38 
“No. 3 has a large bright yellow fruit, with a very thin pericarp 
which contains little oil, cavehing a very large nut; the cobs of this 
variety are never cut down for palm oil, but are allowed to rot a 
the palm tree till the nuts fall to the ground, here they lie till a 
the fibrous fleshy pericarp has rotted off them; they are then 
collected and cracked for their kernels. The oil from this variety 
is light coloured, the fruits are used in native sacrificial ceremonies. 
No. 3 is never used for alm oil, This variety appears to be 
known in the Central Province and in the Gold Coast as the King 
Palm and to be the Ope-Ifa of the Yorubas. 
“ No, 4 has a light red-coloured fruit shading off to claret colour 
at the end ; it is the smallest of all the varieties, but both palm oil 
and kernels are obtained from it.” : , 
Tn a further report from the Acting Conservator of Forests, dated 
August 10th, 1908, the names of the varieties are given as 
follows :— 
lho, Lyk. Yoruba. Bent. 
(1.) Au-su-ku A-soge-e-jub Ope-arunfo 
(2.) Okporukpu — Akponojub Ope-Pamkora Udin 
(3.) Af-fiako-jub  Ojuku 
No. 2 is the typical form of Elacis guineensis and is said to be by 
far the commonest in the Western and Central Provinces as the 
other two varieties together comprise a very small fraction of all 
the Oil Palms. The proportion of the thin-shelled variety, No. 1 
Au-su-ku, in the Western Province is about 2 per cent. (Dawodu), 
and in the Central Province it is quite uncommon, In the Eastern 
Province this latter variety appears to exist in the proportion of 
30 per cent. (Hitchens), 
t is of interest to notice that the Governor of Southern Nigeria 
has issued instructions for the formation of a small Government 
plantation of this thin-shelled variety, 
n connection with the experimental plantation which has been’ 
e in the Cameroons (see pp. 44, 45, and 47) the results from this 
plantation will be eagerly awaited, 
Goup Coasz, 
The thin-shelled variety, as has 
first brought to the notice of K 
ele ans SS Abe-pa, hard nut. 
; . 20-be variety is exceeding] interesting, and appears 
to be widely distributed all over the Coltay, From auljvinieida I 
ae been “able to gather it does not appear to come true from | 
Fe ieee eo: bey eck to yield the same nuts each year. 
€ istinguis i 7 
seeing’ the wala.” Suish one variety from the other without 
