138 OIL-SEEDS AND OILS 



tree is most valued. To obtain olive oil, or, as it is often called, 

 salad oil, or Lucca oil, the fruit is crushed. The oil from the first 

 crushings is the best ; the inferior kinds pressed from the pulp 

 after it has been steeped in water are only fit for soap-making. 



Italy, France, and Spain at present supply us with all the 

 oil we use, but there are districts in Australia in which the 

 tree thrives well. 



In South Australia, the cultivation of olives and the extrac- 

 tion of oil are well-established industries, and there are large 

 tracts of country with a light rainfall and poor soil, on which 

 thousands more trees might be grown with advantage. The 

 Darling Downs in Queensland seem particularly suited to the 

 cultivation of olive-trees, and many are already doing well 

 here, though there are other parts of the State with a similar 

 soil and climate in which the trees would certainly thrive. 

 One writer gives it as his opinion that Queensland is destined 

 some day to be ' one of the largest producers of olives on earth '. 



Not only is the oil very valuable, but the trees themselves 

 provide a much-needed shelter for cattle in those open downs 

 of Australia, where the rainfall is too scanty, and the soil too 

 poor, for other trees to flourish. 



SUMMARY. Within the empire India and West Africa stand 

 out pre-eminently as exporters of oil-seeds and oil. 



The value of the Indian export alone is estimated at 

 17,000,000. We have long been accustomed to buy from her 

 such well-known seeds as Linseed, Castor Seed, Cotton Seed, 

 and Rape Seed, but there are many others such as Sesame, 

 Mowra, and Poppy, which, together with Ground-nuts, we shall 

 in the future import from her in increasing quantities. 



West Africa is first and foremost the exporter of Palm Oil 

 and Palm Kernels and Ground-nuts. Palm oil we have always 

 bought from her, but palm kernels and ground-nuts we have 

 hitherto neglected. In the future these, with Sesame Seeds 

 and Shea-nuts, will be among our most valuable imports. 



Ceylon, Malaya, Australia, India, and many other British 

 countries already supply us with large quantities of Copra, 



