310 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



September 23, 1916. 



THE ORIGIN OF THE GOLD COAST 

 CAOAO INDUSTRY. 



In the 'Hound the Empire' notes in the April number 

 of United Empire, it was stated that the cacao industry of 

 the Gold Coast was founded in 1879 by a native of Accra 

 ■who brought some cacao plants and pods from Fernando Po, 

 made a small plantation, and four years later sold the cacao 

 pods in the neighbouring villages; it was added that the first 

 .shipment of Gold Coast cacao, consisting of 80 B)., was 

 made in 1891. These statements, it is learnt from a note 

 in the United Empire for August, were based on information 

 contained in an Annual Report on the Colony for 1902 and 

 on information in a book Le Cacaoyer by Chevallier, pub- 

 lished in 1908. 



Mr. Rrandford Griffith now writes to the United Empire 

 with the object of dispelling the idea that the introduction of 

 cacao into the Gold Coast was due to a native. From 1 884 

 to 1888, Mr. Griffith was frequently in Akwapim, and he was 

 much interested in all economic products and took some 

 trouble to enquire into the coffee pests and had there been 

 any cacao in the district he thinks it would have come to his 

 knowledge. He goes on to say that at the end of 1886 or 

 early in 1887 (just after the cable had been laid to Accra) 

 his father, the late Sir William FJrandford Griffith, who was 

 then Governor, introduced cacao into the Gold Coast. He 

 procured some pods through the cable superintendent at San 

 Thome, planted some of the seedlings at Aburi, which was 

 then the Government sanatorium, and distributed the rest 

 amongst natives in the Akwapim hills. This, adds Mr. (!riftith, 

 was the beginning of cacao planting on the Gold Coast, and 

 Mr. Griffith well remembers seeing and handling the original 

 pods from which the huge cacao industry has sprung, the 

 magnitude of which will be grasped by reference to our 

 article on the Accra Cacao Output for 191-5 which appears 

 on page 318 of this issue of the Affricullural A'eivs. 



The C^urator's report from Dominica for the month of 

 August shows that operations of a routine nature comprised 

 the work in the Experiment Stations for that period. The 

 Botanic Gardens were severely injured by the hurricane of 

 the 28th, and it will require considerable time to remove 

 the fallen trees and prune the damaged ones. Plant distri- 

 bution comprised: 4,962 limes, 300 cacao, .500 coffee, 

 49 budded citrus, 3 grafted mango and 8 miscellaneous, 

 making a total for the month of .5,822. Produce shipped to 

 London included -5 bags cacao, 2 bags kola nuts, and I bag 

 nutmegs. 



COMPOSITION OF THE COTTON PLANT, 

 AND MANURING. 



The Experiment Stiition Record, \ ol. XXXIV, No 2, 

 contains a note showing the analysis (>f cotton at four stages 

 of development, namely, to the first form, the first bloom, 

 the first open boll, and maturity. The cotton plants were 

 grown under various fertilizer treatments and compared with 

 a standard fertilizer consisting of 468 lb. of acid phosphate, 

 36 H). of muriate of potash, and 130 ft), of nitrate of .soda 

 per acre. 



'The obvious indications of these results, as compared 

 with those yielded by application of the standard fertilizer, 

 are that substantial diminution in amount of either of the 

 principal ingredients of the plant's food, phosphorus, calcium, 

 potassium, or nitrogen, involve { 1 ) substantial reduction in 

 the weight (dry matter) of the plant in its entirety and in 

 the several periods of growth, particularly after settinc of 

 the form, and 1 2) the increase in time period from form to 

 bloom, from bloom to open boll, and in the maturing of the 

 plant. The proportion of ash to dry matter at any sta^e 

 of growth or relative amounts of nitrogen and mineral 

 ingredients does not appear to be seriously affected by the 

 amount of the food supply. This would seem to indxate 

 the important fact of the absence of a power in the plant 

 to store food in any particular period of growth beyond the 

 needs of the plant for the period.' 



A study of the effect of various fertilizers on the fat 

 content of the seed produced in these experiments showed 

 that 'the season affected notably the weight of the seed 

 and the fat content; a similar effect is noted in the 

 total weights of dry matter produced. The fertilizer seems 

 however, to affect the relative fat content. Assuming the 

 product from the standard fertilizer to be ''normal," it appears 

 that lack of phosphorus diminishes notably the storage of fat 

 and of potassium and nitrogen to some but a lesser decree.' 



ST. LUCIA LAND SETTLEMENT. 



The progress of the land settlement on Reunion estate in 

 St. Lucia is shown by the following statement, reproduced 

 from the Report of the Agricultural Department, St Lucia 

 1915 16:— 



SWEET POTATO still remains the favourite crop, and 

 .so long as it continues to be the most profitable, it is desirable 

 that no serious change be made. The price realized on the 

 spot varied from 4s. 6dto 6s. per sack, and in Castries from 

 6s. to 9s. 6rf. 



This settlement is fast becoming a productive centre for 

 the Castries market, which is not fully realized except per- 

 haps when the coasting boat temporarily ceases her daily calls 

 and then the shortage of provisions is keenly felt. 



Choiseul, owing to its arable light dry soil, is the chief 

 productive centre of the island for sweet jiotatoes. and some 

 idea may be formed of the extent of the provision industry 

 in this district when the record.s show that 2,777 .sacks of 

 sweet potatoes, 1,319 bunches of plantains and bananas 764 

 baskets of mixed vegetables, and 1 3 barrels of dry peas were 

 conveyed to Castries from this district during the year by 

 the coasting boat alone ; and if records were obtainable show- 

 ing the amounts shipped by sloop and canoe, this total would 

 be easily doubled. 



Many of the small areas in other districts which formerly 

 grew provisions havi' during the last two years been planted 

 wit^i limes, and in the course of a few years these areas will 

 u'l longer be avadabic for the production of vegetables It 

 is therefore necessary for the general welfare of the island 

 that there should be at least one large centre on the leeward 

 side of the island capable of producing and maintainini' 

 a steady supply of provisions to Cas^tries. The efforts of the 

 Agricultural Department at Choiseul are therefore chietiv 

 directed towards the developing of the present provision 

 industry, by extending the arsas under cultivation, and by 

 the introduction of new and more prolific varieties rather 

 than encouraging the cultivation of permanent or orchard 

 crops. 



