232 
selecting Cotton for — of staple may be adduced in evidence 
of the value of such w 
Soil questions also eh up a wide field of research, as it is 
not uncommon to find that plantations or some. portions of 
them have been made where the soilfis not suitable for a parti- 
cular plant and disease manifests itself because of such unfavour- 
able conditions. The primary cause of the trouble being bad 
conditions and not the fungus or insect pest which is the obvious 
result. 
In addition to research, instruction should also be an important 
function of a Tropical Botanic Garden, for intelligent labour 
both in the Garden itself and in the plantations is essential to 
success and progress. 
no place can such instruction be better given than in a 
Rasen Garden, especially to boys and young men, since they 
can become acquainted with all the important economic plants 
and acquire a sound practical knowledge of their culture and 
methods of propagation in the course of their ordinary duties, 
and on this can be built up a theoretical knowledge by means 
of lectures and demonstrations. 
A properly equipped Botanic Garden can thus play a very 
important and most essential part in a colony whose welfare 
depends largely on the success of plantation enterprises, and it 
is to be hoped that the Victoria Gardens will fill this rdle when 
they have been restored and are maintained in a state of 
efficiency. 
NIGERIA. 
Nigeria offers many striking contrasts to the British sphere 
of the Cameroons, both as regards its physical features and the 
methods of cultivation employed. In the Cameroons the soil 
is for the most part fertile and consists of decomposed voleante 
rock with an abundant water supp 
In Nigeria, the soil is mainly laterite with granitic rocks in 
the Northern Territories, and not only is the water supply very 
poor, but in the Northern territories there is a dry season of 
some 6-7 months which seriously hampers agricultural operations. 
In Nigeria too the land is mainly in native hands and the 
native plots under cultivation with such introduced products as 
Cacao, Rubber, American Cotton, &c., are relatively small and 
separated from one another by broad belts of bush. 
Fungoid diseases, therefore, though often present owing to 
faulty planting or to unsuitable conditions, are not able to 
spread far and wide, as they can under an extensive plantation 
system and remedies when suggested are as a rule not adopted 
owing to the ignorance or indifference of the native cultivators. 
Such conditions thus minimise to some extent the need of 
skilled scientific workers, though they may still find much to do 
in investigating the causes of disease. Any control work that 
may be needed should come well within the competence of the 
itinerant agricultural officers. 
