CO885-(20-21) — Page 278

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference:-

C.O.885

21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

(3.) the Association would buy all cotton grown by natives in Sierra Leone, Lagos, and Southern Nigeria, and offered to them for sale, at not less than one penny per pound, subject to the proviso that, if at any time the loss entailed on the Association by the purchase of cotton at this price should amount to £25,000, it should be open to them to ask the Secretary of State to agree to a readjustment of the price at which they were bound to buy native-grown cotton.

Certain privileges of free transport on the Government railways were also given to the Association in Sierra Leone and Lagos. It had by this time been decided that it was no good continuing experiments in the Gambia, and therefore that Colony was left out of the arrangement. The arrangement described in the previous paragraph was left in force in the Gold Coast, except that for a short period the portion of the Government's expenses to be repaid by the Association was fixed at one-third, but subsequently reverted to one-quarter on the Association establishing a buying centre and ginning plant in Labolabu. From the

1st of April, 1906, a new arrangement was made for the Gold Coast by which the Government of that Colony contributed £1,500 a year for three years towards the work of the Association on condition that the Association expended at least an equal amount in addition from their own funds on experimental work in the Colony and undertook the management of the work.

The arrangement for Sierra Leone, Lagos, and Southern Nigeria described in the previous paragraph expired on the 31st of March, 1907. By that time it had been decided to abandon Sierra Leone, where there seemed no reasonable prospect of establishing the cotton industry on any considerable scale. It was now arranged that, for a period of three years from the 1st of April, 1907, Northern Nigeria should contribute £1,000 per annum and Southern Nigeria (the old Colony of Lagos and the old Protectorate of Southern Nigeria combined) should con- tribute £5.000 a year towards the cost of the Association's work, on condition that the Association should spend those amounts and an equal amount from their own funds on experimental and instructional work in the territories concerned. The phrase "experimental and instructional work"

has received a very wide interpretation in this connection. It has been held to include the following diverse lines of activity

(1.) Experiments with different varieties of cotton,

indigenous and exotic.

(2.) Experiments in hybridization.

(3.) The selection of seed on the experimental

plantations.

(4.) Experiments with fertilisers.

(5.) Experiments with other crops, such as maize,

ground-nuts, guinea corn, &c.

(6.) Rotation of

crops.

(7.) The raising of seed on the experimental farms with a view to distribution among native

growers.

(8.) Travelling, with a view to ascertaining the best

districts for cotton-growing.

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(9.) Missionary work among the natives, advising

them when to plant and as to the best methods

of cultivation, and explaining to them the facilities for buying and ginning cotton which are open to them.

(10.) The selection of seed at the ginneries and the distribution of the selected seed to the native

growers.

These arrangements have now been superseded by the new bargain made with the Association as from the 1st of April, 1910. For three years from that date the Associa tion are to receive a grant of £10,000 a year from Imperial (not Colonial) funds; the Association undertaking in.

return-

(a.) to raise a further £150,000 of capital;

(b.) to continue the work already begun on a

commercial basis;

(c.) to erect and maintain for a period of three years....

seven pioneering buying and ginning centres, namely, two in the Gold Coast, one in Southern Nigeria, three in Northern Nigeria, and one in Nyasaland. The term "pioneering buying and ginning centre" in this connection means a buying and ginning centre which it would not be desirable to erect on purely commercial grounds alone, but which is established in advance of the immediate needs of the district in order to encourage the cotton-growing industry;

(d.) to provide free of charge all seed for sowing purposes in the Gold Coast, Southern Nigeria, Northern Nigeria, and Nyasaland; the cost of distribution being undertaken by the local Governments;

(e) to carry on as far as possible travelling and missionary work among native cultivators in the Gold Coast and Southern and Northern Nigeria.

The Governinents of the Colonies and Protectorates concerned undertake on their part to take over and maintain all the scientific agricultural and investigation work at present carried on by the Association in the West African Colonies named.

No details are yet to hand as to the precise manner in which the Colonial Governments are shouldering the last mentioned responsibility. It must be borne in mind, however, that, over and above their expenditure through the Association, they have already been doing a certain amount of experimental work on the same lines as the Association. Experiments in the cultivation of cotton have been in progress at Government Agricultural and Botanical Stations, which are, of course, distinct from the cotton farms and experimental stations of the British Cotton Growing Association, in the Gold Coast and in Southern Nigeria, and, on a smaller scale, in Northern Nigeria. Officers of the Government Agricultural and Forestry Departments have been used to conduct experi· ments among the natives, distribute seed, explain the best methods of cultivation, and generally to encourage the natives to take up the industry. Officers of the Political or Administrative Staff have done similar work in the districts under their charge, in some cases with very great

success.