “Asoge-e-jub” (Efik), “Eduege Eyop”

(Ibibio), “Abe-bobe” (Fanti, Gold Coast).

The third kind is that frequently called the “_Fetish_”

or “_King_” palm nut. It is rare wherever it occurs, and is

scarcely worth consideration from an economic standpoint. The tree

which bears this fruit has been described under the distinct specific

name of _Elæis Thompsoni_, Chevalier.

Fruiting heads generally small. Fruits medium-sized, red with

black markings occasionally present. Pericarp moderately thick,

kernel and shell medium. The nuts, which possess four eyes, are

not used in the manufacture of commercial oil, but are employed in

connection with the worship of the deity Ifa (Dennett). Names:

“Ope Ifa” (Yoruba), “Ojuku” (Ibo), “Oged-udin”

(Beni), “Affia-ko-jub” (Efik), “Efiako-Eyop” (Ibibio),

“Abe-ohene” (Fanti, Gold Coast).

The above are the three most marked forms of oil palm recognisable,

although other varieties are given special names by natives in

different parts of the country, distinctions being frequently made

between the fruit from trees which assume a tall growth and those

which remain stunted. (Cf. also _Bull. Imp. Inst._, 1909, p. 362;

and 1920, p. 223.)

As far as investigations have progressed, the advantage with

regard to yield of oil as well as quality is maintained by the

thin-shelled variety, the greater proportion of pericarp enabling

a larger amount of pericarp oil to be expressed, while the thin

kernel-covering facilitates the extraction of the kernel. Before

being able to definitely state that this variety is of the greatest

economic value, it is necessary that a comparison of the weight of

the annual crops from all varieties should be made.

The advisability of planting any particular variety of oil palm would

in the first place depend on the results obtained from the complete

investigation of all; but at the present time such a project on a

large scale is not likely to be practicable, as it is generally

acknowledged that only a comparatively small proportion of the

existing wild trees are at present utilised.

Experiments in the Kamerun, with different varieties of oil palms,

seemed to indicate that the thin-shelled character was not a fixed

one. In 1910 a forest officer in Nigeria was detailed to study the

distribution, cultivation and preparation of the oil, of the most

appreciated varieties, and a quantity of nuts of the soft-shelled

“Lisombe” kind from the Kamerun were distributed for planting

among the natives of the Eastern Province.

The export figures of this trade from 1910 to 1918 are tabulated

below. Up to the year 1914, those of Northern were separated from

those of Southern Nigeria. In this account, subsequent to that year,

the two sets of figures have been taken together. A quantity of

kernels is imported from Dahomey for re-export, amounting in 1910

to 21,120 tons. The figures indicate that the increase has been

irregular, and, during the last few years, has been influenced

by the war. In 1919 here, as in the other W. African Colonies,

a differential export tax of £2 per ton was imposed, with respect

to palm kernels.

Year Palm oil in tons Palm kernels in tons

(280 galls. = 1 ton)

1910 76,850 172,998

1911 79,337 176,390

1912 76,994 184,624

1913 83,088 174,718

1914 72,531 162,452

1915 72,994 153,319

1916 67,422 161,439

1917 74,619 185,998

1918 86,425 205,167

1919 100,967 216,913

It is interesting to compare the amount of oil produced in

proportion to kernels collected, there being a marked difference

in this respect between the output of the Western Province (Lagos)

and the Central and Eastern Provinces. A previous series of thirteen

years’ exports from the former showed an average of 60·9 gallons

of oil to the ton of kernels; while for the latter a twelve-year

period at the same time gave 219·6 gallons of oil to the ton of

kernels. The mean for the whole was 140·25 gallons at that time,

but during the last seven years it has fallen to 125·7 gallons. In

1912 the first shipments of kernel oil and cake were made from

factories established under European control at Opobo and Lagos,

the amounts exported being 500 tons of oil and 635 tons of cake. In

the following year the value of both products turned out by these

factories is given as £161,000, and in 1914 as £72,000, when,

without any assigned reason, both factories were closed down.

Articles on the African palm-oil industry in the Southern Provinces

of Nigeria will be found in _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_,

1909, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1919.

An interesting article appears in the _Bulletin of the Imperial

Institute_, vol. xviii., No. 2 (1920), entitled “The Cultivation

of the African Oil Palm, with special reference to the East

Indies.” From this it appears that the tree thrives and yields very

satisfactorily, especially in Sumatra; the oil content of the fruit

and kernels being both high. Attention is drawn in this article to

the extension of the use of palm oil in Europe as an edible fat,

in addition to its present uses.

=Other Oil Seeds.=—Excluding the shea nut tree, which will be

referred to later on, three trees have been considered of sufficient

importance for their seeds to be shipped to Europe in order that

their value may be determined. These are _Pentaclethra macrophylla_

(Cutlass bean), _Irvingia Barteri_ (African mango), and _Lophira

alata_. Although the trials proved that the oils of all might be

valuable for the manufacture of soap and candles, none of the trees

occur in sufficient profusion to permit a large export trade in the

seeds being established. (See _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_,

vol. v. [1907], pp. 10-14, and vol. vi. [1908], pp. 243, 354-80.)

=RUBBER.=—Following the progress made by the Forestry Department

in re-establishing the indigenous rubber tree (_Funtumia elastica_)

in places from which it had almost disappeared, an excellent system

of communal plantations was established. This system, which has

been largely adopted by the chiefs, is one to encourage the village

inhabitants to re-establish rubber trees in their proximity; the

planting and tapping and preparation of the rubber being under

the direction of the Government officers. The resulting rubber is

marketed by the Government, who retain one-third of the sale price

to cover the cost of supervision, etc.; the remaining two-thirds

being paid to the village community. In this manner a large number of

communal plantations have now been established. In 1911 over 400 new

plantations of this kind were made; about 100,000 Funtumia plants

being put in. At the same time 129,000 Para rubber seeds and some

4,000 seedlings were distributed under the same scheme, while Ceara

plantations were made in the drier parts of the country. Licences

to collect wild rubber were simultaneously made compulsory.

The rubber produced on the Government plantation at Mamu Forest,

by the boiling method, proved very satisfactory. In 1910 such rubber

was sold at 6_s_. 6_d_. per lb., being only 6_d_. less than the best

Para fetched at the same time. Three hundred communal plantations

yielded rubber in 1911 against eighty-four in the previous year,

the average yield per tree being 1·59 oz. against 1·406 oz. In

1912 communal rubber amounted to 3,031 lbs., which sold at about

3_s_. 4_d_. per lb.; and in the same year Government plantation

rubber was 3,501 lbs., which realised 3_s_. 10_d_. per lb.

The next rubber plant of importance is the vine, _Landolphia

owariensis_, which is somewhat variable in the form of growth. The

latex at certain seasons coagulates almost instantaneously, but at

other times it runs freely, and can be collected for coagulation by

heat, the admixture of acid, alkali or alcohol, or by spontaneous

exposure. The scrap rubber, which is collected from that coagulated

upon the stem, is made into balls, and comes into the market under

the name of “first Niggers,” and commands a high price.

The native has discovered that a larger amount of rubber can be

obtained at one time if the roots and stems are cut and pounded

up. The result is a product known as “root rubber,” the

collection of which can be justified only where the plant, from

which it is obtained, develops an extensive rhizome or subterranean

growth, capable of being partially removed without killing the

plant. Such vines, although found in some other parts of Africa,

do not occur in Southern Nigeria, and the collection of so-called

“root rubber” from _L. owariensis_ only leads to the complete

destruction of the plant, and should be discouraged. The small

yield of latex from this species after many years of growth, and

the difficulties in connection with the collection of the rubber,

render its cultivation in plantations unprofitable, although planting

has been attempted in the French and German Colonies.

_Clitandra elastica_ is another vine said to yield a copious supply

of latex, capable of being coagulated by means of heating after

dilution with water. In appearance the vine is somewhat similar

to _L. owariensis_, but does not appear to be common. The rubber

produced from this species is reported to be of excellent quality.

_Carpodinus hirsutus_, a common vine in the dry zone and on the

Niger river banks, furnishes a plentiful supply of latex of inferior

quality, and is made into “root” and “paste” rubber by

boiling; the latter being a sticky product of the consistency of

birdlime, and only saleable in Europe at a low price.

The latices of _Landolphia Thompsonii_ and _L. senegalensis_ are

used similarly. Both species are nearly allied to _L. florida_,

which is prepared elsewhere.

A number of latex-yielding plants are employed in the adulteration

of good rubber, among which the following may be mentioned as

the commonest: _Funtumia africana_, _Conopharyngia sp._, _Alstonia

congoensis_, and _Holarrhena Wulfsburgii_. The admixture of these is

usually detected by the stickiness which they impart to good rubber.

The introduction of licences for permission to collect wild rubber

and that of the communal plantation system, previously referred

to, have rendered the position more secure than previously, and

insured the preservation of the wild plants which were threatened

with extinction. This has moreover been effected in the most

economical manner.

The results of the tappings on the Para rubber plantations in

different parts of the country are of interest. In 1911 at Ebute

Metta, trees eighteen years old yielded 3 lbs. 5½ oz. per tree;

at Calabar six year old trees gave an average of 6 oz. per tree;

while at Sapele in the same year, five year old trees yielded

from 14 oz. to 1 lb. 6½ oz. per tree. In the following year the

same trees at Ebute Metta gave 7 lbs. 4¾ oz., while those at

Sapele yielded from 1 lb. 4¾ oz. to 1 lb. 11¾ oz. In 1915 from

two Para rubber estates at Sapele 94,413 lbs. of dry rubber was

harvested. (Cf. _Bull. Imp. Inst._, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1918.)

=Export of Rubber.=—The Commercial Intelligence Officer of Southern

Nigeria, in his report on the trade of the country for 1907, gives a

table showing the rubber exported from Southern Nigerian ports from

1900 to 1907; but as these figures include large quantities of the

product from Northern Nigeria, shipped through Southern Nigerian

ports, they do not represent the output from the latter country

alone. Until 1907 apparently no record of the Northern Nigerian

rubber exported was kept, but in the year mentioned 1,187,588 lbs.,

valued at £91,074, were recorded as having passed the customs post

of Northern Nigeria at Ida, on the Niger. The amounts, in tons,

exported from the Southern Provinces alone were: 1907, 690; 1908,

545; 1909, 620; and from the whole of Nigeria from that time: 1910,

1,180; 1911, 966; 1912, 705; 1913, 510; 1914, no figures; 1915, 248;

1916, 396; 1917, 392; 1918, 157; 1919, 398. The rubber production

of the country is to some extent controlled by the market price,

which is at present very low (1921).

=COPAL.=—Some quantity of a kind of copal resin is collected from

_Cyanothyrsus oblongus_ (syn. _C. ogea_), and is exported under the

name of “Ogea gum.” The quality appears to be similar to that

obtained from the Gold Coast _Cyanothyrsus sp._, and which is sold

under the name of “Accra copal.” Both are obtained in a fresh and

a fossil state. Owing to the recent fall in the price of ogea gum,

the collection of it has diminished, but there are said to be large

quantities available which would be collected as soon as a better

demand occurred. (See articles on “Copal Resins from British West

Africa,” _Bull. Imp. Inst._, 1908, p. 245; and 1914, p. 218.)

=COCOA.=—The good fortune which has recently attended the planters

in West Africa, owing to a sudden demand for their cocoa, has

encouraged them, especially to the north and north-east of Lagos,

to make more extensive plantations. The climatic conditions in the

Western Province, however, are not favourable, and the repeated

failures of trees, due to the exhausting effect of the long dry

seasons, give the plantations an irregular appearance. The trees in

the plantations made at Agege, where many well-to-do planters have

made farms, are stunted, and planted in too close proximity, mostly

without permanent shade trees. In some instances the trees showed

disease from the sapping of the bark juices occasioned by a Capsid,

the species of which is as yet undetermined. The chief cause of their

sterility and death seems, however, to be the unfavourable climatic

conditions. In the direction of the Abeokuta-Ibadan boundary, better

planting seems to have been done and permanent shade trees preserved.

It is said that the Agege planters are dissatisfied with the

prices they obtain for their cocoa, which they maintain is properly

fermented and of better quality than that of their neighbours. An

association of the local planters was recently formed to ship

their own produce direct to the European markets. The Agege cocoa

generally, however, does not appear to be more carefully prepared

or of better quality than the other local kinds. Fermentation

is certainly practised in many places, and is becoming popular

throughout the Western Province, owing to the discovery that the

fermented pulp juice forms a beverage, which is said to be used as

a substitute for palm wine, but the beans are frequently improperly

dried.

In the Eastern Province the climatic conditions appear to be more

favourable for the plant, and there are now a number of small

plantations near Eket, Old Calabar, and Itu. The product is still

improperly prepared and usually unfermented, but time and experience

will remedy this.

In the Central Province from 1915 some activity in cocoa planting

has occurred in the Benin district, but attention there is still

mainly devoted to rubber planting.

See also _Bull. Imp. Inst._, 1914, p. 213; 1915, p. 553; and 1919,

p. 289.

The exports of cocoa have been as follows:

Year Lagos (W. Province) S. Nigeria (C. & E. Provs.)

lbs. value £ lbs. value £

1890 13,657 322 No record

1891 15,254 332 „

1892 15,820 390 „

1893 18,027 488 46,977 655

1894 39,177 929 58,180 992

1895 48,187 832 1,520

1896 27,968 442 109,399 1,532

1897 101,186 1,528 101,214 1,393

1898 76,965 1,579 120,633 1,459

1899 157,708 3,411 142,235 2,548

1900 256,234 5,913 196,455 2,710

1901 229,952 5,042 230,726 3,139

1902 385,540 7,530 302,305 3,677

1903 341,461 6,705 288,614 3,653

1904 821,732 13,892 367,728 4,982

1905 896,350 10,889 388,479 6,019

1906 1,153,439 20,893 466,548 6,161

1907 Combined 2,089,225 47,840

1908 „ 3,060,609 50,587

1909 „ 5,019,417 71,917

1910 „ 6,567,181 101,150

1911 „ 9,858,774 164,664

1912 „ 7,593,711 130,542

1913 „ 8,111,920 157,480

1914 „ 5,000 tons app. 171,751

1915 „ 9,105 „ 313,946

1916 „ 8,956 „ 393,101

1917 „ 15,442 „ 499,009

1918 „ 10,219 „ 235,870

1919 „ 25,711 „ 1,067,675

=COTTON.=—Reviewing the work which has been done in inducing

the agricultural population of the country to cultivate cotton for

export, by far the greatest prominence must be given to the untiring

efforts of the British Cotton Growing Association, who are gradually

surmounting all the obstacles which retarded their progress. The

condition of the industry, especially in the Western Province,

is extremely favourable, and shows signs of further development.

In every Yoruba market sales of cotton are now conducted as a part

of the regular transactions of the day, and cotton from distant

villages filters through from market to market, increasing in

value as it approaches a ginnery, where the full price for it may

be ultimately claimed by the trader who has collected it.

On account of this system of passing from one market to another,

chiefly in the form of barter for other produce, it becomes nearly

impossible to accurately determine the origin of the supplies

brought to the ginneries; and, by reference to the records kept,

very large quantities of cotton often appear as having been sent

from towns which are little more than accumulating centres, and in

the vicinity of which there is little or no cotton grown.

Experience in the plantation of cotton under European control has

shown that without combining the work of a general trader, farmer,

and ginner with that of grower, such an attempt is not likely to

prove remunerative. The British Cotton Growing Association have

abandoned development upon these lines, directing their attention

solely towards buying, ginning and inducing the native farmers

to cultivate the plant in their ordinary field rotations. Such

plantations as still exist are now under the direct control of the

Government and are maintained for the purpose of experimental work

and for the propagation of improved types.

The local varieties of cotton may be roughly classed under five

heads, which are easily recognisable by the characters of the seed

and lint. These are:

1. Black, clean-seeded with a brown tuft or brown woolly and a

brick-red lint.—“Eponkon.”

2. Black, clean-seeded, with a creamy white lint.—Common Western

Province kind; rarer in the Central Province (Ishan).

3. Black, adhering seeds, “kidney” kind, lint creamy.—Common

Central Province.

4. White or brownish woolly seeded, lint creamy.—Meko and Agbede

kinds.

5. Green woolly seeded, lint creamy.—Rather uncommon except

at Agege.

The characters of the above classes do not appear to be sufficiently

constant to render it easy to give each class a specific position,

although some of them are doubtless separable. All native forms of

plant are constantly of greater stature than American, and in this

particular resemble Egyptian kinds.

The red-linted form known as “Eponkon” is identical with the

“Dhoole” of Sierra Leone, and, although prolific, yields a cotton

which is of little value for export. The other four kinds are those

from which the Southern Nigerian output of exported cotton is almost

wholly obtained, and the price realised varies from ½_d_. under

to 1_d_. or more over Middling American. The finest cottons are

those grown at Agege and Meko; the former being supposed to be a

hybrid with an American variety, and the latter a constant local

variety. Some of the shipments, from Illushi, of cotton grown near

Agbede appear to have been of equally desirable quality.

A large number of specimens of cotton have been examined at the

Imperial Institute, and the length of fibre is generally found to

be over one inch in average, but the colour is yellowish, and there

is less lustre than is found in the American kinds. Although the

price obtained is often somewhat higher than that of the standard

Middling American grade, Manchester spinners do not regard West

African cotton as quite suitable for their ordinary requirements,

and it appears that the higher prices have only been paid for small

quantities which were capable of being used for special purposes.

For the reason mentioned, efforts have been made to replace

the indigenous cottons by American kinds, or to hybridise the

two, but the results have not yet been successful, the tendency

being to produce an irregular mixed lint, which is commercially

inferior. American and Egyptian cottons seem to be less capable

of withstanding the attacks of the local insect pests, and a

large proportion of the seed is rendered sterile by the cotton

seed bug. Grown experimentally on a small scale at Olokemeji,

the following results were obtained from several exotic and local

cottons (American Middling at 6·64_d_. per lb.):—

Yield Staple

Variety per A. Lint % average Value

lbs.

1. Black Rattler 82·5 36·36 1·3 in. 6⅝—6¾_d_.

2. Richmond 140 28·5 1·1 „ 6⅝-6¾_d_.

3. Eponkon 525 24·7 1·2 „ no demand

4. Abassi 210 31 1·5 „ 7⅛_d_.

5. Ashmouni 300 33·3 1·3 „ 6¾_d_.

6. Jannovitch 120 33·3 1·0 „ 6⅝-6¾_d_.

7. Kidney 340 41 1·2 „ 6¾_d_.

8. Georgia 150 36·6 1·1 „ 6⅝-6¾_d_.

9. Ogudu 490 28·5 1·5 „ 7_d_.

10. Sea Island 60 33·3 1·4 „ 6¾_d_.

11. Allen’s Improved 195 30·7 1·6 „ 7⅛_d_.

12. Culpepper B. Boll. 150 33·3 1·2 „ 6⅝-6¾_d_.

13. Jannovitch 240 33·3 1·5 „ 7_d_.

14. Peruvian 400 17·5 1·2 „ 6-6¾_d_.

15. Abassi 320 34·4 1·4 „ 7½_d_.

16. Jones’ improved 82·5 36·36 1·4 „ 6_d_.

17. Russell’s B.B. Crop entire failure

18. Hawkins’ Extra Prolific „ „ „

19. Sunflower Box Staple „ „ „

Of the above Nos. 1, 2, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, and 19

are American varieties, and were grown from seed supplied by the

British Cotton Growing Association; Nos. 4, 5, 6, 13 and 15 are

Egyptian; No. 9 is a Northern Nigerian variety from North Ilorin,

and Nos. 3 and 7 appear to be local kinds. These cottons are

referred to in Professor Dunstan’s Report (1907), “British

Cotton Cultivation.”

In addition to the susceptibility of the American varieties to the

attacks of the local insect pests, the seed produced from plants

grown in the country is often sterile. In the districts in the

vicinity of the British Cotton Growing Association’s ginneries

American and native cottons are often seen growing in the same field,

but as the time of reaching maturity differs in the various forms,

and the cotton is not easily kept separate in the native methods

of harvesting, a mixed crop is obtained. Experimenting at the

Moor Plantation at Ibadan, the British Cotton Growing Association

have obtained occasionally satisfactory results from the American

plots, as appeared to be the case in the 1908-9 season, when an

American “Upland” variety is said to have yielded 800 lbs. of

seed cotton per acre. In the previous year an indigenous variety

called “Meko” is recorded as having produced over 900 lbs. to

the acre. These results are largely dependent upon the season and

the time of sowing.

Artificial pollination of the female flowers of the local forms

with pollen taken from American kinds has not yet succeeded in

producing a permanent hybrid, although the result in the first

generation has frequently shown great promise. There is no doubt

that the establishment of a hybrid which would carry the lint of

the best American kind and retain the hardiness and blight-resisting

powers of the indigenous forms would be very desirable, but such a

type could only be evolved after careful experiment and selection

for a prolonged period. Such work may probably be undertaken

by the Agricultural Department in the future. Until this can be

scientifically taken up, the improvement of the existing forms by a

more gradual means should be attempted, namely by a careful selection

of seed and elimination of undesirable forms of plants in the field.