and even six years and only abandoned when the yield is so poor that it is evident the area has become "tired". Hill-slope land, which is drier and harder, may be cropped for only two years unless no further plots are available.

In most regions some rotation of crops is followed. In Kimbaw, where my inquiries were most intensive, trifoliate yams, rizga, sweet potatoes, and bambarra nuts are planted in separate beds and for one year only. In the following season corn, millet, or some other crop is substituted. But in good soil maize may be planted for six consecutive years. If the plot is 1/4 acre or more, one half may be intersown with millet or guinea corn; and in the second year, one of these will be intersown with maize on the other half. Millet and guinea corn are never mixed. A chart on the previous page tabulates typical forms of crop rotation in Nsaw.

PREPARATION OF PLOTS

Throughout the Province the value of ash as a fertilizer is recognized; and in many tribes, both on the uplands and in the forest, small types of tree are planted, not only as an additional source of firewood, but because they are aid to "soften" the soil.¹ Refuse from the house and courtyard is also dug into the kitchen garden and, although one motive for this is a quick and convenient method of disposal, it is also said to enrich the ground.

Methods of preparing plots are very similar, but some are a little more elaborate than others and are practised mainly among the Tikar peoples. Grass is cut, left to dry, burnt, and then hoed into beds, which vary considerably in size and shape, but nearly always lie up and down the slope instead of across it. The women claim that they secure better results this way and, when it is suggested that the rain washes away the soil, they point to the ditches which are dug to overcome this disadvantage.² In Ngie, the hill-sides are so precipitous that many of the beds have to be shored up with sticks and stones. Cultivation is back-breaking work and requires, at times, the tenacity of a limpet and at others the agility of a mountain goat. In Nsaw (as well as in Mfumte, Nsungli, Bamessi, Bafut, Kom, Aghem and elsewhere), there is a special procedure which is often employed on the farms given over to maize and which is termed in Lamnso: fuuni kinfuuni. Heaps of dry grass are covered with earth and then left for a month or six weeks, after which they are set alight and left to smoulder. The soil turns a light vermilion, is rather puffy, but yields an excellent crop the first year; but it is followed by a much poorer one in the second season. It has been suggested that the method secures a large amount of grass-manured top soil in each bed, destroys pests such as wire worm, and possibly lowers soil acidity. But the burning of humus leads to a rapid reduction of fertility after the first year.³

As I mentioned earlier, a start is often made with the clearing of bush land and old corn farms at the close of the rainy season in November, and this continues in a somewhat desultory fashion until the end of December and the beginning of January, when the harvest of finger millet and guinea corn interrupts the work. After this, however, the pace becomes almost feverish

¹ In Kom, a shrub identified as Adenocarpus Mannii is used as a soil-recovery crop; in Oku, Sesbania Aegyptica fulfils a similar function. Maize-stubble is kept for kindling.

² In an experiment at Bambui Government Farm in 1945, local "20-Eye" potatoes gave a better yield in beds made up and down the slope than those made across it. (Vide, Annual Report, Bambui, App. III).

³ In addition to ditches between beds, deeper trenches serve as boundaries between farm plots, and along these cassava, pigeon-peas, or small saplings may be planted as a further means of demarcation.

Vide, op. cit., 1945.

in the effort to complete yam and rizga plots by mid-February, and to finish off maize plots before the first heavy rains in mid-March. The women divide their attention between all three if they have no assistants, and complain of their weariness and sense of strain. But those who have young daughters are better off, since the latter assume much of the responsibility for the rizga and yam farms. In the forest areas (and also in the Fungom villages) rizga are planted in ridges; but in Nsaw special beds are prepared, and the women were in agreement that this is the heaviest type of work which falls to their lot. As one woman explained to me: "When you cut out the clumps of turf, the hoe rings and you feel a sharp pain in your shoulders. So women like to work rizga together", and thus lighten the labour.¹ On an appointed day they climb to the hill-top, which is to be brought under cultivation, and demarcate their plots. On the following day, or a little later, they again go and one of the young girls who has a reputation as a keen worker makes the first cut with her hoe. Tussocks of the tough grass are hoed out and turned over; then sub-soil is dug from holes in the centre of the plot and scattered over the surface to "soften" the ground. About mid-February the rizga-tops are set about twelve inches apart in pairs, and thenceforward they require no further attention except for a day's weeding in June. They are harvested from October to January and are of two varieties, - løng se sui, which is eaten raw; and løng se gha, which is boiled.

The cultivation of yams makes fewer demands on the strength of the women. Sometimes a section of an old maize farm is requisitioned, or a small strip of bush may be cleared. More tilth is required than for maize, and on more than one occasion I heard a woman upbraiding a young daughter who was hoeing too much on the surface, and not digging deeply enough. The long type of yam (Lamnso - kirung) is cut into slices which are then left to dry on top of small mounds before being planted at a depth of 6 or 7 inches. Two canes are stuck in and crossed to serve later as supports for the vine. Trifoliate yams are planted in separate plots and, like the long variety, are scattered over the farm to dry for three or four days, before they are placed in holes about 3 inches deep.² Usually they are harvested from October to January and provide an important item of diet when the maize supply is beginning to run low and must be husbanded more carefully.

Sometimes there are showers in February and the women seize the opportunity to sow some spinach, cocoyams and even a little maize, though in this case they run the risk of loss. From the end of this month until mid-March they strive feverishly to complete the re-hoeing and weeding (sheevin) of the main plots for maize, and are apt to regard it as one of the most onerous tasks since they are working against time. With the first heavy downpour in March, excitement runs, through the village. It is called the "rain of the maize" (wuu-o-nggwasang) and is the main topic of conversation. Children run about the compound, adults stand watching under the house eaves, and delighted old ladies revolve in graceful dance in their huts. The next day there is a general exodus to the farms to plant the grain, - the men using matchets, the women hoes. The farmer makes an incision with the hoe about 6 inches

¹ The Lamnso text was : "ghanse a gwar kisø'tin ku waa sung 'mbiing; a waa yu nyaar e mbee feyi. Neena viki kong fa tati a lim lim."

² In Nsaw, different varieties of trifoliate yam are grown and distinguished by name: ree-nkuuni (very hairy); ree-ndjo'bri (yellow flesh); ree-nteem (yellow flesh and similar to ndjo'bri) ; ree-kiluun (very sweet and similar to the ree-mbinkar, introduced from Ndop). Most women prefer ree-nkuuni and ree-nteem, because they are not so sweet as the other varieties.
There are two types of large yam (kirung), and their vines climb in anti-clockwise direction up the stakes (virameer). The kirung-ke-okuu is round, yellow in flesh, and not very hairy. It is preferred to the other variety, the kirung-ke-nkar, which is about 2 feet long and very hairy.

deep, trickles two seeds into it and covers them over. Usually the plants will be about twelve to sixteen inches apart. The sowing is regarded as light and pleasant work in most tribes, and is completed within a few days. In Ngie cocoyam is the staple food and is planted in large quantities from the beginning of the rains in March and throughout most of April. In farms near the village the seed from a few cobs of corn may be intersown.

On the uplands once the maize is planted the women proceed to intersow it with spinach, cowpeas, dwarf beans, cassava, makabo, okra, pumpkin, gourds, egusi, sugar cane, peppers, and egg-plant, the last two being transplanted later. In Nsaw and Nsungli, cocoyam and potatoes may also be set; but in the Ndop Plain special beds are often prepared for these, as also for groundnuts.¹ During the latter half of April the women may relax, though they go fairly regularly to their fields and do a little weeding of rizga and yams. In May and June the maize requires its first weeding with a hoe (Lamnso - sheepti nggwasang) and after this it is time to broadcast finger millet.² Later, special seed-beds are made for guinea corn, which is transplanted about August or September. Small plots may also be cleared in July for a second crop of sweet potatoes, but the energies of women are, in the main, given over to the second weeding of maize which is done by hand rather than by hoe (Lamnso - tsøøni nggwasang).

Diet in April and May on the high grassfields is poor, and the women have a lean and hungry look. Stores of grain are slender and reserved mainly for the children, while adults depend on greens, plantains, a few sweet potatoes, and beans. In June, Irish potatoes are dug up and these, until the harvest of maize, constitute nowadays a sustaining, though somewhat monotonous, staple. As one querulous old woman complained: "Potatoes, always potatoes! I am tired of potatoes!" The people of the plains and forests are, on the whole, much better off for cereals for, in the first place, their harvest of maize comes earlier: and, secondly, many of them plant a second crop towards the end of the rains. Ngie is an exception, but Esimbi had such a large surplus in May 1947 that the women were continually brewing beer.³

In Nsaw, a few cobs are plucked towards the end of July for roasting, but the main harvest does not occur until towards the end of August, and gleaning (siiri nggwasang) continues throughout September. Outlying farms are dealt with first, and those of lineage heads receive attention last. Usually all members of the family form a working team, passers-by lend a hand for a while, and are well rewarded with cobs for their labour. But gifts are not limitedto assistants: the period is one for feasting and generosity, and the mean individual is despised. The suggestion made by one missionary that the people should be less lavish with their hospitality aroused some indignation, on the grounds that it seemed a denial of the feelings of goodwill and gratitude, which ought to be expressed after the long period of scarcity (søø).

In a great many tribes, including those of the uplands, rough storehouses are built on the farms and the maize is kept there until dry because there are fewer rats. In Nsaw, baskets of cobs are carried direct to the village and

¹ Bulrush millet (za) is planted about the same time as maize in Mbembe, and is never intersown with guinea corn.

² In Nsaw, some women plant bambarra nuts (shileng) about May. Tobacco, namma, is sown soon after guinea corn seed-beds have been prepared. After the maize harvest in September it is transplanted, and two months later the men and women go to gather it (keeng). The leaves are laid out in the courtyard to dry for two or four days, according to the weather, then crushed with the feet, and placed in a basket in a cool place.

³ Although much of Ngwo is on a high plateau, there is no dearth of food. It was heartening to hear the women emphatically repudiate the suggestion that they endured a period of hunger at any season of the year.

tossed into the attic, where they gradually dry in the smoke from the hearth fire below. But leaky roofs or exceptionally heavy downpours of rain may mildew the grain; and even cats cannot entirely prevent the mice from having their fill. About November what is left of the maize is transferred to tall raffia bins, which are sealed with mud. They contain between 3 and 41/2 vegati (cylindrical baskets) or approximately 220 to 330 lbs. The Mbembe have well constructed storehouses of clay, enforced with palm fibre. These are barrel-shaped, squat on chubby little legs, and have a thatch-cover resembling a Chinese peasant's hat.

After the harvest of the wet-season maize, beds may be hoed up in the furrows for the dry season crop and also for guinea corn, which is transplanted about this time. Thenceforth work slackens off in most tribes, but the Nsaw women are kept busy with the weeding of finger millet, - a slow and tedious job; and with the clearing of small beds for cowpeas, spinach and potatoes. From October to December yams, rizga, groundnuts, okra, and egusi are also harvested, but the millet is not gathered in until the end of December. It is regarded as a royal crop and all must wait until the Føn has an announcement made in the market that the harvest may begin. The heads of grain are cut with a small knife and laid out on mats to dry before they are rammed down into cylindrical baskets. The men, with the exception of lineage heads, help the women in the field and also in the transporting of the baskets (which may weigh anything from 70 to 90 Ibs.) to the compound, where they are propped upside down on raffia poles. According to traditional usage pagans should not eat millet until the lineage head has offered a sacrifice to the ancestors and the spirit of the earth, provided medicine for all the members of his compound, and has contributed some meat as a relish. Some lineage heads have become lax because they say they have no money to buy meat. Their pagan dependants wax impatient, as the time passes and the unsampled millet remains stacked in tempting array under the house caves. Unless there is an obliging anthropologist to provide the meat, they may delay for a long period until, out of sheer desperation, they are prepared to run the risk of illness and even of a bad season by eating the first fruits without the appropriate ritual.

Guinea corn matures early in January and is usually cut by the men. But, as I have pointed out earlier, its production in many tribes has decreased and its place as a staple cereal has been taken by maize, particularly when this crop can be planted twice a year.

Having described the agricultural cycle in some detail, we may now summarize its dominant features. Broadly speaking, the dry season from the end of November to the middle of March is devoted to the preparation of farm plots for tubers and maize. With the onset of the heavy rains towards the end of March, maize and subsidiary crops such as legumes, cucurbits, greens and sugar cane are planted. From May to August the women are chiefly engaged in weeding; and from August to November with harvest. The calendar on the following page lists the main activities in relation to the more important crops, but certain points should be borne in mind. In the first place, while it conveys some idea of the sequence of events, the times are only approximate. If the first rains do not fall until April, weeding and harvesting, particularly of cereals, occur much later in the year than normally. Again, the calendar is based mainly on material obtained in Nsaw and is therefore more typical of conditions on the uplands than in the forest. Finally, it should be remembered that the cultivation of finger millet, which absorbs so much of the time and energy of the women from September to December, occurs only in Nsaw. To this extent its inclusion in the chart obscures the pattern of slack periods which is typical of other economics in Bamenda.