The agricultural and forest products of British West Africa

by Gerald C. Dudgeon

In the Selected Reports from the Imperial Institute, Part I., “Fibres” (Colonial Reports—Miscellaneous [Cd. 4588], p. 38), a full account is given of the composition of a specimen of the fibre received from Northern Nigeria. The character is said to be similar to jute, but it is apparently rather harsh, and therefore more suitable for use in rope-making than for spinning. The valuation placed upon it was £12 per ton, with common jute at £11—£12. A specimen of the brown ribbons was also examined and was reported on, the valuation being placed at about £4 per ton, with a remark that it would only be of use for paper manufacture.

During the last three years, since attention was first drawn to the probable value of the fibre as a jute substitute, the natives of Nupe and Muri have been urged to cultivate the plant and prepare the fibre for export. This has been done to a small extent, and the natives of the latter province are said to be willing to produce it at the local price of one penny per pound. At the valuation mentioned above it might scarcely prove remunerative to pay this local price, but it should be taken into consideration that the market price of jute was depressed at the time that the valuation was obtained. It seems that the product may be usefully cultivated, especially in the Niger Valley, where river transport is available, and it is probable that a better price would be quoted if a larger and regular supply could be relied on. The value of the fibre shipped from the country in 1908 is estimated in the Government returns at £1,382, and that for 1909 at £4,049.

Attention should be specially directed to the time of cutting the stalks for retting, and these should be treated before becoming too woody, when a much better product would result.

Experiments with Indian jute, as well as with certain Hibiscus fibres in West Africa, have shown that if the stems are permitted to become woody, the resulting fibre is harsh and coarse.

With regard to the probable production of fibre per acre, there are at present no data, but it may be stated for comparison that a good average yield of jute in India is taken as 2000 lbs. Carefully planted and treated in the same way, it is probable that rama would give as high a return, judging from the growth seen in the country. Jute in India, it should be remembered, is a manured crop, but rama in West Africa is only manured in the northern districts of Northern Nigeria, being cultivated without any special care in the Niger Valley.

WOOD OIL.—Following the order of value shown in the list of exported products, wood oil appears next. This is the oleo-resinous exudation obtained from Daniellia thurifera, a tree belonging to the Natural Order Leguminosæ, and allied to some of the species from which the West African copals are procured. This tree is commonly found in the dry country, but occurs also in the damp forests, where it frequently attains large dimensions. The wood oil is collected in many parts of West Africa, and is used as a substitute for “balsam of copaiba” in native medicine. The concreted resin formed on the trunks of the trees by the borings of coleopterous larvæ is used for burning as incense.

The native use of wood oil in place of “balsam of copaiba” induced merchants trading upon the Niger to export it, and at one time a fair quantity was sold in England. This export trade has recently diminished to a large extent.

The substance is an oleo-resin, and when free from oil has a similar appearance to copal. Upon examination of the resin, it has been found to be dissimilar in properties from the various freshly exuded resins which enter the market under the name of recent or soft copal. (Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vols. vi. [1908] and xiii. [1915].)

The mode of collecting wood-oil is somewhat destructive, as, in order to procure an excessive flow, a hollow is scooped out in the main trunk and a fire is kindled in the hole thus made. The oil commences to flow rapidly after the fire is extinguished, which it is necessary that it should be before a large quantity of oil has exuded, on account of the inflammability of the latter.

The application of fire to the trees does not appear to kill them, but they are rendered liable to attacks of noxious insects, and are often broken off by winds.