The agricultural and forest products of British West Africa

by Gerald C. Dudgeon

Although a considerable number of trees have been planted and are bearing fruit in the Western Province, the demand for kolas for native consumption is so great that there is a large import trade from the Gold Coast.

The kola nut is chewed in much the same manner as the betel nut in the East. It is greatly appreciated for its sustaining qualities, and forms a token of friendship exchanged among high-grade natives, as a preliminary to an important discussion of any kind.

FIBRE.—Experiments have been made at the Olokemeji Botanic Station with indigenous fibres, and a small factory has been erected at Ilaro, where a machine capable of extracting fibre is said to have been instituted. The reports upon some of the local Hibiscus fibres have been satisfactory. These are capable of utilisation as jute substitutes, and it may be possible to grow them in the crop rotation of the country at some future time for the purpose of export. (See Selected Reports from the Imperial Institute, No. 1 “Fibres,” pp. 38, 52, 83, 89, and 114.)

Piassava (Raphia vinifera) fibre is prepared and shipped, especially from Uwet in the Eastern Province, the export amounting to 319 tons in 1910.

LEATHER.—A small trade in leather is done among the Yorubas, and tanners may be met with chiefly in the north of the Western Province. The process employed in the preparation of the goat and sheep skins used is similar to that of Northern Nigeria. (See Report on “Leather from Lagos,” Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. iv. [1906], p. 366, and articles on “Native Leather of West Africa,” Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. vi. [1908], pp. 175-81 and vol. viii. [1910], pp. 402.)

TOBACCO.—Tobacco is produced near Ibadan, and large quantities are sold in the King’s market of that town. It is probable that the curing of the leaf is done completely in the sun, as the prepared material is of a rather light colour and has a mild flavour. The leaves are apparently rather mixed, and old or immature examples are frequently included in the same grade.

Experiments will be taken in hand with a view to the improvement of the quality, but at present the local demand is so great that there is little prospect of an export trade becoming established. Recent work in Nyasa-land has shown that good pipe smoking tobacco, suitable for consumption in England, can be produced in Africa.

SILK.—The preparation of a silk yarn, carded and spun from the boiled cocoons of wild silkworms, is a common occupation of some of the women of Ibadan. The identity of the insects producing the silk has been determined to be Anaphe infracta and A. venata, both of which form congregated masses of cocoons. The yarn is of a brown colour, and is woven with cotton into a cloth which is called locally “Saṉyaṉ.” It is much valued by the natives on account of its durability. The silkworms show some sign of becoming scarce owing to the utilisation of the pupæ as food. (See Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, 1910, p. 150; 1916, p. 168; and 1920, p. 319.)

COCONUTS.—The preparation of copra is carried on at Badagri, where a large coconut plantation exists. Great alarm was recently caused to the proprietors through the attack of a scale insect (Aspidiotus destructor), which destroyed the leaves of a very large number of trees. The advent of this pest was, however, quickly followed by the vast multiplication of the numbers of a species of large ladybird beetle, which soon checked the spread of the scale. The directions issued by the Forestry Department with regard to the means of destroying the infected leaves also assisted in the extermination of the blight.

MAHOGANY AND EBONY.—Among the valuable exported products from the country, mahogany and ebony must be regarded as occupying an important place. The largest proportion of the timbers exported to Europe and sold under the name of mahogany are obtained in the Central Province, and are cut from trees belonging to the genera Khaya, Pseudocedrela, and Entandrophragma, of the Natural Order Meliaceæ. Mr. Thompson, Conservator of Forests, remarks that a fair number of logs cut from a species of Guarea, of the same Natural Order, have been shipped, and have obtained good prices in Europe.