RUBBER IN THE GOLD COAST 17 



maximum was reached in 1898 when 5,984,984 lb. 

 vakied at £551,667 were shipped from the Colony. 

 Dm'ing the four years 1900 to 1903 there was a con- 

 siderable falling-off, which was attributed principally 

 to the distm-bances in Ashanti, but from 1904 to 1907 

 the production agam increased to 3^ to 4 million lb, 

 per annum. The heavy declme in 1908, when the 

 exports fell to 1,773,248 lb., was prunarily due to the 

 very low price of rubber, which made its collection less 

 profitable to the natives, and not to any general failure 

 of the supply. Consequently in 1909 the production 

 again increased to 2,764,190 lb., and in 1910, when very 

 high prices were realised, there was a further increase 

 to 3,223,265 lb. Since then, however, the exports have 

 again diminished, and m 1912 they were only 1,990,699 

 lb. valued at £168,729. 



The prmcipal rubber-yieldmg plants mdigenbus to 

 the Gold Coast are Funtumia elastica, Stapf, Landolphia 

 owariensis, Beauv., and Ficus Vogelii, Miq. ; in addition 

 Landolphia Klainei, Pierre, Landolphia Thompsonii, 

 Chev., and other vines also occur. The rubber is chiefly 

 coDected in the forests of Ashanti, Sefwi, and Akim, 

 some of which are very rich m rubber-yielding plants. 



In tapping Funtumia elastica the natives employ 

 the double herrmgbone system (see p. 66) and the in- 

 cisions are carried as high up the tree as possible, often 

 to a height of 50 ft. or more. The latex is collected at 

 the foot of the tree in a vessel into which it is directed 

 by a clay lip, or by a piece of wood or leaf inserted in 

 the bark. It is usually poured, without bemg strained, 

 into a shallow oblong pit, dug in the ground and care- 

 fully plastered with clay in order to render it partially 

 water-tight, and is allowed to remam there for a con- 

 siderable time until coagulation has taken place and 

 the rubber is sufHciently firm to be removed. The 

 product thus obtained is a porous mass of rubber con- 

 taining a large quantity of the serum of the latex, and 

 therefore very liable to ferment and develop objectionable 

 odoiurs. Sometimes the acid juice of limes or other 

 fruits, or more rarely a solution of salt, is added to effect 

 coagulation, or the latex is boiled. 



The value of the Gold Coast "lump" rubber is de- 

 preciated not only by the method adopted for its pre- 



