NIGERIA 169 
Again, in the Western Circle the very largest teak plantations are 
found: even from the railway carriage window you get an impression 
of the extent of these just before reaching the Eruwa Road station, 
and again just after leaving Olokemeji station, between 85 and 90 
miles from Lagos respectively. Despite one or two fires, trees at 
Eruwa Road show quite average growth for the Southern Provinces of 
Nigeria. In seven years the trees had reached a girth of over 12 inches 
and a height of over 25 feet. Happily, they were not fruiting so profusely 
as at Olokemeji. This plantation is all the more interesting in that 
it was made primarily for the use of the Railway Administration to 
supply teak timber for sleepers and constructional work. 
On closer inspection it will be seen that the Olokemeji plantations 
nearest the railway comprise six “‘ falls,” ‘ stands,” or ‘‘ compart- 
ments ” of 25 acres each, adjoining each other. Although the trees 
everywhere have not grown as well as on the better soil, these are far 
and away the largest plantations of any in Nigeria. Each “ stand ”’ 
is separated from the next by a broad ride and top and bottom by 
a broad road. Near by these are another two compartments of 
25 acres each, though neither of these is entirely filled with teak, as 
also the first one in the other series. Nearer the bungalows there are 
the first made plantations of 1908, thriving, yet growing on the poor 
laterite soil. These stretch away nearly half a mile into the open 
deciduous forests at the back. What a strange contrast is presented 
in the dense, close growth of the teak plantation, with its soil covering 
of decaying and large brown leaves of the teak, compared to the stunted 
growth of Red Ironwood, small Bauhinia, some Paradaniellas and 
a few gnarled oak-like Shea Butter Trees! Such teak plantations 
open up a long vista of future developments in the conversion of the 
poor dry-zone vegetation into forests of valuable trees, both with and 
without extensive permanent improvements of the soil and subsoil. 
Even the large raceme-like clusters of the flowers, almost covering the 
whole of the teak trees in April and May, are not to be despised for 
improving the looks of a grassy lawn near a bungalow. A glimpse 
through the tall Terminalias on both sides of the Ogun, just before 
the curve is reached at Olokemeji village, reveals yet another teak 
plantation on the lower slopes of the easternmost of the two hills. 
Olokemeji means the “ man of, or owner of, two hills” (oke means a 
hill, and mejt means two, in Yoruba). Again, still further along in the 
valley of the stream, near the station, are some other older teak 
plantations from the years 1910, 1911. Here there is yet a different 
contrast. The broad, wide masses of the teak plantation are still on 
one side rather overshadowed towards the hillside by the giants of 
the mixed deciduous forests, such as the cotton-tree (Hriodendron 
Orientale) and Sterculia cordifolia and ebony (Diospyros mespiliformis). 
However, later on the teak, growing on better soil than is found in 
