272 



have to be acquired, and, in that case, we should soon see the 

 " option " hunter appear on the scene and it is not usual with him 

 to give an}'thing for nothing. 



In the second place, these stands, or " Palmeries," (shall we 

 call them?) would have to fulfill certain essential conditions, which 

 are so varied that it seems impossible that they should be met in 

 their entirety, in a state of nature. 



A suital)le spot must be found for the factory with abundance 

 of water near by. The factory must be ac-cessible by light railways 

 or by canals (cattle draught cannot be used in West- Africa owing 

 to the tse-tse-fly) to all parts of the estate, as the carriage of the 

 bunches to the factory is inconceivable in any other way. 



These railways or canals, to serve their purpose effectually, 

 cannot be made to twist their way round about irregular lines of 

 trees; they must be laid symmetrically and at i^hort intervals, be- 

 tween well defined rows of trees — whidi can only exist on an estate 

 conceived and developed on a systematic plan. 



If, on the other hand, as was the case presented in our first 

 paper in the Gardens' Bulletin for April, it is proposed to erect a 

 plant to treat 9 tons of fruit daily, we shall have to acquire a far 

 larger tract of " palmeries " than the 1200 acres which the scheme 

 implies, for it is not possible to suppose that these natural stands, 

 partly planted, and largely propagated from fallen seeds, will be. all 

 over, in the same stage of growth. Some parts may be too young, 

 some too old to pay for eolleetion, others, growing in less favoured 

 spots, will yield smaller bunches. The stand, in a word, will not offer 

 that uniformity and stability of production which one can reckon 

 with on a systematically planted estate. Hence, if the daily supply 

 of 9 tons of fruit is to be kept up, and the factory is to be kept 

 working full time, the cropping area will have to be largely in 

 excess of the 1200 acres assumed to be sufiScient to feed the factory. 

 Henc-e, also, increase of means of communication, increase of rail- 

 way mileage, of wagonets, and lastly increase of labour — labour, the 

 stumibling-block of the cultivation of the oil-palm in West Africa 

 and perhaps elsewhere. Further, if we suppose that the owner of 

 the oil-factory relies for his supplies of fruit on deliveries from the 

 neighbouring villages, by purchase of the fruit instead of employing 

 his own labour, it is fairly certain that, contract or no contract, his 

 supplies will be, to say itiie least, erratic: and it i.s well to note 

 here, that under penalty of increasing the free-acid content of the 

 oil the fruit must be treated fresh. 



Anotlier aspect of the quesition here presents itself. So far, 

 very little of the oil exported from W. Africa is extracted 

 mechanically; the whole of it, practically, is made by the natives 

 themselves by their own methods it is a familiar industry in which 

 women and children contribute their quota.. But when it comes to 

 mechanical treatment of the fresh fruit at the mill, the whole 

 character of the industry is altered. The work is mainly plain 

 coolie work, confined to climbing up the palms after the fashion 



