i 



45 



In Southern Nigeria plantations are common on the sea 

 coast and for a considerable distance inland; on the Western 

 side, especially near Badagry, where copra is prepared for export 

 (Col. Rep. Ann. No. 751, 1913, p. 14). In 1893 this neighbour- 

 hood was visited by the Curator (H. Millen) of the Botanic Station 

 at Ebute Metta who reported " the first plantation visited was 

 the Government plantation at Badagry situated close to the sea. 

 Here a large area is devoted to the growing of coconuts; these 

 trees are in two stages of growth, the larger ones are in a healthy 

 condition, the younger ones are not established yet; attention 

 is required to clean aw^ay the long growing grass which surrounds 

 them " (Kew Bull. 1893, p. 182). In 1913 the Director of Agri- 

 culture reports '' A great deal of the land in the neighbourhood 

 of the Badagry Lagoon is admirably adapted for the cultivation 

 of coconuts, and it should be possible to produce a large quantity 

 of copra for export. It is proposed to establish a model coconut 

 plot and nursery at Badagry ; the plants raised in this nursery 

 Avill be distributed to the chiefs of the villages situated along- 

 side the lagoon and an agricultural officer wU be sent to show 

 them how they should be planted." He inspected a plantation 

 owned by the Seriki — an influential chief of Badagry — in which 

 some of the trees were 20 years old, raised from seed supplied 

 by the Government (The Nigeria Gaz. Jan. loth, 1914, p. 191). 



Some coconuts from the Straits Settlements in Oct* 1906, 

 planted in Nursery beds at James Town, were distributed in 

 1907, being then about 6 ft. high. One specimen plant was 

 transferred to the Garden at Old Calabar where also the varieties 

 *' Kelapa payoh,'' Kelapa dadeh " and '' Kelapa higan " were 

 put in (Govt! Gaz. S. Nig. 28th Aug. 1907, Suppl.) 



A few palms, some of them said to be 40 years old are growing 

 at Ilorin in the Northern Provinces (Thornton, West India 

 Comra. Circ. Nov. 17th, 1914, p. 550). 



A specimen of copra from Southern Nigeria was equal in 

 appearance to Ceylon Copra, worth £19 per ton (June 1910); 

 but stated to yield an oil which was more acid than that from 

 Ceylon (Col. Rep. Ann. No. 687, 1911, p. 29)., and copra prepared 

 from four coconuts gathered at Aiere, near Kabba, weight about 

 3 lbs., yielded 67 per cent, of oil possessing the usual characters 

 of coconut oil (N. Nigeria Gaz. Suppl. No. 10 of 1911, p. 284). 

 A sample of coconut oil, submitted by the Provincial Commis- 

 sioner at Old Calabar to the Imperial Institute in 1910, was 

 described as " weight about 1 lb., white, solid crystalline 

 fat having the characteristic odour of coconut oil; a small 

 quantity of vegetable impurity was present. On melting the 

 fat a faint burnt smell became apparent, if quite clean readily 

 saleable at the current market price— £42 I0s-£i5 per ton 

 (April 1910) " (S. Nig. Govt. Gaz. Suppl. June 8th, 1910). 



It would seem to be clear that in the products of this palm 

 there is ample room for expansion in the trade from Nigeria, 

 and the same might be said for the whole of Tropical Africa — 



