The cultivation of rice is universal in Africa. The natives never neglect it, for fear of famine. For an upland crop, the rice-lands are turned over and planted in March and April. In September and October, the rice is reaped, beaten out, and cleaned for market or storing. The lowland crop, on the contrary, is planted in September, October, and November, in marshy lands, and harvested in March and April. Lands will not produce two successive crops without manuring and ploughing. About two bushels of seed are sown to the acre; and the crop, on the acre of upland, is about thirty bushels, and from forty to forty-five bushels on the lowlands. The rice is transported to market on the backs of natives, packed in bundles of about three feet long and nine inches in diameter. The wrappers are made of large leaves, bound together by cords of bark. The load is sustained by shoulder-straps, and by a band, passing round the forehead of the bearer.
Cassada is a kind of yam, and sends up a tall stalk, with light green leaves. It has a long root, looking like a piece of wood with the brown bark on; the interior is white and mealy, rather insipid, but nutritious, and invaluable as an article of food. It is raised from the seed, root, or stem; the latter being considered preferable. Its yield is very great. In six months, it is fit to dig, and may be preserved fifteen or eighteen months in the ground, but ceases to be eatable in three or four days after being dug. Tapioca is manufactured from this root.
Indian corn is planted in May and harvested in September; or, if planted in July, it ripens in November and December. Sweet potatoes constitute one of the main reliances of the colonists; they are raised from seeds, roots or vines, but most successfully from the latter. The season of planting is in May, or June, and the crop ripens four months later. Plantains and bananas are a valuable product; they are propagated from suckers, which yield a first crop in about a year. The top is cut down, and new stalks spring from the root. Ground nuts are the same article peddled by the old women at our street-corners, under the name of pea-nuts; so called from the close resemblance of the bush to the tops of the sweet pea. This nut is used in England for making oil. The Cocoa is a bulbous root of the size of a tea-cup, and has some similarity to the artichoke. Pine-apples, small, but finely flavored, grow wild in the woods, and are abundant in their season.