29 
DCXLI.-LAGOS RUBBER INDUSTRY. 
In the Kew eee ote due (pp. 241—247) an account is given 
of the important commer ich had resulted in Lagos from the 
be short-lived, owing to the reckless way in which the rubber 
trees is been exhausted by the rubber collectors 
reports given in the ud PY correspondence Mee a "S 
of things which, unless arrested , 
only lead to the extinction of the iod MET. These porté m 
highly creditable to the two young Africans, Messrs. Leigh and 
Dawodu, by whom they were drawn up. As stated in the Kew 
Bulletin (1893, p. 365), they have had the advantage of training 
in the Botanical Department of Jamaica and subsequently at 
ew. 
The Ire tree, or, as it is uud called, "s “female Ire tree,” is 
Kickxia ricana, a an Apocynaceous tree. The * male Ire tree " 
appears to be Holarrhena ins cana ote: Apocynaceous. In the 
Kew Bulletin for 1895 (p. 245) it is described by an oversight as 
Rubiaceous. It yields rubber oil apparently of little commercial 
value. 
The Ficus referred to in the reports is probably Ficus on 
discussed in the Kew Bulletin for 1888 (pp. 253-261) and 1890 
(pp. 89-93), the extraction of rubber from which appears to have 
met with little success. It was first indicated as a source of 
rubber in the Kew Re port for 1878, p. 39. 
GOVERNOR MCCALLUM TO MR. CHAMBERLAIN. 
nn Hou 
SIR, Lag 5, 24th. Ji une, 1897. 
IN despatch “Interior,” dated 9th Februar 1897, para- 
6, Captain Denton referred to the wholesale 
destruction of rubber trees in the Hinterland, and the consequent 
injury to a most important industry of the Colony d 
that he had sent Messrs. Leigh and Dawodu of the Botanical 
Deine to Ibadan, with a view to the protection of this 
industry, and he recommended the establishment of a small 
Forest Department. 
2. I have now the honour of forwarding copy of report received 
from Messrs. Leigh and Dawodu, from which you will observe 
that Captain Denton's fears have been e than realised, and 
that the destruction is very widespread, prre to the Ekiti- 
Parapo Confederacy as well as to Ibadan and Jebu. I also 
enclose return for the last six months from the Acting Collector 
of Customs, showing that there is a falling off in export of rubber 
amounting to 33 per cent. compared with 1896. 
3. This falling off is serious, for—ceteris paribus—it bruni a 
corresponding diminution of impo orts, and t cs ore 0 Mini 
I do not, however, anticipate any serious reduc of fe rev 
for, from other causes, the total amount wbich Hh a éóllected 
for five months is not below that estimated. 
