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native, and too heavy to be carried about easily. In Nigeria 

 we now have a railway from Lagos to Kano, and one from 

 Port Harcourt right through the oil-bearing tracts of the 

 northern provinces. In this region the natives are very fond 

 of the oil as an article of diet, so the railway, in a certain 

 section, takes oil north from the coast. Hence we find that 

 there is a zone in which no merchant is able to buy oil for 

 export at a price which would allow him to make a profit. 

 That is one of the factors which will, in all probability, in- 

 fluence the export of this oil to Europe. 



In Nigeria there -is nothing done in the way of cultivation 

 of the oil palm; and I consider that is a pity, because it is 

 probable that by this means the quality and yield 1 could be 

 improved. Though I would not say there are as many species 

 as Herr Hupfeld speaks of, there are distinct differences in 

 the palms met with, and I think there should be methodical 

 attempts at cultivation; there should be selection, and only 

 the best variety should be grown. With regard to the palm 

 oil itself, everything at present is left to chance, and the method 

 of preparation adopted by the natives is very bad; they allow 

 their fruits to ferment very much, and in that way there are 

 produced hard oils which contain a large percentage of acid, 

 and! these kinds are not liked on the markets. That is a 

 consideration chiefly for the European merchant on the coast, 

 for when buying he should exercise discretion, and employ 

 some simple chemical test with a view to finding out what per- 

 centage of acid the particular oils contain. I also think that in 

 West Africa people should be very careful in introducing new 

 crops. W<e have the oil palm, and a practical monopoly of that 

 in the whole world; and when cocoa or rubber, or both, are 

 introduced, it means that in connection with the two latter 

 every man who is put to work on them is taken away from the 

 palm oil industry. 



Mr. J. ALLAN (Messrs. Crosfields, Warrington) : Mr. Chair- 

 man and Gentlemen I have listened with the greatest pleasure 

 to the address which has been presented to us by Director 

 Hupfeld, and I should like to ask him one or two questions 

 in the course of the remarks which I propose to make. He 

 has mentioned a yield of 16 per cent, of oil being obtained, 

 and the cost of working the plant in the plantation. I hope 

 he may be able to tell us what percentage of the actual existing 

 oil in the palm fruit has been obtained. I understand he has 

 obtained 16 per cent, of oil from the total weight of the fruit 

 worked. I should much like to know what is the loss of oil, 

 or how much oil existed in the fruit to begin with, because 

 when we know that it will give us a measure of the efficiency 

 of the plant which he has described. The author has suggested 



