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 15s. 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 | |
NIGERIA, SOUTHERN PROVINCES
