275 



l)raiiehes ))elow the bunches having been cut, the bunches instead 

 of being compressed between the trunk and the leaves, hang out- 

 wai'dly, which allows them to expand and to receive on all sides the 

 action of the sun, insuring tlicreby uniform ripening of the fruit — 

 one of the problems of the cultivation of Eloie'is. 



A remark in the previous paper. Gardens' Bulletin Vol, II, 

 No. 7, p. 222 needs amending. An acre is put down as containing 

 50 trees planted 27 feet by 2'7 feet. Elae'is should in no case be 

 planted less tlian 30' x 30' which would give 48 trees to the ax^re. 

 Its spread of leaves commands that span, and closer planting would 

 be the surest means of encouraging growi;h upward, in response to 

 the call of the sun, which all close-planted trees have to obey, at 

 the expense of the proper expansion of their trunks. Above all 

 things to be avoided in the Elae'is are a long stem and a high 

 crown. 



After the above had been written the Bulletin des Maiieres 

 Grasses 1920 No. 1 came to hand with a very interesting notice 

 written by Mr. Fauconnier, the well knowTi planter of Rantau Ean- 

 jong (Selangor) with facts and figures which are of importance to 

 the prospective planter of Elae'is in Malaya. 



His investigations show that: : 



1. Elae'is yields larger bunches in Malaya than in Africa, weights 



being recorded of 62 kilos. 



2. The fruits of the Malayan Elae'is are richer in oil,' as much as 



30% of Palm-oil being obtainable. 



3. Elae'is begins fruiting at 3 years and attains maturity at 5 



years. 



The yields obtained from 100 kilos of fruit bunches are 15 

 kilos of palm-oil, 12 to 15 kilos of kernels. 



x\nd the final conclusions are : 



One acre planted with 40 trees = 6,000 kilos of bunches = 800 

 kilos of palm-oil plus 800 kilos palm-kernels. 



Mr. Fauconnier*6 experience entitles these figures to our fuU 

 acceptance. There only remains the question of the working costs 

 and of the efficacity of present day machinery to obtain in practice, 

 the output of oil as found to exist in the fruit of the Malayan 

 Elae'is. 



References : 



Bulletin des Matieres Grasses de Flnstitut Colonial de Marseille, 

 1919, Nos. 2-16. 



Bulletin de 1' Association des Planteurs de Caoutchouc, February, 

 1920. 



Tropical Agriculturist, March, 1920. 



E. Mathieu. 



