OIL-SEEDS AND OILS 133 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY. The Cashew tree grows wild in the 

 West Indies, and in the coastal forests of India, but in India 

 the kernels are so extensively eaten that few are left over for 

 export. 



Cotton Seed. British India and Egypt send us our chief 

 supplies of cotton seed, though we also buy considerable 

 quantities from Uganda, Kenya Colony, and Nigeria. Of 

 foreign countries Brazil and Peru send us most, but our 

 imports are mainly from British countries. Cotton-seed oil 

 comes from the United States. 



THE GROUND-NUT (Amchis hypogoea). This is a little 

 leguminous plant which grows about a foot high. From its 

 root it sends out branches which rise only a little way above 

 the ground. The leaves are almost square in shape with two 

 pairs of opposite leaflets, and at the junction of the leaf -stalk 

 and stem of the lower branches bright yellow flowers occur 

 resembling those of a pea, but each having a very long 

 calyx. 



When the petals fall and the pods begin to form, the part 

 of the flower just under the seed-vessel quickly grows into 

 a thick stalk about an inch and a half in length ; this stalk 

 pushes the pod underground and here the peas or seeds ripen. 

 The pods are of a pale straw colour and their surface is dry 

 and wrinkled. They each contain two reddish-brown nuts 

 or peas. 



Sir George Watt x says that in India ' this curious plant 

 often attracts to itself a number of red ants which in gardens 

 in Bengal seem regularly to soften and pulverize the soil 

 so as to facilitate the movement of the pod '. 



The nuts are said to be even more nutritious than lentils, 

 and in America (where they are called pea-nuts) they are 

 largely used as an article of food. They are sold roasted at 

 street corners in New York as chestnuts are sold in London. 

 Fried in butter, too, and sprinkled with cayenne, they are said 

 to be as good as salted almonds. 



1 Dictionary of Economic Products of India. 



