420 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



rubber the trees are tapped when about five years old, 

 by making gashes or incisions in the trunk ; the juice 

 then exudes and is collected in vessels, the gum being 

 separated from the sap by the use of acids ; it is then 

 made into balls of about the size of a large orange. 

 In order to obtain as large a yield of juice as possible 

 the natives pollard the trees when at a height of ten 

 to twelve feet, and cut back the branches to prevent 

 the strength being used up in growth. This causes 

 a free and regular flow of sap. The rubber obtained 

 from this tree is valued in the London market (1878) 

 at IS. 6d. per pound, and if sent home clean would no 

 doubt command a higher price. — ' New Commercial 

 Plants,' Christy, No. 2, 1878, p. 10; 'Report of the 

 Royal Gardens at Kew,' 1878, p. 39. 

 Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



African Bread Fruit, or Okwa of Western Africa 

 {Treculia africana, Dec). — Tall tree. The fruit is 

 about a foot in diameter, having numerous seeds 

 buried in a spongy substance. The seeds are ground 

 into a meal and used as food by the natives. — 

 ' Dictionary of Economic Plants,' Smith, p. 62. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



Cork-wood {Miisanga Smithii, Br.) Tree. — The 

 wood is extremely light, and is used as cork by the 

 Europeans on the Sierra Leone Coast. The fruits 

 are edible. — Kew Museum. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



