METHODS OF CULTIVATION 17 



held in trust by him for the tribe. A chief has no power 

 to alienate any portion of the land of a chiefdom, or 

 to grant to any one perpetual rights to any portion, but 

 the lease of land by an arrangement with the tribal council, 

 and with the approval of Government, should be satis- 

 factory for all requirements with regard to legal title. 



Labour. Plantations worked by chiefs at the instigation 

 of Government are usually supplied with labour by the chief , 

 although monetary assistance in the form of bonuses is 

 occasionally given. Under such conditions experimental 

 plantations of fibre, rubber, kola, etc., have been made. 

 There is no fixed rate of pay for labourers, but the usual 

 wage for an adult man, when hired, is from 6d. to 1.9. per 

 day. 



Cultivation. Throughout the country a shallow type 

 of cultivation is common, and one in which the bush 

 stumps and roots are not removed. The seeds of a 

 number of different kinds of agricultural crops are gener- 

 ally mixed together before being sown broadcast over 

 the lightly scraped soil of the burnt bush area. 



The object of retaining the bush stumps and roots 

 in the fields is that, after two or three years of culti- 

 vation, the bush may be easily reinstated, and again 

 after ten or fifteen years, when cut down and burnt, 

 it furnishes a supply of wood ash for the fertilisation of 

 the field. This application of ash constitutes the only 

 form of artificial renovation which the soil ever receives. 



Recently experiments have been made in the presence 

 of natives, in order to show the advantages of deep 

 cultivation. To effect this, without the employment of 

 ploughs, the fork kodalli hoe, recommended by the writer, 

 has been introduced and generally adopted. The sub- 

 stantial increase in the production of their rice fields 

 obtained by the use of this implement made a fortunate 

 impression among the natives. 



The native agricultural implements consist of a straight- 

 handled, narrow-bladed hoe called " kari " (Mendi), or 

 " katala " (Timani), and one formed from an angled 

 stick with a charred point, called " baowe " (Mendi), 

 or " kalal " (Timani). This last is used for drilling. In 

 addition to these, a large broad-bladed hoe, called " karu 

 wai " (Mendi), or " katala kabana " (Timani), is employed 

 for cleaning out weeds and scraping the soil surface ; 

 2 



