84 COTTON IN BRITISH WEST AFRICA 



efforts which have been made to foster the industry 

 have not yielded encouraging results. The disinclina- 

 tion of the natives to grow cotton was formerly due 

 to the fact that they could provide for all their require- 

 ments by means of palm-oil and palm-kernels, the 

 preparation and collection of which entail compara- 

 tively little labour. Moreover, it happened, very 

 unfortunately from the point of view of the cotton 

 industry, that just at the time when the British 

 Cotton Growing Association were striving to stimulate 

 cotton growing, cocoa cultivation came into prominence. 

 This crop is more profitable to the native than cotton, 

 and large numbers are now engaged in its production. 

 The exports of cocoa increased from about 5 million 

 Ib. in 1903 to more than 118 million Ib. in 1914. 



In spite of the lack of success attending the earlier 

 efforts, the Agricultural Department of the Gold 

 Coast continued their endeavour to create a large 

 cotton industry in the country. The sphere of work 

 was transferred to the Northern Territories, and an 

 agricultural station was established at Tamale in 

 1909, where experiments were made with the object 

 of ascertaining the best variety to grow, the most 

 satisfactory time for planting, and the most suitable 

 crops to grow in rotation with cotton. Attempts were 

 also made to acclimatise exotic varieties, and to 

 produce improved strains of indigenous cottons by 

 selection and hybridisation. Unfortunately, however, 

 these attempts to develop cotton growing in the 

 Northern Territories did not meet with success. The 

 yield of cotton was exceedingly small, and it was 

 considered useless to continue the efforts. In 1915 

 the enterprise was therefore abandoned. 



Sierra Leone. Cotton is indigenous to the country, 

 grows in almost all parts of the Protectorate, and is 

 cultivated by the natives for the manufacture of a 

 coarse kind of cloth which they wear much more 

 commonly than imported cotton goods. 



The methods of cultivation employed by the natives 

 are of a very primitive description. After cutting or 

 burning the bush, the field is roughly hoed. At the 

 commencement of the rainy season, cassava is planted, 



