COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 391 



(the headquarters of the Department), situated in the 

 Eastern Province, established in 1892. 



(2) The Tarkwa Agricultural Station in the Western 

 Province. 



(3) The Assuantsi Agricultural Station in the Central 

 Province. 



(4) The Kumassi Agricultural Station in Ashanti, 

 recently started at the request of the Chief of Ashanti. 



These stations distribute seeds and plants at a low 

 price to the small growers, and give demonstrations in 

 their gardens how to grow cocoa and other crops. At 

 the Aburi Station some 5 acres have been planted with 

 cocoa, and a much larger area has been devoted to this 

 culture at the Tarkwa Station. In these gardens all 

 the care they need is given to the plants. The seeds 

 are sown in nurseries under the artificial shade of palm 

 leaves lying on frames of bamboo or other wood. In 

 planting out, sufficient distance (14 to 20 feet) is left 

 between the trees, and instead of leaving certain forest 

 trees as shade, the whole forest is cleared and shade 

 trees of a special kind (Erytlirina umbrosa, or Pithe- 

 colobium Saman) are planted. The weeds are carefully 

 removed and diseases are combated. 



It is not to be wondered at that the conditions of 

 these trees are quite different from those of the trees 

 of the small growers, and that they give a heavier 

 yield, viz. about double. 



Trials have been made with a few plants of three 

 imported varieties, but according to the report of 

 1908 the results so far obtained have not been such 

 as would recommend their more extensive cultivation 

 to the exclusion of those at present grown. 



The fermentation and drying of beans is at present 

 also receiving much attention, but among a primitive 

 people progress is naturally slow. 



The work of the Department, however, is not confined 

 to the stations. One European and five trained native 

 instructors are touring throughout the Colony and 

 Protectorate visiting the native farms and demonstrating 



