SOIL SCIENCE 133 



Calton, and Milne (1933). The streams, originating on volcanic 

 rock, contain much soda in solution, and this may have serious 

 effects on the coffee plantations on the lower slopes of the moun- 

 tain. 



Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia are not included in the East 

 African map. For the former A. J. W. Hornby (1935) has pub- 

 lished a detailed soil map of the territory at the south end of Lake 

 Nyasa, in connection with the agricultural survey, and he has 

 prepared a draft map of the whole country. For Northern Rho- 

 desia, C. G. Trapnell and J. N. Clothier (1937) have published 

 soil-vegetation maps for the north-western area as a result of the 

 ecological survey. 



In the West African Colonies there are three agricultural chemists 

 in Nigeria, one in the Gold Coast, none in Sierra Leone or the 

 Gambia, but the Director of Agriculture in Sierra Leone, Dr. F.J. 

 Martin, was formerly chemist in the department, and is one of the 

 pioneers of African soil science. Periodic interterritorial confer- 

 ences have not yet become established recurrent events as they 

 have in East Africa; the last held was the second conference of 

 West African agricultural officers, in the Gold Coast in 1930 

 (Conference, West Africa, 1930), which included a section devoted 

 to soil science. 



Nigeria is a difficult country to cover by soil survey on account 

 of the extreme diversity of conditions, but for this very reason — 

 the large variation in climate and geology over what in Africa is 

 a small area — work there might achieve results of fundamental 

 importance comparatively quickly. The three agricultural chemists 

 have already done much. 



In the Northern Provinces a chemical laboratory is maintained 

 at Samaru where the work deals mainly with animal nutrition and 

 soil analysis of a specialized nature, mostly concerning local 

 manurial trials and pot experiments with farmyard and artificial 

 manures. The Moor Plantation Laboratory at Ibadan, where 

 Mr. Doyne is the chief chemist, is carrying out a soil survey of 

 Nigeria, in addition to soil investigations directly connected with 

 the work of the agricultural department. Some thousands of soil 

 samples have been collected, many being profiles taken several 

 feet in depth, and most of these have been analysed. The variation 



