The agricultural and forest products of British West AfricaDudgeon, Gerald C. (Gerald Cecil)
History
The agricultural and forest products of British West Africa
Dudgeon, Gerald C. (Gerald Cecil)
Agriculture -- Africa, West; Forest products -- Africa, West
Towards this latter result Messrs. Cadbury Bros., Ltd., rendered
great assistance. This firm sent representatives into the country,
who proved to the natives that they were willing to pay an
enhanced price for cocoa prepared in a manner suitable for their
requirements. A fair amount of cocoa was purchased by them, and
demonstrations were made in some places with regard to the proper
mode of fermentation. In addition to this a number of seedlings
of the _Criollo_ variety were given to the Agricultural Department
for experimental work at the Aburi Botanic Station.
The _Forastero-amelonado_ variety, a hardy but commercially inferior
kind, has been mainly employed in plantations, and experiments
have been carried on for some years at Aburi with _Pentagona_,
_Caracas_ and _Cundeamor_ besides _Criollo_ mentioned above. Such
good results were obtained with _Cundeamor_ that, in 1913, keen
competition was aroused among planters to obtain seed. The years
1913 and 1914 are said to have shown an improvement in the quality
of the cocoa produced. The attention of the Agricultural Department
has been given to the general instruction of the natives in improved
methods of cultivation and preparation, both by means of lectures
and demonstrations at the Botanic Stations and by the issue of
pamphlets in English and the Twi language. There was at first an
insufficient staff for instruction to be given except at the Botanic
Stations, and only those growers who lived in the vicinity were able
to obtain benefit from it. After holding several conferences with
chiefs and planters in the cocoa districts it became evident that
the appointment of European Travelling Instructors was necessary, and
following this the Government detailed certain officers for the work;
the object being that they should occupy a large portion of their
time in travelling through the country in order to give personal
instruction to the natives in correct methods of treating cocoa
and other agricultural products. Persons selected by chiefs are now
trained to act as instructors in planting in their own native towns.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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