Although mixed farming is a Nigerian subject rather than a West African one at present, there will clearly eventually be an opportunity for this kind of farming in the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast and in the Gambia.

It has already been explained that permanent cultivation exists in Northern Nigeria around the big towns and villages wherever manure is available; that the ordinary farming is of the extensive type; that further extension is limited by the supply of labour; and that the country supports a vast number of cattle, which, however, are mainly owned by the pastoral Fulani herdsmen and not by the settled farmers. All the materials for building up a system of mixed farming are therefore already in existence.

In speaking of mixed farming, the picture which we have in mind is one in which every farmer owns cattle of his own, say two bullocks and one or two cows, together with his usual head of sheep, goats and fowls. He would keep his cattle in a pen and supply them with bedding, thus making farmyard manure of the highest quality all the year round. His bullocks would be used for ploughing, thus solving the labour problem; and his cows would breed calves and supply him with milk for his family or for sale. The calves would appreciate in value as the male animals come on for draught purposes and the females develop into milking cows. Such a system, if it became universal, could not fail vastly to increase the prosperity both of the individual and of the country. Indeed, it might well be asked why it has not become the custom of the country long ago.

Before the British rule, the settled farmer was commonly little more than a villein or slave; and, even if any farmer had the money to invest in cattle, he dared not do so, as they were apt to be forcibly taken away from him; or, at the best, such an obvious sign of increased wealth made him liable for excessive taxation. This state of affairs ended when the country was taken over by the British; and after a few years a number of settled farmers began to invest their savings in cattle. Recently the number of those who have done so has been steadily increasing.