CAMWOOD AND COPAL 37 



The Agricultural Department conducted several com- 

 parative trials with Indian and local varieties of rice. 

 The Indian rices were much smaller in size of grain and 

 were generally not considered so suitable as the local 

 kinds, with respect to which it was found that, with a 

 sufficiency of seed used in sowing and deep cultivation, 

 excellent crops could be secured. The native method of 

 using less than half a bushel of seed to sow an acre is 

 accountable for much of the resultant crop becoming full 

 of weeds. Excellent results were obtained in sowing 

 1 J to 3 bushels per acre, when the weeds were choked out. 



CAMWOOD. This material, from which red dye is got, 

 is obtained from the leguminous tree Baphia nitida. 

 The use of it in European countries has somewhat 

 diminished during recent years, owing to the substitu- 

 tion for it of artificial red colouring-matter, but a small 

 quantity is still exported, and is made use of for 

 colouring sausage skins. The amount of camwood ex- 

 ported in 1915 is given as 635 tons, valued at 8,761. 



COPAL. The tree identified as Copaifera Guibourtiana 

 is tapped, in the Mendi country especially, for copal. 

 The method in general practice is to cut small square 

 patches of bark from the main trunk and branches 

 in the month of January, and to permit these to exude 

 resin until April, at which time the flow has ceased, and 

 the resin hardened sufficiently to be collected. 



The tree has been recorded from a few localities in 

 Sierra Leone, but recently plantations have been made 

 near Moyamba and elsewhere. In the Kwalu district, 

 where clusters of large trees occur, much damage has been 

 done by overtapping, and many dead trees are to be seen. 



The value of Sierra Leone copal is high, sometimes 

 attaining over two shillings a pound in the European 

 markets. The quality is, however, somewhat irregular, 

 and the local grading is frequently inefficient. Informa- 

 tion as to the quality and value of Sierra Leone copal in 

 comparison with other varieties is given in Selected 

 Reports from the Imperial Institute, Part II., Gums and 

 Resins [Cd. 4971], pp. 170-82. 



About thirty tons were annually shipped to Europe for 

 making varnish, but owing to the destructive methods of 

 collection, the Government has prohibited trade for five 

 years. 



