39 



established for several years at Adiabo (Calabar river), Fket (Qwo 

 Obo river) and recently in the Central province of Southern 

 Nigeria. Messrs. Alex. Miller Bros. & Co. have taken up the 

 cultivation of Para rubber on a plantation at Sapele, Central 

 province, Southern Nigeria. The British Cotton Growing 

 Association have land under cultivation in various parts of the 

 two Colonies. 



It is recorded that (1898) the Ilaro Plantations, Ltd., had 

 over 300 acres cleared and planted up with coffee, then 3 to 4 

 years old.* 



The Oil Rivers Company have t a plantation well established of 

 coffee and cocoa at Buguma in the New Calabar district. 



Mr. Elliott reported (1907) J that there were no planting opera- 

 tions of a private nature in Northern Nigeria with the exception 

 of the work of the British Cotton Growing Association's Model 

 Farm near Lokoja. 



Forestry. 



Southern Nigeria. — The first mention of Forest Conservancy 

 in Nigeria appears to have originated with Sir George Denton, § 

 in 1897, when Acting Governor of Lagos, in a letter to the 

 Colonial Office. The subject was suggested owing to the effects 

 of the destructive methods of tapping rubber trees, then 

 beginning to make themselves apparent. He wrote as follows : 

 " I think myself that a Forest Department established on some- 

 what similar lines to that in India, but of course limited in its 

 dimensions, is an urgent need, and I would recommend that the 

 Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, be consulted on the subject. 

 Both Mr. Thiselton-Dyer and Dr. Morris have given us valuable 

 assistance in the past and take a great interest in Lagos, and I feel 

 sure that they will do their best to suggest to us a practical way 

 out of the difficulty." 



In his reply to the Colonial Office on the subject the Director of 

 the Royal Gardens, Kew,| remarked : " How far any system of 

 forest conservation can be applied to the rubber-yielding districts 

 is a matter on which it is difficult to express an opinion. To 

 carry out the measures of a Forest Department, a system of forest 

 guards is necessary and this requires a revenue. Whether the 

 administration of the rubber-producing area has reached a stage 

 of development sufficiently advanced to admit of this is a matter 

 for the Local Government to consider. But that the question is one 

 of the greatest importance for the future prosperity of our West 

 African Possessions there can be no doubt." 



The recommendations of Captain Denton as to the necessity of 

 a Forest Department were endorsed by the Governor (Sir 



*Sir George Denton (Acting Governor); Lagos, Dec. 10th, 1898, to Mr. 

 Chamberlain. Botanical Enterprise in West Africa, 1880-1001, p 81. 



tThis was so, at least, in Sept., 1808. when it was visited by the writer. 



j Kew Bulletin, 1007, p. 240. 



§ Botanical Enterprise in West Africa, 1880 1001, p. 30. 



|| l.c, p. 32. 



