OIL-SEEDS AND OILS 135 



Now, however, we are importing considerable quantities, and 

 doubtless in the future these will be increased. 



Not only can the oil be used in the manufacture of 

 soap ; refined and purified it can be used as salad oil, and 

 Margarine can be made from it. After the oil has been 

 expressed, the residue forms a valuable feeding-cake for 

 cattle. 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY. South America is regarded as the native 

 home of the ground-nut, and it was not known in the Old 

 World before the time of Columbus, but now it is cultivated 

 in all hot countries, though India (chiefly South India and 



GROUND-NUT 

 Flower. Fruit. 



Bombay) and West Africa yield the largest supplies. From 

 India the nuts are exported in their shells. 



In West Africa, Gambia, Northern Nigeria, the Gold Coast, 

 and Sierra Leone all produce ground-nuts. They are exported 

 stripped of their shells. 



Not only do the plants require but little care in cultivation 

 and yield a quick return, but they enrich the soil for other 

 plants, and are therefore often grown as catch crops among 

 young coco-nut palms, and they often follow grain and cotton 

 in the rotation of crops. In the Sudan, for instance, where 

 irrigation is necessary and intensive cultivation is practised, 

 ground-nuts are considered a valuable crop for restoring 

 fertility to the soil after other crops have exhausted it. 



For these and other reasons the Sudan, Malaya, Kenya 

 Colony, Uganda, Natal, and many other places are paying 



