58 
We thought it penes our best plan, seeing the condition of 
their forests, to call together the kings, chiefs, and townspeople 
of the different towns we visited, and conveyed to them the 
wishes of the Lagos Government with regard to the rubber 
eem 
' We called their attention to the ruined condition of all the 
rubber trees in their forests, and pointed out to them the folly 
and short-sightedness of the i pem of * killing the goose for the 
golden eggs." 
We made them to We me that it is the earnest wish of the 
last another five years with the present system of working the 
abóund) to attain tapable sizes. After this period of time every 
proprietor should then n begin to work his bush on quits a 
different preon "That in this way the industry would be 
permanent, and ‘they would derive yearly income from their 
forests. 
inted out to them the great commercial value of this tree, 
and it 
fore strongly urged them to devote ich, if not greater, 
attention ct me rearing and cultivation “Of this tree as they do to 
the latter 
They were = to understand that by doing this they would 
i h s G 
t be 0 
which is a duty incümbent on them, but that er would also bé: 
Mc the interest of Made and be benefiting themselves and 
il ‘i 
Finally we told them that it is their duty to stop all intruders 
in their forests, as it was strangers who had ruined their forests 
more than the inhabitants themselves. 
We regret to ze tie that all over Yorubaland, beginning from 
mS and as far a e went in this direction, ihe forests are 
and there Sei iibri fields than anything else. Consequently 
t ere are few rubber trees in those parts, and a good deal of what 
there are are what the natives call "e peg Ire tree [ Holarrhena 
africana]; it produces a similar juice to the female Ire tree, but 
this coagulates only to the eonsisteney of the soft lre rubber 
(Landolphia sp.; this deserves investigation as it is very plentiful 
in some parts and yields anne of juice). 
The only parts where good bits of forest were found were 
Osogbo, Ila-Oke, Ilobu, Ejigbo. 
All over Yorubaland, therefore, d strongly urged the people 
to take to. planting Tre trees, as y do cola and palm trees, . 
where suitable lands are available, battasi: how they should be. 
