Liberia ^ 



Manager of the Company, with the assistance and support of 

 the Liberian Government. Similar measures brought about the 

 foundation of other stations at distances of from twenty-two to 

 one hundred miles from the coast at Mount Barclay, Kakatown 

 (Dukwia), Sikombe, Putu, and Woffoke ^ (Maryland). These 

 stations were occupied by foresters (mostly from the Edinburgh 

 Botanical Gardens) in the service of the Rubber Company. Tn 

 1905 Mr. D. Sim, one of these foresters, discovered the 

 Funtumia elastica (the rubber-tree of Lagos) existing in the 

 vast Nidi forest in the Sapo country behind Putu. The natives 

 soon realised the public importance of this asset, and are taking 

 great pains to see that the trees are not injured by excessive 

 tapping. Since the end of 1905 a number more rubber- 

 collecting stations in the interior have been opened by European 

 and negro foresters. The first of this new series was at 

 Kaitikpo's town, on the Farmington River, 



Rubber-collecting by the natives is carried on in two 

 ways : either as an individual enterprise — the native going 

 out into the forest and collecting rubber which he afterwards 

 brings for sale to the Company's stations or to the traders on 

 the coast — or by direct salaried employment at the hands of the 

 Company. 



The best rubber-collecting season is in August and from 

 October to March, during the (more or less) dry season ; but 

 this is because at that time of year the natives have less work to 

 do on their farms, and of course the slackening in the rainfall 

 makes outdoor work in the forests more agreeable. 



When rubber-collecting is undertaken by the natives on 

 their own initiative, their procedure is usually as follows : 

 Their wives prepare about three weeks' food, which they carry 



' Woffoke has since been closed. About four sub-stations, mainly under the 

 charge of Sierra Leone men or Liberians, depend on each head-station. 



420 



