GOLD COAST REPORT ON FORESTS. 23 



cm recently abandoned farm lands is intense, and the victory 

 falls to the lot of comparatively few species, such as the Waw- 

 iraic, the Off rain, the 'Atrama, and the Kaku, the first and 

 second of which appear to be specially adapted for quickly 

 gaining 1 the mastery over their competitors. As a rule, owing 

 to the practice of the natives of grubbing up and burning the 

 roots of the large trees felled on the sites of the more care- 

 fully farmed areas, the proportion amongst the individuals 

 forming the secondary growth (that springs up when the farm 

 lands are allowed to become fallow) of those that have origi- 

 nated from coppice shoots is not so large as one would expect ; 

 quite a respectable number have their origin from seeds blown 

 on to the clearings from trees in the adjacent woods. 



Three out of the four species 'mentioned above as being most 

 successful in the "struggle for existence' on recently aban- 

 doned farm lands possess winged seeds tJiat are sufficiently 

 bulky and heavy to enable them to reach the ground through 

 the usual dense growth of weeds that spring up on such areas. 

 The fourth species, the exception, is the Air a ma (Ricinoden- 

 dron africanu-s) ; its fruits are eagerly sought after by frugi- 

 roro/tx bats, but I have not yet been able to settle definitely 

 the question as to whether the fruits are carried a sufficient 

 distance by these mammals and then dropped or not. That 

 they do occasionally carry the fruits and drop them a short 

 distance from the trees is certain. Perhaps the reasons for the 

 dominance >of the Awama are to be sought for elsewhere. 

 Another point that favours these dominant species is their 

 rapid growth when young; this, coupled with the excellent 

 dispersal of the seeds and the ability of the latter to reach 

 the soil quickly, enables the plants to occupy new clearings 

 promptly. 



Enema Krom Concession . 



To the west of the railway line, Mr. Higginbotham, the owner 

 of the saw-mills, possesses another concession, in which he has 

 started a small rubber and cocoa plantation. The forests in 

 this direction are of much the same type as those growing to 

 the east of the railway, and, if anything, are of more recent 

 origin. The area has apparently been subjected to heavier 

 fellings in the past for farming purposes than the Gaiyin Krom 

 block. 



The dominant trees here are Dahomah, Off rant. II utr-tnnr, 

 and the Assomah (Parkia species). A few exceptionally well- 

 grown Odot/'inx (Chloro/ilioi-ii cscelxii) were seen, and one rare 

 species, the Pebedoum (Lovoa Klaineana), was found by 

 me for the first time. The wood of this tree is excellent; 

 it much resembles teak, and has been shipped home to Europe 

 by Apollonian timber merchants of the Axim district. The 

 example seen by me was of an exceptionally large sixe and 

 towered over the rest of the forest trees. 



The portion of the concession gone over was rather drier than 

 tiie block lying to the east of the railway, and a species of 



