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t12.that their clearance could be expedited. It was realised,However, that such a procedure might have unfortunate re—percussions in the Gold Coast, where it would be impossibleto <strong>of</strong>fer like compensation for the millions <strong>of</strong> affectedtrees. Arrangements had been made for a Political Officerfrom Oyo Province to visit the Gold Coast to discuss theco-ordination oi 1 policy and propaganda, and for a member<strong>of</strong> the West African Cacao Pesearch Institute staff todemonstrate in Nigeria the method <strong>of</strong> cutting-out adoptedin the Gold Ooast.1|1< I joined the Swollen Shoot hunt by examiningthe more obvious areas <strong>of</strong> dieback along the roadside. Myonly finds were two large patches <strong>of</strong> sickle-leaf, one 7miles south-cast <strong>of</strong> Ife on the Ondr> road, the other 8 milessouth-west or Ife on the Oyo Farm road. In both casessickle leaf was associated with acute iron chlorosis.SOILFERTILITY.SETTLEDFARMTNG.42, The farming systems which Faulkner introduced toNigeria in "1922, in an attempt to establisn a settled type<strong>of</strong> agriculture, are sufficiently well known to call foronly brief summary. Supported by many years <strong>of</strong> controlledexperimentation they park as classics In tropical agriculture.u3» In the Northern Provinces the value <strong>of</strong> manure,supplied by nomad Fulani Cattle, was well understood. Peasantfarmers vere induced to keep their own cattle,to usethem for ploughing, and to feed and bed them so that they produceda quantity <strong>of</strong> farmyard manure adequate for the extendedacreage which ploughing brought into cultivation. The scheme,which involved the Department in the buying and training <strong>of</strong>cattle, and in tie provision <strong>of</strong> credit for the purchase <strong>of</strong>cattle and ploughs (later taken over by the Native Administrations;made rapid progress, particularly when an iron ploughwas substituted for a wooden plough <strong>of</strong> local construction.It inspired our own work in the Northern Territories (see Lynn.Bulletin No.3J< ( 1937) ). During the war years the lot <strong>of</strong> theNigerian mixed farmer has been a happv one,Lk* It cannot however, be claimed that the problems <strong>of</strong>-the Northern Provinces are solved. As popula + ion increasesso must the unit-holding per family decrease in size. Asystem which wor'ks well on a farm <strong>of</strong> 15 acres cannot be expected•fee function on a farm <strong>of</strong> 4 acres, the accepted modal Bize inthe Kano area. Much remains to be done in soli-conservationand in the utilisation <strong>of</strong> waste matter.US', For the South, where trypanosomiasis forbade thekeeping <strong>of</strong> cattle, the digging-io <strong>of</strong> green manures was re-CQtnmendeda nn early set-back was encountered in parts cfthe Eastern Provinces where great difficulty in establishinglit,ominous covers was experienced. Greater success, particularlywith Mocuna util; §, was obtained in Oyo Province, butfor .various' reasons, some <strong>of</strong> which are discussed below, thesystem has not been adopted by the African farmer. Interplanting<strong>of</strong> cowpeas is, however, an established native practice,and in his Annual Report for 1938 the Director <strong>of</strong> Agriculture

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