6 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS. 



salt spray; and, second, the annual scrub fires that are so com- 

 mon during the dry season. These dangers can be best met by 

 planting up the coast-line with a broad belt of casuarinas, then 

 behind them casuarinas and pithecolobiums, mixed, to form a 

 wind-break, and behind that, again, a mixture of deciduous- 

 leaved and evergreen trees. The whole belt of tree vegetation 

 should be at least half-a-mile broad. Simultaneously with this, 

 planting measures should be taken to ensure effectual protection 

 against fire for the belt so formed. I understand that firewood 

 is scarce in Accra, and has to be brought from the foot-hills to 

 the north of the town, a distance of some miles. Here, again, 

 by the creation of fuel reserves and effective fire protection, a 

 cheap and constant supply of fuel can be ensured, and, in addi- 

 tion, the soil can be enriched, protected, and eventually made 

 capable of bearing fairly good agricultural crops. As things 

 stand at present, the fertility of the soil is being gradually 

 destroyed year by year, and there is no doubt that a time will 

 come when it will be incapable of supporting vegetation of any 

 economic value. 



Re-afforestation, combined with adequate fire protection, will 

 prevent such a disastrous state of affairs, and play a prominent 

 part in re-establishing the fertility of the soil, increasing the 

 quantity of water held by it in suspension, and eventually making 

 it suitable for agricultural purposes. 



The Accra Plains. On my way to Aburi I had an opportunity 

 of observing the character of the vegetation growing on the plains 

 between Accra and the foot-hills of the range on which Aburi 

 is situated. As far up the road as Kamantang the country is 

 very arid and covered with scrubby vegetation. The latter 

 consists mainly of dwarfed acacias (probably Acacia catechu), a 

 spiny Capparis, Bridelia, Euphorbias, a few scrambling Coinbre- 

 tums and short grass. The introduced opuntias (prickly-pear 

 cactus) and agaves are also growing here and there as escapes. 

 The soil consisting mainly of weathered laterite is but poorly 

 covered with vegetation, and is often exposed in large patches, 

 but in the hollows, formed by old dried-up watercourses, where 

 alluvial deposits exist, a rank growth of fairly long coarse grass 

 has sprung up, and gives a certain amount of protection to the 

 soil. Trees, except those planted by man, are scarce on the 

 plain. The niO'St characteristic wild ones are the fan palm 

 Borassus flabelliformis var. aethiopica, an arboreal Evpliorbia 

 with a thick woody stem, succulent fleshy leaves, and a rounded 

 crown, and two species of baobabs (Adansonia). These trees, 

 however, are few and far between and do not alter the general 

 scrubby character of the vegetation, which is typical of the arid 

 plains of West Africa. On alluvial patches the fan palm is 

 inclined to be gregarious. The whole of this plain is subject 

 to fires, and at the time of my visit the scrub was burning in 

 all directions. It is on these plains that re-afforestation and fire 

 protection will give the best results. 



The Savannah Forests. Between Kamantang and the main 

 Aburi range the low scrub vegetation, described above, gives 



