Their agriculture is simple enough. They begin clearing the ground of weeds, and burning them after the first fall of rain, which in Houssa is in the month of May; and when a person wishes to enclose a piece of ground for his own use, he first gets permission from the governor. He then sets his slaves, if he has any, to cut down the smaller trees and brushwood, leaving the micadonia or butter trees, if there be any, standing on the ground: the wood, brushwood, and weeds are then gathered together in heaps and burnt. After the first rains have fallen, the male and female slaves go to work, each male having a hoe with a long handle, and each female a basket, dish, or gourd, filled with the grain intended to be sown: the male goes on in a straight line crossing the field, striking as it were with his hoe on each side, and raising a little earth each blow in the line about two or three feet, or broad enough for a man to walk; the females follow with their baskets of grain, dropping the seeds into the holes made by the hoe, which they then cover over with earth, and give it a slight pressure with the foot. When the dourra or other grain has risen above the ground three or four inches, the weeds are hoed off, and the earth loosened around the stalks; when the dourra has got to the height of three or four feet, they hoe around it a second time, leaving the weeds in the middle of the rows. This is cleared away, when small millet or calavances are to be sown between the rows of doura, which is frequently the case. The third operation is to draw the weeds and earth towards the roots of the doura a little before it ripens. When ripe, the slaves go into the field or plantation, pull it up by the roots, and lay it in rows between each row of millet which is left to ripen: it lies in this state four or five days, when they cut the heads off, tie them up in bundles, and carry it home; where, after lying upon sheds made of the branches of trees for a few days to dry, what is not wanted for use is stowed away in their granary. As the seeds of the doura begin to ripen, it must be constantly watched by the slaves, who are perched on trees, or on raised platforms, with dried gourds, which they shake to make a noise, at the same time shouting and hallooing to frighten away the flocks of small birds which come to devour the grain, and which at this season fly in myriads, making a whirring noise with their wings when they rise. The doura is very subject to blight, caused by a kind of winged insect, of a black colour, something like the bugs on a camel; its smell is most offensive, and if killed by the fingers, the stench can hardly be borne, and is not easily washed off. The millet and calavances remain a month on the ground after the doura.