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that improvements in the yield might be arrived at by intensive 

 cultivation and otherwise improving the whole agriculture of 

 the palm, so that it may be systematically planted and culti- 

 vated, as we would do with any crop at home. This, I 

 understand, has already been tried, more particularly in the 

 German Colonies. Though I have not myself been through 

 the German Colonies, I am told by people who have gone there 

 and I have travelled in other palm-bearing Colonies, so I 

 speak with some information on the matter that where 

 selected nuts or fruits have been planted, the palms from these 

 nuts do not always strike true to the palm from which i'.e 

 seed has been obtained; in other words, it would appear a- if 

 many of the so-called varieties of palms were " sports " rather 

 than true varieties, and when the trees from these seeds are 

 in their turn cropped it does not of necessity follow that the 

 fruits collected from the newly planted trees are exactly of 

 the type from which these were derived. Perhaps the Director 

 has some further information on this subject which may clear 

 some of the doubts that I have heard expressed on the question 

 of whether the improvement of palm trees by selection of seed 

 is possible. 



Another point which the author mentioned concerned the 

 existence of free fatty acids in the palm oil as we get it to-day. 

 It was a very common thing, as the Director has said, to 

 obtain palm oil containing 20 per cent, of free fatty acid; but 

 in the course of an extended experience in connection with 

 palm oil I have found a considerable improvement in the 

 quality of the palm oil which is being shipped to this country 

 to-day. Formerly the palm oil which came from the Bona 

 and Old Calabar districts contained 20 or 25 per cent., and 

 sometimes as much as 30 per cent, of free fatty acid. That 

 was an average applied to shipments extending over a number 

 of years. But to-day a much more accurate general figure 

 would be 15 to 17 per cent. Of course, I do not say that even 

 now exceptional parcels might not run to 20 or even 25 per 

 cent.; but if you take the average run of shipments coming 

 from those countries to-day, you will find that 17 per cent, 

 of fatty acid will more nearly express the figure. Lagos oils, 

 which were formerly represented as the best, are decidedly 

 worse in many cases than the better oils which are coming from 

 Togo and Old Calabar; they are as good as the more frequently 

 quoted " Best quality Lagos," so it would appear that the 

 native is being awakened to a knowledge of the damage he 

 does to his industry and his own product by defective methods 

 of production; and it would also seem that our Government 

 Departments of Agriculture are bringing points forward to 

 the native which will result in his improving the quality of the 



