322 SCIENCE IN AFRICA 



In Nigeria the directorate of the Agricukural Department is at 

 Ibadan, where also are the central laboratories for chemical, 

 botanical, and entomological research. In the Northern Provinces 

 there is an additional centre at Samaru near Zaria with labora- 

 tories and an experimental farm for crops. Five miles away is the 

 large government stock farm of Shika, which is devoted entirely to 

 the improvement of native stock for the dual purpose of draught 

 and milk production. In addition there are four other experi- 

 mental farms, varying in size from lOO to 250 acres, devoted 

 to both arable farming and animal husbandry; numerous smaller 

 farms, of about 40 acres each, serve partly for experimental work 

 and partly for demonstrations and there are still more numerous 

 demonstration farms of ten to twelve acres. Selection work is 

 carried out in all the local crops; both those grown for export 

 and for food; but a main object of all these farms is the study of 

 problems connected with the new system of mixed farming which 

 is being successfully introduced. These problems include manage- 

 ment and nutrition, the new field methods necessitated by the 

 use of cattle-drawn implements, rotations based on the use of 

 farmyard manure, the production of fodders and the improvement 

 or creation of pastures. 



In the Southern Provinces, in addition to Ibadan, there are four 

 experimental farms varying from 52 to 500 acres, which deal with 

 oil-palms, cocoa, citrus fruits, cotton and coffee among export 

 crops, with kola and with native food crops such as yams, maize, 

 cassava and beans. In all these crops, selection and breeding work 

 is carried out by specialist officers and field experiments deal with 

 rotations and other cultural methods. A special feature of study 

 has been crop rotation with green manuring in place of shifting 

 cultivation, which has been submitted to experimental proof over 

 a number of years. Cocoa is studied at two special isolated farms. 

 Problems connected with the export of pineapples, the local green- 

 skin oranges and grapefruit are under investigation, and work has 

 been started on the improvement of village poultry. Annual 

 reports are published by the department and a series of annual 

 bulletins, started in 1922, were discontinued on account of the 

 economic depression. 



The Department of Animal Health has a central laboratory and 



