94 



30 feet, or wide enough apart to admit of shade trees being inter- 

 mixed. Bananas make good shade in the early stages of growth, 

 and later large trees such as Albizzia Lebbek, Ptthecolobium 

 Saman, &c., may be used. Trees raised from seed begin to bear 

 a small amount of fruit when 5 or 6 years old, the produce 

 increasing yearly until the tree matures. A tree planted in the 

 Botanic Station, Lagos, in 1888, fruited for the first time in March, 

 1896 (Millen, Rep. Bot. St. 30th June, 1896). A remunerative 

 crop may be expected after about 10 years, when it is stated that 

 a single tree will yield an average of 120 lbs. annuallv (Kew Bull. 

 1890, p. 255). 



In Yoruba the tree yields two crops, a large one from September 

 to January, and a small one from May to August (Tropenpfl. 

 1904, p. 353). 



According to Leigh and Dawodu the cultivation (of the Abata 

 variety) is brought to a great state of perfection by the natives in 

 the Ekiti country, where it is hilly and well covered with forests 

 (Kew Bull. 1898, p. 139). In the Labogie district (Province of 

 Nupe, N. Nigeria) Elliot states that the Kola plantations are 

 situated in sheltered valleys at an elevation of from 450 to 550 feet 

 above the sea. The soil is a deep black, sandy loam, kept in a 

 continuous state of moisture by the streams that are found in each 

 valley. Very little care is taken of the trees, and they are found 

 growing with the Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis). The rainfall of 

 the district is probably between 40 and 50 in., but it is stated that 

 no rain falls between December and April. The traders of the 

 Soudan, according to Count Zech, prize the Kola from Labogie 

 more than that from Ashanti (Kew Bull. 1906, p. 89). 



The King of Nupe owns a plantation of 8 acres, and there is 

 another large plantation at Agege containing 2,000 trees {see 

 Tropenpfl. ]904, p. 357). Trees grow wild in the forests of Ilaro 

 (Millen, Kew Bull. 1893, p. 183), and in the neighbourhood of 

 Itele there are many fine trees planted by the natives (Millson, in 

 Rep. Bot. St. Lagos, 30th Sept. 1890, App. B). They are grown 

 largely in the districts of Warri and Benin (H. N. Thompson, to 

 Director, Kew, 19th April, 1906), and are also grown at Great 

 Bafum ; Takum is the Kola Market for all the Lower Benue States 

 (Moseley, in Geog. Journ. xiv. 18:^9, p. 633). 



It would seem that the cultivation of Kola in the Niger Region 

 is of a comparatively recent date. Barter in 1859 stated that he 

 had seen no living trees of " Gonja " (Foulah) the Kola with the 

 two cotyledons, and understood that those he saw in trade came 

 from Ashanti. A nut from which he raised a plant to send to the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was obtained from a caravan at 

 Rabba returning from the coast. He had observed the species 

 with four cotyledons called " Fatak " by the Foulahs, and found 

 that it was common in many parts of the Lower Niger, and 

 abundant at Onitsha. The former realized in the Nupe Country 

 100 cowries each nut, and the latter about 80, the cowrie then 

 being valued at the rate of 2,500 for the dollar at 4s. 4d. He 

 mentions that immense quantities of Kola nuts were conveyed 

 from the coast to the interior during the dry season ; about 1,000 



