302 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, iggj. 
the land purchased by the Government from the 
Rev. A. W. Clerk, and succeeded in clearing the bush 
from the whole of tlie 10 acres during tlie months 
of February and March. Tlie weather during this 
Ee-iod was excessively dry and very suitable for this 
ind of work. 
18. This land, which adjoins the land already 
possessed by the Government, was covered for the 
most part with dense bush and large trees, intersper- 
sed witl) a larjje number of palm trees (Kla ls (jninrfii- 
six). It is a valuable piece of laud, consisting for the 
most part of a rich black vegetable mould, and free 
from stones and gravel, with the exception of a small 
tra';t of about an acre in extent near the Akropong 
road, which is rather stony. 
11). I have used a part of it as a vegetable garden, 
and found that potatoes did splendidly, having had 
a good crop of excellent potatoes from seed which 
was got out from Messrs. >Sultou & Sons, Reading. 
Corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, &c. have also been 
planted on this new land. They assist in keeping 
down the undergrowth aud bringing the land under 
cultivation, aud the produce comes in useful for feed- 
ing pigs, a good breed of which 1 trought out from 
England with me. 
20. A small grove of palm trees has been allowed 
to remain. These I propose to thin out to reason- 
able distances apart, and clean and trim up the re- 
mainder, then run a fence round and allow the pigs 
to run about i'l. They will be well protected from 
the sun, and the palm nuts make very good food. 
21. After I had completed tbe clearing of this land 
I made a 12 foot road round it, and planted a boundary 
of coconut pa'ms at distances of 25 feet apart. 
These form an excellent aud permanent boundary, 
and I am pleased to say are all growing well, not 
one having died througli the dry season experienced 
since they were planted. This boundary of coconut 
palms has been continued around the whole estate, 
about 30 J plants having beeu planted out in this way. 
22. On the laud formerly cleared and under cuiti- 
vation a great amount of work has been dona. On 
my return I noticed that cacao on the laud extending 
from the west end of the house to the town of 
Aburi had not grown as well as it sliould have done, 
and could see that the cause was want of shade. 
Plants of castor oil {Rtcimti coiinini.iil.-:) bad been plann- 
ed, but they had grown up spindly and did not 
afford sufficient protection, so I have plante 1 bananas 
and plantains between the rows of cacao at distan- 
ces of 12 feet. The whole of this patch, which is about 
13 acres in extent, has been planted in this manner, 
and the plants are now growing satisfactorily. 
23. The land in front of the house, and extending 
to the Akropong road, has been completely planted 
with Liberian coffe '. Also a small plantation of 
Arabian coffee, consisting of 300 plants, has been laid 
down. This variety of coffee is grown rather exten- 
sively by the natives in this district aud thrives 
extremely well. I obtained the p'ants from the 
Rev. A. W. Clerk, in exchange for cacao plants. 
24. The avenue of oranges leading to Aburi and 
as far as the Akropong road has been completely plant- 
ed with new varieties of oranges, raised froai seeds 
obtained from the West Indies. 
25. Besides the work above mentioned a large 
amount of road making, laying out, and planting has 
been done. In front of the house a small flower gar- 
den has been laid out, which imisroves the look of 
the place very much. 
,26. A patli 4 feet wide has been cut from opposite 
the billiard room door at right angles to the house, 
and extending 600 feet to where it meets the Aburi 
road. A small border of flowering plants has been 
planted on each side. This affords a nearer approach 
to the house and looks very well. 
27. An avenue of oranges and citron 20 feet wide 
has been made, which cuts the above-mentioned path 
near the centre, and extends from the Akropong 
roac^, below the police huts, to the road leading to 
Aburi. It is 700 feet Ion/. The trees are growing well, 
and will form a splendid avenue in a few years. 
28. An avenue of Royal Palms {Oreodoxa refjia) 
Iseea plaute^ at distance of 85 feet apart acrpse 
the land purchased from the Rev. A. W. Clerk. This 
avenue extends from the Akropong road near tbe 
nev house in course of construction by M-. Clerk, to 
the western boundary. It is 8(X) feet long, extend- 
ing across a level portion of the laud. The plants 
are growing well, and, ia a abort time, this will make 
a splendid av;nue. 
2'J. Many of these roads liave been covered with 
rubble from the old walls surrounding tbe enclosure 
behind tbe house. This forms excclJeut material for 
road making, as it sets hard, and weeds, <Src. will uot 
grow in it. 
30. The weather for the period under review has 
not been at all favourable for agricutural purposes. 
It has been exceptionally dry with a prevailing ory 
wiud, which has been most iujurious to plant life. 
The rainfall for the six mouths was 25'77 inchts, which 
compared with the corresponding period for two previ- 
ous j'ears wai very small. 
31. The rainfall, besides leing so much smaller 
than in previous years was not so well distributed 
over the period. The whole of the rainfall in June 
(3-31 inches) fell in a deluge cn tbe 11th of that 
mouth, doing considerable more damage than good, 
and the whole period has been marked Ijy occasiooal 
heavy rains and long intervals of hot and dry weather. 
32. The benefit of the new tank which" was com- 
pleted in November last has been felt during tbe 
present season. I have no hesitation in eaying 
that half the plants on the station wonld i ave 
succumbed had it not been for the water obtained 
from this source. 
33. As an instance of the amonnt of water used 
I may mention that tbe tank is 80 feet long. 2o feet 
wide, and 14 feet deep. On tbe 12tb of June, after 
the heavy rainfall above mentioned, the tank was at 
its highest, and had 8 feet 5 inches of water in it. 
On the 28th of the same month, it had been lowered to 
7 feet a inches, and on the 5th of July to G feet 
9 inches. This means a large volume of water, and 
also a large amount of extra labour for the staff 
employed. 
34. The plants previously planted out have on the 
whole grown well. 
35. ViNKs.— These have not done so well as I 
expected. On my return I took out the old soil 
around the roots for a distance of 3 feet and 2 
feet deep, and filled in the space thus made with 
good soil and compost. 1 then shaded the plants 
aud watered them well. They made a good growth, 
and went on well for a month or two, but have 
again fallen off. Ko doubt this can be partly ac- 
counted for by the extreme dry weather, but 1 think 
also that tbe site and soil is not suitable, and I 
propose to remove them to another part of the 
garden, where 1 trust they will do better. 
36. CoFi-EE.— The plants previously planted have 
grown e.-vtremely well, and have a very vigorous 
and healthy appearance. About 2.500 plants which 
were planted-out this spring are also growiug satis- 
factorily, although they have had to be continually 
watered on account of the dry season. 
37. Cacao. — As I before remarked, this has not 
done so well on account of lack of shade, and also 
the dry weather experienced. Now that the matter 
of sha de has been attended to, they are growing 
better and I hope they will continue so. 
38. Aknatto {lii.m OidlaimK— This valuable dye 
plant seems to have adapted itself well to the soil 
and situation. It is now producing an abundance 
of seeds, from which I propose to prepare a sample 
of -'roll" or "flag" annato, when ripe. The col- 
ouring matter washed from the seeds, and made 
into rolls or paste is called "flag" or " roll" an- 
nato, and is the best mode of preparing it. 
" There is a steady demand for good annato made 
up into this form, and as the freight and other 
charges would be less on paste thau on seeds there 
is a distinct inducement to adopt the preparation 
of paste. While the price of seeds varies from IJrf. 
to '6d. per pound, the price of paste ranges from fa'rf, 
to \s. ad. per pound, according to quality." 
39. Fbuit Trees.— The whole of the fruit trees 
planted are growing satisfactorily. Mapgoes, eha^T 
