Vol. VII. No. 172. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



37S 



THE AFRICAN OIL PALM AND ITS 



PRODUCTS. 



The well-known Oil Palm of West Africa {Hbirls 

 (iwi ticnsis) has a wide geographical range, for it. 

 Hdurishes from the Gulf of Guinea to the south o( 

 Fernando Po, as well as in the islands of Zanzibar and 

 Pemba, and along the shores of the Central African 

 lakes. Of all the vegetable products of the countries 

 on the West Coast, the J'Jlaeis gaini'ansls is undoubt- 

 edly the most important to the native. The fruit 

 supplies him with a favourite article of food and forms 

 the chief article of commerce : with the leaf-stalk he 

 builds his house and barn, and thatches them with its 

 leaves, and from the stem he extracts a pleasant and 

 (sometimes) into.xicating drink. 



During 1907, the total value of the palm oil ami kernels 

 expoiteil fiom Soutlieni Nigeiia alone was £2,972,252. In 

 the same year the oil and kernels shipped froiu the Goltl Coast 

 were valued at nearly £221,290, this being an increase of over 

 £15,000 on the exiwrts of the preceding year. Sap|)lies of 

 palm oil have also lately been exported from the Philippine 

 Islands. 



In all the above-mentioned eountiies from which the 

 produce is shipped, the oil ir.ihu is indigenous and occurs 

 naturally over enoiinous areas. Little expense is incurred in 

 looking after the trees, and the oil must be regarded as more 

 or less a natural forest product. No authentic information 

 has been placed on record in regard to any systematic jilant- 

 ing and cultivation of the oil palm which may have been 

 made in Southern Nigeria or elsewhere, or to the average 

 returns that may lie exi)ected from such plantings. 



It seems reasonable to expect, however, that if plantation.s 

 of the pabn were estaMished in many tropical colonies, the 

 production of the oil would pr<i\e a valuable industry. It 

 ■would be a matter for experiment tn determine wlietlier the 

 cultivation would be as remunerative in any given'district as 

 rubber or cacao planting. Some thirty or fort}- years ago an 

 estate owner in British North llorneo who had considerable 

 faith in the piofitablc possil)ilities of oil palm cultivation 

 planted a fairly large area. The trees grew well, but by the 

 time they were Hearing the productive age, the ownership of 

 the estate changed hands, and the new proprietor cut down 

 the young palms in order to make room for .some other 

 product. 



The African oil palm has lieen acclimatized in .lamaica 

 and some of the other West Indian Islands, where groups of 

 the trees are frequently to be met with. Little or no use, 

 however, is apparently made of the nuts, and .so far as is 

 known, no attempt lias ever been made to cultivate the palm 

 in regular plantations. 



The oil palm reaches a height of 30 or more feet. In 

 the course of a report on the oil industry of the Gold Coast 

 which ap[ieared in the Juu' linUctiii for 18S9 (p. 190) it 

 is stated that the tree grows best in a moist soil, tiouiishing 

 in warm damp valleys. It begins to bear in its fourth or 

 fifth year, the produce increavsing until its fifteenth, and 

 continues to bear for at least sixty years. A tree produces, 

 oil- the average, from four to seven bunches of fruit every year. 



The fiuits have a fleshy fibrous outer layer from ^vhich 

 the pabn oil of commerce is prepared. This layer covers 

 a hard-shelled nut from the kernel of which a white oil known 

 as ' pabn nut oil ' is jiroduced. 



A very full and illustrated account of the methods in 

 use at Lagos for extracting palm oil appeared in the Keif 

 'Mullet in, 1892, ((i. 200). From this it appears that the 



fruits are lioiled in earthernware pots until they form an oily 

 mass. This is transferred to a wooden trough where it is 

 left over night to cool. In the morning the ma.ss is covered 

 with cold water, and the natives [)ound the oil out of the 

 nuts with tlieir bare feet. The oil gradually rises to the 

 surface, from which it is skimmed, and passed through 

 a sieve to remove the coarser impurities. It is then poured 

 into a pot and claritied liy further boiling. Thi.-! palm oil is 

 chiefly used in the manufacture of soap and candles. 



Tho kernels of the nuts from which the white oil is 

 pre[>ared, are frequently exported whole to Europe, after the 

 shell has been removed by the natives. The ' kernel oil ' is 

 expressed by hydraulic presses, and has a number of uses, one 

 of which is in the manufacture of margarine or artificial 

 liutter. The resulting cake is used as a cattle food. 



According to the Ki'ir Bulletin a single tree may yield 

 from 1 to 3 gallons of oil per annum, depending on the 

 character of the soil and the rainfall. The jiricc of palm oil 

 on the London market is from £14 to £15 per ton. 



If fuller and reliable data could be obtained from 

 Southern Nigeria 0)i such points as suitable distance in plant- 

 ing, the time and money required to bring a plantation of 

 oil palms into full bearing, the average yield of nuts per 

 tree, and of oil per aci-e, together with the net profit 

 that might be expected per acre over a given period, these 

 details would be of the utmost value to enterprising planters 

 in other tropiciil colonies who may be thinking of taking up 

 the cultivation. 



AGRICULTURE AT THE GOLD COAST. 



The chief agricultural products of the Gold Coast 

 in order of value are cacao, rubber, and palm oil and 

 kei-nels from the oil palm, together with such minor 

 articles of produce as kola nuts, copra, cotton, etc. 



The cacao industry of the Gold Coast is of especial value, 

 and it is noteworthy that its development is (juite recent. In 

 1895, the cacao shipped from the colony was no more than 

 28,906 It). Five years later the .shipments had advanced to 

 1,200,749 lb. : in 1905 they reached 11,407,008 If)., while in 

 1907 the exports of cacao from the Coast were 20,950,400 lb,, 

 valued at £515,089. Tho latest Aniinid Report on the colony 

 mention.? that considerable improvement has lately been 

 shown in the cultivation of the cacao |>!antaiions. 



The rubber exported from the Gold Coa.st is practically 

 all i>roduced from wild Funtwnia elastica trees. Itiibber 

 planting is being encouraged by the Government, and 

 di.stributions of seed of IIe»i'ii lnusilieiisis (Para rubber) are 

 annually made. This tree is said to flourish at the Botanic 

 Stations in the colony, and to produce an abundant supply 

 ofsfced. In 1907, .3,549,548 th. of rubber, valued at £333,120, 

 were exported from the colony. This shows a slight decrease, 

 compared with the shipments of 1900. As the result of 

 a Commission ajipointcd to enquire into the methods of 

 tapping and preparation practised by the native rubber 

 producers, a scheme has been formulated whereby a number 

 of travelling instructors are to be appointed, whose duties 

 will be to instruct the natives in more .scientific methods of 

 cultivation, taiiping, and general preparation of the rubber. 



The total value of the products of the oil jialm shipped 

 from the Gold Coast in 1907 was £221,290. This included 

 1,807,915 gallons of oil, valued at £119,408, and 9,753 ton^s. 

 f>f kernels, valued at £101,822. The exports of palm oil 

 show a small decrease, and this is referred to in the Atniual 

 Iiejmrt on the colony as a sigir of the increasing attention 

 that is being given to cacao. 



