September 18, 1890. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
253 
duke, Nouvelle Royale, Royal Duke, Waterloo, Ronalds’ Late Duke, 
and for tarts, &c., Morello, Kentish Red, Flemish, Olivet. For walls 
the best are Early Lyons, Early Rivers, May Duke, Governor Wood, 
Black Eagle, Bigarreau Napoleon, Florence, Bigarreau de Mezel, Black 
Tartarian, St. Margaret’s. Amongst the little known kinds Emperor 
Francis, Guigne de Winckler, Ludwig’s Bigarreau, and Windsor from 
America we think are destined to become established favourites. 
Cherries are in some places very successfully grown up the rafters 
of cold Peach houses as sing’e cordons, grand examples are thus pro¬ 
duced which attain a large size. For this purpose the following are 
useful, and possibly cordons on the Mahaleb are preferable—Black 
Eagle, Black Tartarian, Florence, Early Rivers, Bigarreau Napoleon, St. 
Margaret’s would be the best. 
CULTURAL INDUSTRIES IN WEST AFRICA. 
Our possessions on the West Coast of Africa, consisting of the 
Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, and Lagos, occupy, for the most part, 
narrow strips of country parallel to the seacoast, and extend to no 
great distance inland, except along the banks of a few of the principal 
rivers. The circumstances of these possessions and their relatious to the 
natives in possession of the high lands in the interior have hitherto pre¬ 
vented attention being devoted to any agricultural pursuits of a settled 
character. 
Both the European and native communities have so far directed all 
their energies to the development of trade in such commodities as are 
brought to them from the interior. These commodities, with the ex¬ 
ception of some gold and ivory, are mainly the natural products of the 
forest, such as have required little at the hand of man except the trouble 
of collecting and conveying them to the coast. There are, it is true, a 
few native agricultural industries carried on in a crude manner, such as 
Ground Nut, Cotton, and the raising of corn, Yams, and vegetables. The 
value and extent of these would appear at present to be very small. 
Owing, however, to the depreciation in the value of Ground Nuts, Palm 
oil, and Palm kernels, which have hitherto formed the staple exports of 
West Africa, a change is gradually taking place in the sentiments and 
feelings of the natives, and a desire, wisely fostered by the intelligent 
policy pursued by the local Governments, is expressed in favour of 
giving more attention to the systematic cultivation of the soil. Botanical 
stations have recently been established at Lagos and the Gold Coast for 
the propagation and experimental cultivation of industrial plants, and, 
■as shown in the Kew Bulletin, considerable interest has been taken at 
Kew in the development of numerous plant products which have been 
sent to this country from West Africa for valuation and report. The 
present Governors of our West African possessions are keenly alive to 
the desirability of directing attention to the development of agricul¬ 
tural industries, and at no time, possibly, in recent years have these pos¬ 
sessions received more attention in this country than at present. For 
this awakened interest we are indebted to Sir Alfred Moloney, Go¬ 
vernor of Lagos ; Sir W. Brandford Griffith, Governor of the Gold Coast; 
•Sir James Shaw Hay, Governor of Sierra Leone ; and Mr. T. Gilbert 
Carter, Administrator of the Gambia. These officers, it is needless to 
say, have fully realised the importance of encouraging agricultural 
enterprises, and taken a leading part in the steps necessary for directing 
attention to them. 
Sir Alfred Moloney published in 1887 a “Sketch of the Forestry of 
West Africa, with particular reference to its Principal Commercial Pro¬ 
ducts.” In this work all available information has been brought 
together respecting plants yielding oils, gums, rubbers, coffee, cacao, 
medicinal substances, spices, and many others. 
As an additional sign of the times, it may be mentioned that a small 
work has recently been published in this country by a native of Sierra 
Leone under the title of a “ Manual on the Cultivation and Preparation 
for Export of some of the Commercial Products indigenous and exotic 
in Sierra Leone.” A youth from the same colony has just carried off a 
prize at one of our agricultural colleges ; and we may add that Go¬ 
vernor Moloney has a scheme under consideration for sending some native 
youths from Lagos to be trained at Jamaica in the culture of economic 
plants suited for West Africa. 
As frequent inquiry is made at Kew in regard to plants likely to 
flourish in West Africa, the following Memorandum, prepared, in the 
first instance, for the Royal Niger Company, is now published in an ex¬ 
panded form for the information of those interested in our West African 
possessions :— 
Memorandum on the Experimental Cultivation of 
Economic Plants in West Africa. 
Experimental plantations in West Africa, where systematic cultiva¬ 
tion has not yet been carried on, to show what is really suitable to the 
soil and climate, should include at first a large number of economic 
plants, for the purpose of testing those which afford the best prospect of 
being adapted to local circumstances. The reports which have already 
reached Kew from this region, and especially from the botanical 
stations at Lagos, the Gold Coast, and the Gambia, show that many 
useful plants could be grown there. These centres will in time be in a 
position to select a few of the most promising plants, and distribute 
them for extended culture in different portions of their respective 
colonies. Many of the ordinary tropical plants requiring a damp, 
humid atmosphere all the year round and entire freedom from droughts 
are evidently not suited to many parts of West Africa. The prolonged 
drought experienced during several months of the year, often accom¬ 
panied by very dry winds, would be fatal to the remunerative culture of 
such plants. 
It is evident, however, that if it were possible to plant large areas 
with a few select plants, such as Liberian Coffee, fibre plants, Egyptian 
Cotton, Cardamoms, Ginger, Indigo, Black Pepper, and similar plants 
yielding raw material in large commercial demand in this country, there 
would be a fair nrospect of the results being eminently satisfactory. 
The plants mentioned above may be regarded as in many ways suited to 
the soil and climate of West Africa, and the number could be yearly 
increased as the results of the cultivation in the experimental planta¬ 
tions are more fully known. 
If any of the colonies possess stretches of sandy coast land, it might 
be taken up for the planting of Cocoa-nut Palms. The Cocoa-nut 
thrives in deep, sandy soils near the sea, and already the plantations 
established in various parts of West Africa show that this valuable 
plant could be grown upon a large scale most successfully and profit¬ 
ably. It is true it takes a long time to come into bearing. On the 
other hand, the fruit is always in demand, either fresh, made into oil, or 
prepared in various ways, such as “ copra,” to suit the markets of the 
world. Recently an industry has arisen in Germany to prepare a very 
palatable butter from the kernel of the Cocoa-nut. The process so far 
is entirely in the hands of a private firm (Messrs. Muller & Sons of 
Mannheim, Baden), but if the industry is extended, it will undoubtedly 
increase the demand for fresh nuts in European markets. Cocoa-nut 
coir, the fibre prepared from the husk of the Cocaa-nut, is an article ex¬ 
tensively used for manufacturing purposes in Europe. Coir prepared 
experimenally at Lagos under the direction of Sir Alfred Moloney was 
lately valued in London, and proved of good quality. Particulars in 
regard to the requirements of the London market for Cocoa-nut coir are 
given in the Kew Bulletin for June, 1889, pp. 129-132. 
Egyptian Cotton is just now attracting attention. When the staple 
is long it fetches a high price. It might be tried in West Africa on a 
large scale, and with this view it would be desirable to obtain seed direct 
from Egypt. Full information respecting West African Cotton and its 
value in the English market is given in the Kew Bulletin for June last, 
1 ' Coffee of both sorts, Arabian and Liberian, should be cultivated on a 
large scale in every West African colony. The Liberian Coffee grows 
freely at almost sea level, while the Arabian Coffee will flourish on any 
of the hills in the interior. Now Coffee production in the East Indies is 
so greatly reduced on account of the leaf disease, there is likely to be a 
large demand for this important food product at remuneiative prices. 
Where any difficulty exists in pulping and curing Coffee it might be 
shipped to this country in “ cracked ” state, that is, in a thoroughly dry 
condition after being directly gathered from the trees. Information on 
this subject is given in the Kew Bulletin for May, 1888, pp. ; 
and November, 1888, pp. 2G1-263. . 
Of fibre plants there are several that are adapted to \\ est Ainca. 
Already the Bowstring Hemp yielded by one or more species of San- 
sevieria has been successfully prepared at Lagos, and the market value 
of the fibre has shown it to be of high quality. To establish an in¬ 
dustry in Bowstring Hemp it would be necessary to plant at least 200 or 
300 acres before steps should be taken to introduce machinery to clean 
the fibre. The Death Fibre Machine Company, of 117, Leadenhall 
Street, E.C., might be in a position to supply particulars as to the 
success of growing Bowstring Hemp in Cuba and also as to the best 
machines for preparing the fibre. 
The Sisal Hemp plant, Agave rigida, variety Sisalana, could very 
easily be introduced to West Africa. Small plants in quantity are 
probably obtainable from Florida. The Sisal Hemp would grow in dry, 
arid districts unsuited to almost any other plants. If 500 plants were 
introduced at first, these after two or three years would yield sufficient 
suckers to establish several acres. The Ramie or China Grass plant may 
be regarded as unsuited to West African enterprise at present, and it 
would be useless to devote attention to it unless there is a sufficient 
supply of labour to work large plantations and suitable machinery is 
obtainable to decorticate the fibre at a low cost. 
Of the Jute class of fibre plants there are two very valuable fibre 
plants already abundant in West Africa. There are. the Bolobolo 
(Honckenya ficifolia), fully discussed in the Kew Bulletin for January, 
1889, and the Toja (Urena lobata). The fibres of these plants are 
probably worth £18 to £20 per ton, and the price is always likely to be 
maintained at such a figure as would render a Jute industry remunera¬ 
tive. It might be possible to get the natives to clean these fibres by 
hand and sell the produce in small lots locally. 
Amongst plants usually cultivated in tropical countries and ahead y 
under experimental trial in some parts of West Africa are the Annatto 
(Bixa Orellana), Cassava (Manihot Aipi), Arrowroot (Maranta Arundi- 
nacea), Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), and Pimento or Allspice (Pimenta 
officinalis). These do not appear to yield remunerative results at 
present. They are, however, well worthy of attention, and especially 
if the natives can be induced to grow any of them. Annatto seeds are 
now sold at prices that cannot pay expenses. It might, however, be a 
matter for consideration whether the colouring matter could be manu¬ 
factured into what is known as Annatto roll, cake, or paste. These 
could be easily prepared as indicated in the Kew Bulletin for July, 
1888 For paste or cake there is a more steady and satisfactory demand 
than for seeds. Indigo, as is well known, requires a special system of 
cultivation and manipulation, and if taken up at all it must be on a 
