~ 
415 
* So far back as 1882, Sir Alfred Moloney, K.C.M.G., to whom 
is due the credit of starting the industry on the Gold Const, had 
suggested the possibility of a en ecm in Lagos, but it was 
not until 1894 that any progre came apparent. In that year 
the Governor of a os, Sir Gilbert Carter, K.C.M.G., issued the 
following notice 
“His Ex palloney the Governor desires to notify to the mer- 
cantile community of Lagos that he has been able to induce a 
party of natives from the Gold prod ve eie eas in rubber 
collecting, to come to Lagos, with a view to the development of 
this valuable and important industry. Y The men have already 
inspected jore A ibn bird they report to be rich in rubber- 
producing plants, and it confidently hoped that Lagos will 
shortly be able l éoth pete "with the sister Colony of the Gold 
Coast in the great export of the product.’ 
*'lhis confident hope was quickly justified. Merchants took 
T the idea with enthusiasm. With startling suddenness the 
sy-going native awoke to the fact that wealth abounded in the 
forie round him, and learnt for the first time that in sitting 
under his own fig tree he had been unconsciously reposing in the 
shade of the family bank. 
“ There is, unhappily, reason to fear that the usual result may 
follow this sudden discovery. Alre ady there seem to be grounds 
for the belief that, in so far as the term ‘rubber industry’ implies 
the intelligent growth and cultivation of the plant for profit, it 
edi a false impression of the methods in vogue in the 
inter 
5 p idiefoni tapping with due regard to the life of the tree, and 
its future usefulness, is the exception ; rubber-bearing trees are 
ruthlessly sacrificed by i aspi us seekers after wealth, and 
dead trunks are becoming a too familiar feature in the 
andscape of the productive districts. Sooner or later a purely 
adventurers will have to stray further afield, and the cost of 
transport will equal or exceed the value of the article." 
AGRICULTURE. 
“The cultivation of coffee is still in its infancy in the Colony, 
but the Ilaro Plantation Company are continuing their operations 
is the Liberian, but a few Arabian trees are being raised experi- 
mentally. 'The managers of the llaro o Company report that they 
have 150 acres planted with 50,000 coffee and 6, cacao plants, 
_ the Ajilete Company have over 60,000 of the former and 
T turning their attention to the cultivation of cacao and 
hols 
ad ne n. yam or cassava farms surround almost every native 
village, but iti is impossible to estimate the acreage so cultivated: 
Incidentally these small plots, in conjunction with a very nasty 
proximity of human habitations. Besides the all-important palm 
oil and kernels, kola nuts, beniseed, ground nuts, and piassava are 
among the produce of the Colony.’ 
