The agricultural and forest products of British West Africa

by Gerald C. Dudgeon

FIBRES. Jute Class.—In the last few years several fibre plants indigenous to the country have been experimented with at the Imperial Institute, in order to ascertain whether any were capable of being exported for use as substitutes for Indian jute.

Honckenya ficifolia, known by the Timani name of “Napunti,” a plant which occurs in great profusion in the swamps and low lands, yields a fibre of excellent quality, but owing to the difficulties experienced in the extraction of it, further experiments are necessary to devise a means by which it can be economically prepared. The analyses of the fibre from this plant which have been made at the Imperial Institute (see Selected Reports from the Imperial Institute, Part I. [Cd. 4588], Fibres, p. 40) are very satisfactory, and this, combined with the fact that the natural supply of the plant is very large in districts which are quite useless for agricultural purposes, renders it important that the methods of extraction should be more carefully studied.

Among the other fibres of this class which have shown promise, Hibiscus quinquelobus, to which the Mendis give the name of “Korwey,” is found in a wild state in variable profusion throughout the country. Unlike the last, which produces erect stems growing close together, this plant has stems of an almost scandent character, growing under the shade of moderately large trees and perforating the upper branches, so that the flowering stems are often seen fifteen feet or more above the ground. Under cultivation the experiments seemed to show that the elongated character of the stems was not maintained, and this defect requires to be remedied if the fibre is to be prepared upon a commercial scale. The extraction is easily done by retting, and experimental shipments to Europe of several tons have shown that the product is quite marketable and is classed with, or a little below, medium jutes (ibid. p. 39).

Recently experiments were carried out in the extraction of fibre from Hibiscus esculentus, the “okra” of tropical countries. A specimen of the fibre having been examined at the Imperial Institute and favourably reported upon (ibid. p. 35), a plantation was made at Kangahun, in order to endeavour to produce a crop, which should have the additional advantage of yielding a marketable supply of the vegetable okra pods before being cut down and made into fibre. In order to do this, the seed was sown at close intervals, thereby introducing a straight growth of stem, and care was exercised not to permit the fruiting to continue long enough for the stems to become coarse. The fibre was extracted in the same manner as that of jute, except that the stems were immersed in a solution of caustic soda before retting to remove the thin outer bark. The marketed fibre from the first of these experiments realised an unsatisfactory price, but it was estimated that the crop of pods yielded £3 per acre.

Corchorus capsularis, one of the Indian jutes, was introduced and planted out in 1906, but the existing native methods of cultivation and the absence of manure rendered the conditions so different from those obtained in India, that a successful result was not brought about. Two species of Corchorus are found in the country, and are used only as vegetables.

Ramie Fibre.—Plantations of Ramie fibre or China grass were recently made in various parts of the Protectorate, but although the plant grows well during the rainy season, the long period of dry weather is detrimental to it.

Piassava.—This fibre is produced from the sheath of the leaf stem of Raphia vinifera, the wine palm, and is prepared at several places, especially in the swampy districts near the coast. The method of extraction is merely that of steeping and beating out, and the resulting fibre is, in appearance, somewhat similar to fine whalebone. The largest amount was exported in 1915, when the figure reached 1,283 tons. The price in this year attained £61 per ton. The fibre is chiefly employed for the manufacture of stiff brooms.

COTTON.—The native cotton of Sierra Leone showed promise, at one time, of great development, but insurmountable difficulties met the efforts of the British Cotton Growing Association in their attempt to establish cotton growing for export upon a large scale.

The native mode of growing cotton is in combination with a number of other agricultural crops, the seeds of all being mixed before being broadcasted in a field, which has been lightly tilled. Cotton sown in this manner is permitted to yield crops for two seasons, but the second crop is generally much inferior. Owing to this irregular manner of planting, the amount of cotton available for use is small, and is nearly all absorbed for the supply of the native looms; being readily saleable in the weaving districts at about 2d. per lb. of seed cotton, or about twice as much as the British Cotton Growing Association were prepared to pay.

The inefficiency of the quality of the local cultivation, and the disinclination on the part of the native to adopt better methods, effectually prevented more cotton being grown, and the British Cotton Growing Association were unable to obtain sufficient material to keep their ginnery employed.