COTTON 143 



20,000,000. This area of 450,000 square miles represents 

 an extent of nearly 300,000,000 acres, or about three- 

 quarters of the area of the cotton States of America. It 

 is therefore evident that the extent of territory to be in- 

 vestigated was enormous. 



As regards the question of Agricultural Departments, I 

 must point out that owing to inexperience, and owing also 

 to the fact that there was not a single official in West 

 Africa who had any practical experience of cotton growing, 

 the Association was obliged to spend large sums of money 

 not only in proving where cotton could be grown, but also 

 where it could not be grown. I do not think I can exagger- 

 ate the importance of this point. Money spent in scientific 

 investigation in tropical countries will ultimately save the 

 waste of hundreds of thousands if not millions of pounds. 

 This applies just as much to rubber, sugar, and other pro- 

 ducts as it does to cotton. Time after time the Association 

 made representations to this effect fo the authorities at 

 the Colonial Office, and I am afraid even to-day the abso- 

 lute necessity of having a properly equipped Agricultural 

 Department in each of our Colonies is not fully realised. 

 After continued representations, in 1904 the Government 

 appointed Mr. Gerald C. Dudgeon as Superintendent of 

 Agriculture for West Africa, but on his retirement the 

 vacancy was not filled. I am glad to say that the position 

 to-day is somewhat better than it was in 1902, when the 

 Association first commenced operations. One great diffi- 

 culty is that there is no proper system of training experts. 

 Further, there is no organised system for collecting and 

 collating information so that one colony can benefit by 

 the experience of another. 



In order to meet this want the Association urged the 

 Government to organise a central authority or Bureau for 

 Tropical Agriculture. A small scientific committee was 

 appointed, but I am not aware whether this Committee 

 ever held a meeting. I have at any rate never seen any 

 report of its proceedings. 



The Association on its part, as a first step, in 1903 

 engaged a number of practical planters from America, and 

 these men were sent out to Gambia, Sierra Leone, the 

 Gold Coast, Lagos, and Southern Nigeria. It was then 

 found that cotton of fair quality was growing in the wild 

 state, and that in various districts a considerable quantity 

 was grown for local consumption. 



I will not weary you with the details of the work, 

 but I must draw attention to one important fact, which we 



