140 NIGERIA NORTHERN PROVINCES 



seed placed in piles upon the ground between the lines 

 of growing cotton, and the insects then destroyed by 

 petroleum or boiling water. In the case of the boll- 

 worms, trap-crops of maize and Hibiscus are recom- 

 mended, as well as the destruction of the moths after 

 attraction to light at night. (See Professor Dunstan's 

 " British Cotton Cultivation," pp. 35-6.) 



The British Cotton Growing Association commenced 

 work in Northern Nigeria by erecting a steam ginnery at 

 Lokoja, followed by others at Ogudu and Zaria. The 

 natives of the Bassa Province were induced to grow cotton 

 upon a larger scale than before by the favourable market 

 established near them at Lokoja, but, although the cotton 

 brought in was generally of good quality, the supply 

 fell off after the first year or two, and in 1908 it almost 

 ceased. More recently there has been some return to 

 cultivation, but the people are difficult to get into touch 

 with, and have few needs which can be supplied by the 

 traders, so that they have remained somewhat inactive 

 and shy. 



The ginnery at Ogudu acted as an inducement to the 

 people of North Ilorin (Shari) to undertake cotton-growing 

 upon an increased scale, and as the inhabitants are chiefly 

 of a more intelligent class (Yorubas and Nupes) than the 

 Bassa people, the cultivation of cotton developed well. 



The opening of the Baro-Kano Railway created some 

 activity in cotton growing, and satisfactory quantities 

 were brought in to the northern ginneries. The British 

 Cotton Growing Association will probably succeed well in 

 the northern parts of the country where a large rural 

 population is to be found. 



An example of the development of cotton cultivation 

 in West Africa, influenced by and following the opening 

 of a railway, is seen in the Western Province of Southern 

 Nigeria and in Ilorin ; along almost the entire route of 

 the line the agricultural population have taken up the 

 cultivation of the plant. This has occurred even in those 

 districts where other natural products were available for 

 utilisation to a remunerative degree. It is therefore 

 probable that the industrious population of the Northern 

 Provinces, who have no such advantages, owing to the 

 absence of oil palms, rubber, etc., would readily adopt 

 cotton-growing upon a commercial scale. 



