8 THE GAMBIA 



th 



TiY 



e selection and distribution of seed had been carried out. 

 For several years the Government has been accustomed to 

 purchase a certain quantity of the best nuts each season, 

 and to distribute these at sowing time to the cultivators, 

 on credit. Without this precaution, in a season when the 

 prices for nuts were high, the thriftless native would be 

 induced to sell every nut, reserving nothing for sowing 

 the next year. The system adopted is greatly appreci- 

 ated by the cultivators and merchants alike, and has 

 without doubt contributed largely to the prosperity of 

 the country. Seed is not only interchanged, in this 

 manner, with advantage between different districts, but 

 fresh seed is sometimes also provided from Senegal. 



The immigrant or " strange farmers " are generally 

 welcomed by the land- owners, who usually manage to 

 lease them the fields which require the most cleaning. 

 After the immigrant farmer has reaped his groundnut 

 crop, the field is left in a good state of tilth for the owner 

 to sow his guinea corn. 



The occurrence of ruinous competition among mer- 

 chants at Bathurst induced them to form a " combine " 

 to regulate the buying price of nuts ; the purchases being 

 pooled and then divided according to a fixed scale. A 

 recent attempt to divert Gambian nuts to Senegal ports 

 for shipment, by the levy of an import tax at Mar- 

 seilles, was opposed by the French and British merchants 

 alike, and the fear that the produce might only be 

 diverted to another destination led to its abandonment. 

 For further information regarding the cultivation, varieties 

 and uses of groundnuts, see Bulletin of the Imperial 

 Institute, vol. viii. (1910), pp. 153-72. 



RUBBER. A good quality of rubber is produced in 

 the Jolah country, in particular, from Landolphia Heude- 

 lotii, an apocynaceous vine, which grows commonly in 

 the grass lands of Fogni. 



The vine is tapped by women, who, after digging a 

 hole near the root of the plant, make a number of trans- 

 verse cuts upon the root-stem. The latex flows rapidly 

 from such cuts, and is coagulated by throwing salt 

 water on the wound. The scrap rubber which forms 

 is collected the following day, and the pieces are attached 

 to one another, forming an open sponge-like ball of a 

 pinkish-white colour. Sand is often present in these 



