=ROOT AND OTHER CROPS.=—Sweet cassava (_Manihot palmata_) is frequently planted as a terminal crop in the crude rotation employed. This variety can be eaten without previously washing or cooking. An illustration of a cassava field is given (Fig. 7). Two or three kinds of beans are planted, though not extensively in spite of a good local demand for them. Okra (_Hibiscus esculentus_), cultivated for the edible fruit pods, indigo (_Indigofera sp._) employed for making the local blue dye, and tobacco (_Nicotiana tabacum_), are planted near houses. A photograph is given exhibiting the different utensils required for the preparation of indigo, and cakes of the dried and fermented indigo stalks, in the form in which they are preserved, are shown suspended in the illustration (Fig. 8). The tobacco prepared is usually ground into snuff, in which form it is used for chewing as well as for smoking. =TANNING.=—Goat-skins are tanned in the manner similar to that employed by the Haussas; _Acacia arabica_ pods being used in the process. The people who perform the work of preparing and working leather are termed “Korankos.” Red and black inks, purchased from the European merchants, are used for staining the leather, which is inferior to that produced in Northern Nigeria (see p. 142). =FIBRES.=—The country seems to be plentifully supplied with fibre plants in a wild state, chiefly belonging to different species of _Hibiscus_. These are of the jute class, and are used throughout the country for making native ropes. Indian jute (_Corchorus capsularis_) has been tried experimentally at Kotoo, and excellent samples were obtained, but the quantity of fibre per acre turned out to be small, and the working proved to be too expensive. The preparation of piassava, which had been abandoned for many years, is said to have been taken up again by a British firm in 1915. The fibre is obtained from the leaf sheath of a palm (_Raphia vinifera_) which grows plentifully along the banks of the Gambia in places. For further information see _Selected Reports from the Imperial Institute_, Pt. I., Fibres, and _Bull. Imp. Inst._, 1915. =TIMBER.=—There are no trees of commercial importance, accessible for felling for export, although Gambian mahogany (_Khaya senegalensis_) and Gambian rosewood (_Pterocarpus erinaceus_) occur in many parts of the country. In some remote districts the former tree is said to attain large dimensions (_Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, vol. viii. (1910), p. 244). =TRADE.=—The following extracts from the Colonial Reports show the diversion of destination of Gambian exports which has occurred in recent years. For this purpose groundnuts are regarded as representing the whole of the trade, of which they normally constitute about 90 per cent. PERCENTAGES OF EXPORTS FROM THE GAMBIA Destination 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 Great Britain 6·30 9·00 6·72 9·92 39·45 53·56 79·56 and British Possessions