The agricultural and forest products of British West Africa

by Gerald C. Dudgeon

The tree is a native of Trinidad and the north-eastern part of South America, and is botanically classified in the Natural Order Sterculiaceæ, sub-Order Buettnerieæ, under the name of Theobroma cacao of Linnæus.

In the West Indies, from which the cultivation has spread into several tropical countries, three fairly well-marked varieties are recognised as commercially useful, and these bear the local names of “Criollo,” “Forastero,” and “Calabacillo.” The first of these is said to be identical with that occurring at Caracas, in Venezuela, and is usually called by the name of that place when exported from South America. The Criollo variety is the source of some of the highest-priced produce, but Forastero has some points in its favour for general cultivation, the chief of which appears to be greater hardiness. For this reason it seems to have become easily established in the islands of San Thomé and Fernando Po, where the sub-variety known as Amelonado is that of general occurrence, and to have spread from there to the mainland of West Africa. In Ceylon the Forastero variety is also much grown in plantations. The third variety, Calabacillo, yields an inferior product and does not appear to have been introduced into the eastern hemisphere.[1]

Cocoa, as shipped from the plantations, is the dried bean or seed, which has been removed from the fruit pod of the tree, and may or may not have been fermented before drying. The properly fermented seeds or beans find more favour in European markets than those which have not undergone the process, but it is chiefly in an imperfectly fermented condition that cocoa beans are exported from the Gold Coast. Attempts are being made to alter this, so as to produce a better quality.

Cocoa forms a very nutritious food, and beverage after preparation by the manufacturer, entering the markets in a manufactured form under the names of cocoa or chocolate. No native manufacture is employed in the Gold Coast, although cocoa butter has been extracted on a small scale at Odumase.

The following account is that which is generally accepted regarding the first introduction of the tree into the Gold Coast. About the year 1879 a native trader, named Tete Quasshi, brought some of the seed from Fernando Po and made a small plantation at Mampong, which is situated about ten miles north of Aburi in the Volta River District. The trees grew well, and the first crops of pods were said to have been disposed of to other natives at £1 per pod. Following the example of this trader, the Basel Mission Trading Association imported more pods from Fernando Po, and for some time they were able to dispose of them at a large profit. The variety introduced was Forastero-Amelonado, and was found to thrive extremely well under the local conditions prevalent in the districts of the Volta River, Kwahu, and Eastern Akim.

The first shipment of cocoa from the Gold Coast was made in 1891, when 80 lbs., valued at £4, were exported. From that time onward the annual exported quantity has increased somewhat irregularly until the returns for 1919 show 176,155 tons, worth more than £8,000,000.

No estimate can be given of the area at present under cocoa cultivation, for the reason that a large number of the cultivators only possess a few trees standing near their houses or scattered in their farms. Where plantations exist they are usually small, and, owing to the irregularity of the planting, no efficient idea of the possible production could be obtained by measurement of the planted area alone.

Since the settlement of the Ashantis into more peaceful modes of living, and the adoption by them of agricultural work, cocoa planting has rapidly spread through Ashanti-Akim, and new plantations may be found even westward of Kumassi. From Axim also there is an extension of cocoa-growing towards the north, and it has recently been stated that the most promising land for the cultivation of the tree is to be found to the west of the railway, between Sekondi and Kumassi. The once proverbially truculent and warlike Ashantis have recently, to a large extent, become peaceful cocoa planters. Plantations are also found under European control, often in combination with rubber or kola; but cocoa does not combine with rubber as satisfactorily as coffee, which is more frequently employed. Under “Rubber” some particulars of the plantations, whose returns are available, are supplied.

In common with many other cultivated plants, cocoa requires certain definite combinations of climate and soil to ensure remunerative cultivation, and unless these exist the introduction is not to be recommended. With regard to climate, a considerable rainfall is generally thought necessary, the intervals of dry weather not being too prolonged. The drainage of the land should be good, for if the water cannot drain away within a reasonably short time, the trees will be adversely and often severely affected. Although it is recognised that cocoa can sustain itself under conditions of drought for a short time, districts subject to periodical absence of rain for a month or more are unsuitable, and trees planted in such places will generally die after a brief period. The annual rainfall in the cocoa districts of Trinidad averages about 72 inches, but a much heavier fall is experienced in the plantations of Ceylon. In neither of these countries, however, is there an annual long period of complete drought, which is a feature common in most parts of West Africa; and even when an interval without rain occurs, the humidity of the atmosphere compensates for the absence of it. Ceylon is visited by a double monsoon or rainy season, which is also the case in a less marked degree in the Gold Coast. The next requirement of importance is a soil of suitable quality. It is generally considered best to select land which possesses a moderate amount of loose clay mixed with sand, and, if the surface be thickly covered with vegetable deposit, so much the better. Steep hillsides, stiff, boggy, sandy, or rocky land are to be avoided. The presence of low scrub on uncleared land is an indication of poverty of soil, although the presence of heavy forest does not necessarily guarantee the suitability of the locality, as imperfectly drained land often bears a heavy forest growth. Good natural drainage is essential, and is nearly always found where the land slopes and the rock underlying the soil is friable or deep. Natural drainage can often be improved by artificial means. The last important condition necessary is the selection of a position where shade and wind protection can be obtained naturally to as great an extent as possible. Plantations in valleys, sheltered by mountain spurs or by belts of high forest, are suitable, and such formations are met with in many parts of the Gold Coast and Ashanti. In these localities the climate as well as the positions and soil obtainable are generally so well adapted for the fruitful growth of cocoa that, even where the average annual rainfall is as low as 41 inches (the average at Aburi), plantations are proving successful, the regular distribution, humidity of the atmosphere, and the natural shade constituting a compensation for the shortage.

The native planter sows the seeds in small patches or in roughly prepared beds in the vicinity of water, often in such proximity to one another as to choke a number of the young plants. This form of nursery is met with throughout the forests, and it is common to find circular patches containing two or three hundred plants adjoining a road. In addition to this, a large number of seedlings are grown at, and distributed from, the Government Botanic Gardens. Native plantations are for the most part formed of irregular lines of trees, generally planted too closely. The evil effect of this does not become apparent until the trees attain a large size, when the excessive shade they afford to their fruit-bearing branches, which in cocoa consist of the trunk and main structure, prevents the fruit from forming and induces rot through want of evaporation of moisture. The native planter is slow to recognise this, and disinclined to remedy the matter by removing some of the trees. The distance at which cocoa trees are planted by the native is roughly from 7 to 10 feet apart, whereas that recommended for plantations in the West Indies and Ceylon varies, with the quality of the soil and the elevation, from 12 to 15 feet; the latter would be more suitable for most of the Gold Coast plantations. The advantage which the native planter sees in his method of planting is, that in addition to getting a larger number of trees into a given space, the density of their foliage soon becomes so great that weeds cease to grow beneath, rendering cultivation unnecessary. Until such a state has been arrived at, the cutting of weeds is an operation which may have to be performed twice, or even three times, in the year. This is the only form of cultivation given, no manure being used or any breaking of the soil done. In the West Indies it is not customary to disturb the surface soil, except in so far as it may be necessary to apply manure or remove catch crops; but even in these cases great care is exercised, as it is found that the cocoa tree is to a large extent a surface feeder, and spreads lateral fine roots at very little depth below the surface. Shade is obtained naturally to a large degree, but in the early years of the tree’s existence, cassava and plantains are planted to afford it. The plantation of Para rubber with cocoa has been recommended in such a manner that each would occur alternately in a diagonal line. This does not appear a very satisfactory plan, owing to the fact that Para rubber trees in West Africa shed their leaves annually at about the time that cocoa most needs shade. In the small patches of cocoa trees, which constitute most of the native plantations, permanent and sufficient shade is generally given by the surrounding forest trees, and it is of small importance in such cases to consider the plantation of permanent shade trees.