78 COTTON GROWING 



of the British Cotton Growing Association, the 

 (French) Association Cotonniere Coloniale and the 

 (German) Kolonial-Wirtschaftliches Komitee have 

 therefore been chiefly directed to encouraging the 

 natives to increase the areas devoted to cotton and 

 thus develop an export industry. These efforts have 

 already met with considerable success, especially in 

 the Southern Provinces of Nigeria, Dahomey, and 

 Togoland. 



Numerous attempts have been made to introduce 

 exotic varieties, especially American kinds, into West 

 African cultivation, but the indigenous plants appear 

 to be the most hardy and to yield the most satis- 

 factory crops. It would appear, therefore, that, in 

 future, the most promising line of work will be to 

 endeavour to improve the staple of the native varieties 

 by the introduction of modern methods of cultivation 

 and especially by a regular and sustained system of 

 seed selection. 



In the following paragraphs, a short account is 

 given of the efforts which have been made in the 

 different British West African Possessions and of the 

 present position and prospects of the industry in each. 



Nigeria : Southern Provinces. It is probable that 

 cotton has been a regular crop of the Southern Pro- 

 vinces for centuries ; it is employed by the natives 

 for the manufacture of their wearing apparel, and 

 during the American Civil War large quantities were 

 grown for export. The value of the exports in 1869 

 amounted to no less than 76,957, but from this time 

 the quantity exported rapidly diminished until in 

 1 879 the value of the exports was only 526. A small 

 export trade has since been regularly maintained. 



The British Cotton Growing Association have 

 devoted more consideration to the Southern Provinces 

 of Nigeria than to any other part of West Africa, 

 and a great deal of excellent work has been accom- 

 plished in co-operation with the local Government. 

 Experimental plantations were established at various 

 centres for carrying out trials with different varieties, 

 and for producing seed suitable for distribution to 

 the natives. Buying stations and ginning factories 



