34 



a few people in the larger towns. The principal crops raised are 

 Guinea corn, Indian corn, a small cereal called gero, wheat, 

 cassava, rice, onions, cotton, indigo, peas and beans of various sorts, 

 sweet potato, ground-nuts, and various kitchen vegetables and 

 herbs. The Guinea corn is most prolific, a good head yielding 

 from 3,000 to 4,000 grains." 



The first efforts by Europeans to improve the condition of 

 agriculture in Nigeria were made in 1841, when a Model Farm 

 was started near the confluence of the Niger and the Chad da 

 (Benue) under the protection of the Admiralty Expedition sent 

 out in that year. The ground (some 300 acres) formed part of a 

 territory of 100 square miles purchased on behalf of Her Majesty's 

 Government for seven hundred thousand cowries or nearly £45 ; 

 one-fifth of this amount was paid on the signature of the Deed of 

 Transfer, and the remainder was to be paid, if the Government 

 were desirous of retaining the land, after twelve months. Payment 

 was to be completed in one or five instalments as might be most 

 convenient to the Queen of Great Britain. The Commissioners 

 for the purchase were the Officers commanding the Expedition, 

 Capt. H. D. Trotter, R.N., and Capt. William Allen, R.N., and the 

 amount referred to was paid to the Attah of Eggarah. 



Dr. Vogel (Botanist) and Dr. Stanger (Geologist) selected the 

 site. They had been sent out with the Expedition in question by 

 the African Civilization Society, to whom the land for the Model 

 Farm was granted on a rental of one penny per acre, and payment 

 was to be paid into Her Majesty's Treasury by the Model Farm 

 Society, of Mincing Lane, London (an auxiliary of the A.C.S.), 

 who controlled the farm. The Superintendent was a West Indian, 

 Mr. Alfred Carr, and the Admiralty had granted him a passage 

 with the Expedition. 



All the efforts, however, to establish the farm ended disastrously, 

 for in less than a year after the commencement it was considered 

 advisable to abandon the settlement, and discretionary power in 

 the matter was given by Capt. Allen, the Senior Commissioner, to 

 Lieut. Webb, of the " Wilberforce," * after Her Majesty's Govern- 

 ment had declared the Niger Expedition at an end. 



At the time of Lieut. Webb's visit (July, 1842) it was found that 

 the most complete disorganisation amongst the workmen had taken 

 place, and it was believed that there was '* no prospect of matters 

 amending without some European of ability and firmness to direct 

 the affairs." 



Mr. Carr had been compelled to leave his post for a time owing 

 to severe illness. He never returned, and his fate could never be 

 rightly ascertained but it was presumed on good authority that he 

 was murdered when on the way back to his post. 



The operations were clearly of a limited nature, for it is statedf 

 that " at the time of giving up the model farm there were about 

 twenty acres of land under cultivation and in good order, chiefly 



* Lieut. Webb's authority was conveyed in a letter written by Capt. Allen, of 

 the " Wilberforce," at Clarence Cove, Fernando Po, June 29th, 1842 (see " A 

 Narrative of the Expedition sent by Her Majesty's Government to the Niger. 

 1841," Allen and Thomson). 



t " A Narrative of the Expedition to the Niger, 1841," Allen and Thomson. 



