50 COCONUTS, KERNELS, AND CACAO. 



generally obtained at Kano, and at Bida at least 1,400 

 Ibs. of kernels per acre were obtained in the 1912-13 

 season. A superior variety of ground-nut is grown in 

 the neighbourhood of Pategi, Ilorin Province, which 

 might be useful to draw upon for seed elsewhere. 



In the Gold Coast Colony, where the Hongkong as 

 well as the native variety is cultivated, at least in some 

 of the centres, crows and rodents seem able at times to 

 secure more than their fair share of the crop, in spite 

 of its being underground. 



In Gambia, ground-nuts which form by far the most 

 important article of cultivation in that colony alter- 

 nated with the staple food crops of the country viz., 

 guinea corn, maize, millet, and cassava, offer a fairly 

 useful form of rotation. 



At the beginning of each season, " strange farmers " 

 appear in Gambia, and take up the cultivation of the 

 ground-nut area, doing planting and harvesting on a 

 percentage system, so much going to the owner of the land. 

 After harvesting and selling, the strange farmer disappears 

 with his good profit, and may not perhaps be seen again. 

 There is never, however, any dearth of such farmers. 



Harvesting the crop is by far the most expensive 

 operation, and no system yet devised can do away with 

 the large amount of hand labour necessary for gathering 

 the crop. In Nyassaland it is dug and gathered in a 

 manner very similar to that employed for the Irish 

 potato crop. 



After harvesting, the nuts are usually sun-dried for 

 about a week, and not shelled until required for ship- 

 ment, but machines can now be secured to dry the nuts 

 artificially. 



