Vol, XVI. No. 384. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



13 



THE GOLD COAST. 



A very instructive paper by Mr. A. E. Kitson, Director, 

 Geological .Survey, Gold Coast, comprising considerations of 

 the Colony's structure, people and natural history appears in 

 the Geographical Journal for November 1916. In view 

 of the great importance of the Gold Coast as a cacao-pro- 

 ducing country, and the bearing which this has upon the 

 West Indies, it may prove of interest to record in this Journal 

 some of the observations which Jlr. Kitson makes. 



At the outset reference is made to the rapid advance 

 which the country is making in every way. Railways 

 are being steadily e.xtended into the rich agricultural districts, 

 and bringing quickly to the ports, Accra and Sekondi, their 

 rich products, especially cacao. It is pointed out that the 

 cacao-growing industry lias increased nearly ten-fold in the 

 last ten years. In annual value of e.\ports it now takes 

 first place, having superseded gold. It is still rapidly expand- 

 ing, and the writer is of opinion that if the native farmer 

 could be induced to realize the necessity for adopting better 

 methods of cultivation and sanitation, there would be practi- 

 cally no limit to the expansion of the industry. 



The paper then goes on to describe the climatic condi- 

 tions, and the different sections into which the country is di- 

 vided geographically. The intermediate region consisting in 

 the main of the dissected plain rising northward from the 

 coast to a height of about 900 feet, embraces the main thick 

 forest belt of the country, and is the principal farming and 

 cacao-growing country, and furnishes most of the wild rubber, 

 kola nuts, and mahogany of the colony. The mahogany logs 

 are cut in the forest and dragged by teams of labourers over 

 rollers of wood to the railway, or to streams down which 

 they are floated in the rainy season to the sea. 



In describing the geographical section of the country 

 known as the interior plains, it is said that this has the gen- 

 eral character of a well open forest of low trees with patches 

 of high grass, and of wide expanses of grass almost or wholly 

 devoid of small shaggy trees. During the dry season follow- 

 ing the rains, the natives cut as much of this grass as they 

 want and burn the rest. This seasonable burning of the coun- 

 try has its advantages and its drawbacks. Without burning 

 the grass, progress through the country in many places would 

 be extremely slow and laborious, and travel would need to be 

 confined to overgrown native paths or the tracks of large game. 

 Farm lands could not be so easily worked, and millions of 

 insects would escape destruction. But, on the other hand, 

 vast numbers of young trees are destroyed, and none but the 

 hardiest as a rule survive the fiery ordeal. 



Much of what immediately follows concerns more 

 particularly the geology of the country. That relating to 

 the inhabitants of the country is of general interest, while 

 that concerning the occurrence of minerals is important. 

 Regarding the occupation of the people, it should be noted 

 that besides agriculture, there is a good deal of hunting, 

 spinning and weeving locally grown cotton, wicker working, 

 leather working, salt making, pot making, and bee keeping. 

 An important industry along the coast is fishing, while in the 

 northern territories the food supply of the country is catered 

 for by the natives who rear sheep, goats, cattle, and fowls, 

 and bring them down regularly every dry season to the big 

 markets in Coomassie. The stock routes, as they are called, 

 are the scenes of many deaths of both man and beast. 

 Water is frequently unavailable, bush fire.s prove sometimes 

 dangerous, while the mosquito, and particularly the fse-tse fiy, 

 are a grave menace to health. 



Considerable space is devoted in the paper to an 

 enumeration of the indigenous plants of economic value or 

 use in the country. Reference is made to oil nuts, to the 



Dawa dawa, a long bean like the locust bean, which has 

 a rather sweet yellow pulp, which is eaten when ripe, while 

 the seeds are crushed and made into a thick paste and sold. 

 The piassava, or wine palm, found only in the moister 

 country, is tapped for wine, and is used largely for baskets, 

 canoe poles, thatch for houses, and cords. In this con- 

 nexion, although arrowroot is very common in the wet 

 zone, it is not apparently used as a food, though its leaves 

 are used for thatching. Commonly cultivated plants include 

 cacao, plantain, banana, yam, coco yam, cassava, sugar-cane, 

 maize, millet, ground nut, coco-nut, bean, rice, and all the 

 vegetables and fruits common in the West Indies. There is 

 a prospect of developing a valuable copra industry on the 

 Gold Coast. Millet, ground nuts and the better tobacco are 

 grown in the more open and drier districts of Ashanti and 

 the territories. Excellent rice is grown in the country. 



Turning to the zoological characteristics of the country, 

 it is stated that lions are to be found in parts of the northern 

 territories and Ashanti, while leopards and other Felidae are 

 common in the thick forests and the open forest country 

 where caves afford shelter. The mongoose is plentiful in 

 the drier parts of the country. Of big game there appear 

 to be large quantities which furnish material for hunting. 

 Baboons are very numerous in the dry country, and in common 

 with the larger antilopes and elephants, do a great deal of 

 damage to farms located some distance from villages. The.se 

 are such a pest in some districts that no foodstuffs can be 

 raised except immediately around the houses of the villages. 

 A company of fifty to 100 baboons, or a herd of elephants 

 will clear a field of maize in a few minutes, destroying 

 much more than they can eat. 



The writer of the paper under notice then gives an 

 account of the birds and reptiles. Coming to insects, he 

 .states that the ants are the most interesting insects in the 

 country. There are several kinds that deserve special mention. 

 Foremost are the drivers, with their highly organized com- 

 munal system and ceaseless energy. Foraging ants in small 

 parties or companies raid the home of other insects. Pale- 

 brown tree ants infest certain kinds of trees, among them the 

 kola. There are also the small black ants and the large dark 

 stench ants. Termites are also a nuisance in some parts of 

 the country. 



This concludes the inftirmaticjn contained in the paper 

 that is likely to prove of interest to the general reader of 

 the Agricultural News. We cannot conclude without con- 

 gratulating the writer upon the exceptionally fine photo- 

 graphs, taken by himself, with which the paper is illustrated. 

 These photographs give a very good general idea of the 

 scenery and geology and people of the country. 



In an article on rhododendrons and lime, Nature for 

 February 17, 1916, makes reference to the discovery of 

 rhododendrons growing on limestone rook in India. As 

 a general rule species of rhododendron are chalk-avoiding 

 plants. The abhorrence of lime by the humus-loving 

 rhododendrons appears to be intimately connected with the 

 symbiotic fungus which lives in association with the roots 

 of the rhododendron and heath family (Ericaceae), and 

 performs the function of the root hairs in absorbing water 

 from the soil; and it may be that the fungi as.sociated with 

 the mycorrhiza of the humus-loving form of rhododendron 

 are physiologically, if not specifically, distinct from those of 

 lime-tolerant species. 



