AGRICULTURE — GENERAL 323 



a large stock farm, where animals are bred for experimental pur- 

 poses and for the production of serum, at Vom on the plateau in 

 the Northern Provinces. The bulk of the anti-rinderpest serum 

 used in the immunization of cattle in the field is manufactured 

 there, as are all the vaccines used in the immunization of cattle 

 against blackquarter, pleuro-pneumonia and anthrax, and of dogs 

 against rabies. At Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Maiduguri and Yola, 

 field veterinary laboratories have been erected by the native 

 administrations mainly for the manufacture of rinderpest spleen- 

 vaccine for local use. At the Kano laboratory anti-rinderpest serum 

 is also produced to augment the supply from Vom. All these 

 laboratory products are used for the large-scale immunization of 

 cattle against the serious epizootics of the country; it is only by 

 such means that the diseases which once decimated the Northern 

 Provinces can be held in check and eventually eradicated. Cattle 

 owners are now fully aware of the value of these prophylactic 

 inoculations, which are given free, and are voluntarily bringing 

 their cattle in large numbers to the immunization camps. The 

 curative treatment of trypanosomiasis of cattle is also carried out 

 on a large scale by itinerant native inoculators. These curative 

 and preventive activities occupy most of the resources of the depart- 

 ment, but some research into problems of animal disease is con- 

 ducted at Vom. Hides and skins have also been a subject of study, 

 particularly with a view to increasing trade in the valuable Sokoto 

 red goat. For this purpose the department had been in close touch 

 with the British Leather Manufacturers' Association in England. 

 Improved methods in the production of ghee have also resulted 

 from work at Vom. Annual reports are issued. 



In the Gold Coast the Agricultural Department has central 

 laboratories and a directorate at Accra, and four experimental 

 stations. That at Tamale in the Northern Territories has an 

 area of 600 acres (200 cultivated), divided into five-acre blocks. 

 Experiments are concerned with methods of cultivation and manu- 

 rial trials in relation to yams, cassava, groundnuts, rice, green 

 manures and grasses. At Asuansi in the central provinces work is 

 carried on with citrus-fruits and bananas. The station at Kpeve in 

 Togoland is for crops typical of the forest country and the savannah 

 lands, such as cocoa, cassava, cotton, groundnuts, maize, and other 



