Liberia **- 



Rice is reaped by being cut in bundles by a small knife — 

 such bundles of grain-heads as can be grasped by the hand : 

 a very slow mechod of gathering. There is no such thing in 

 native husbandry as a scythe or sickle : the nearest approach to 

 this is the billhook {siaii) of the Vai. Maize (Vai, nyoro) 

 grows exceedingly well in Liberia, but is surprisingly little 

 cultivated by the natives or even by the Americo-I.iberians, 

 though green corn would be such a luxury for the table and the 

 ripe maize would certainly be worth exportation. It is grown 

 most of all in the Vai country. 



Guinea corn or sorghum (Holcus) (a grain, no doubt, of 

 Indian origin introduced very early into Egypt and the rest of 

 Africa) is but little cultivated in Liberia. No doubt the climate 

 of the forest region is too wet. The Vais call this grain kend^ 

 and cultivate it in the interior. It is also met with among the 

 Mandingo, the Buzi, and the Kisi peoples. Pumpkins are much 

 cultivated and gourds are grown everywhere, to provide utensils, 

 drinking-cups, sounding-boards of musical instruments, dishes 

 and bowls. 



The native agricultural implements are few and simple. 

 They are the ordinary African hoe (wood or iron), a matchet or 

 long swordlike knife with a broad blade (nowadays imported 

 from Europe), a small narrow axe, a billhook for lopping 

 branches, a pointed stick for digging, and a fevf knives. All 

 attempts to introduce the plow (or even the spade) have failed. 

 The soil is too hard, there are too many tree stumps or roots 

 for either implement to be conveniently applied to Liberian 

 agriculture. The natives take readily to the use of the saw 

 and adze, to the sickle and even to the scythe ; but the plow 

 and spade — those most inappropriate emblems on the shield of 

 Liberia — will long remain strangers to its agriculture. 



The principal «/f««7j used for cooking and eating are gourds, 



100? 



