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.