The agricultural and forest products of British West Africa

by Gerald C. Dudgeon

11. “Takanda” or “Karantalaka.”—The seed has not been examined, but the stem contains a large quantity of saccharine juice, and the plant is grown entirely as a cattle food. Probably identical with S. saccharum.

The first four kinds are regularly employed as food, and are found growing as a mixed crop; although the white grains are more appreciated and frequently predominate. Nos. 5 and 6 are not considered so good for human food, but are largely employed for feeding cattle and horses, for which latter purpose they are greatly in demand. No. 7 is used for the same purpose as the last, but is a rarity and of no special value. These seven kinds are grown as six-months’ crops, and are harvested in October when the rains cease. No. 8 is a three-months’ cropping kind, which in this particular resembles “Gero” (Pennisetum typhoideum), as its native name indicates. The grain is much smaller than the others, and it is said to be cultivated to some extent in the Sokoto Province. No. 9 is a variety which is said to be cultivated in Bornu in the fertile depressions which retain moisture for long periods, or by means of irrigation from the rivers. (See Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. iv. [1906], p. 226.)

Guinea corn is permitted to occupy the land for a number of years successively, being often grown with “bulrush millet” (Pennisetum typhoideum). In this case the millet occupies the furrow whilst the Guinea corn is on the ridge, and this is reversed when the soil from the ridge has been hoed into the furrow and the previous ridge becomes the furrow. In many parts of the northern districts it is customary to permit the Guinea corn root-stocks to remain in the ground for two or three years, and to fill in the vacancies only with new seed when the old plants die. By this system it is found that the crops are better assured, as the old root-stocks withstand a prolonged drought better than new plants. This custom, if persisted in, would be a direct hindrance to the introduction of ploughing.

Manure is applied regularly to this crop in the northern districts, but never in the Niger valley. The method of applying manure varies according to the condition of the crop. Where entirely new plants are to be grown, a shallow bed is made upon the top of the ridge or in the furrow, and the goat, sheep, and cow manure mixed with ashes, and accumulated carefully in the villages, is spread thinly upon the bed before the seed is sown. In other places, where old root-stocks occur, handfuls of manure are applied to the growing plants in May. This is sometimes adopted where young plants only are growing. Manure is so necessary for the system of cultivation adopted in the Kano and Zaria Provinces that every scrap of material which is of manurial value is carefully preserved, being carried to the fields by men and donkeys.

The heads are cut when ripe and tied in bundles to dry, after which the grain is readily beaten out in wooden mortars or with sticks. The flour made from the grain is ground between stones, and is frequently eaten in the form of a thin porridge. Two varieties of Nigerian Guinea corn have been examined at the Imperial Institute and shown to be superior to Indian Guinea corn, though not quite so good as the Syrian grain (Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. vii. [1909], p. 148.)

Smut-blights, Ustilago Reiliana and Tolyposporium sp. (called in Haussa “domana”), attack the heads, and a Capnodium sp. (called “derba”), the honeydew produced on the leaves by Aphis sorghi (cf. Bull. Imp. Inst., vol. xi. [1913]).

At certain stages, green Guinea corn is poisonous to cattle, and for this reason goats, sheep, and cows are muzzled in the Kano and Zaria Provinces. Local knowledge of this fact confirms what has been observed elsewhere with regard to this species, and is explained by investigations conducted at the Imperial Institute. (Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. i. [1903], and vol. viii. [1910].)

BULRUSH MILLET.—This plant, which is supposed to be of African origin and is usually called millet in West Africa, belongs to that group of grasses of which the seeding head is in a compact form and in appearance resembles the head of a bulrush, from which the common name applied to it has been derived. The botanical name is Pennisetum typhoideum, and the plant is known in the country as “Gero” or “Giro” (Haussa), and in India as “Bajra.” At least two varieties, a smooth and an awned form, are grown as three-months’ crops, and are sown either alone or as described before with Guinea corn. It is usual to plant millet seed before the Guinea corn, generally about the middle of April, or as soon as the first showers are experienced. The crop is then ready for picking in June and July. If the rainfall by this time has been deficient to such an extent that the Guinea-corn crop promises to prove a failure, a second crop of millet is often put in, and, as very much less rain is required for this crop than is necessary for Guinea corn, the severe effects of a short rainfall are minimised. The grain yielded by Pennisetum typhoideum would be classed commercially as a millet, and a sample from Nigeria examined at the Imperial Institute was valued at 22s. per quarter of 480 lb. (July 1908).

In addition to the two varieties mentioned which are employed as three-months’ crops, there is another kind with a smooth greyish-white large grain which is called “Maiwa” or “Dauro,” and is cultivated in the same manner as Guinea corn; occupying the land for from five to six months. The pagan Gwaris to the south of Zaria grow this in large quantities, but it is uncommon north of Zaria.

These grains are easily stored, and keep in good condition for a long time. Flour is made from the grain by grinding, and both the grain and leaves are used for cattle food.