280 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



commune), indigenous to Malabar and the Molucca Islands, 

 and cultivated also in various other parts of the Tropics. The 

 nuts of this tree yield 56 per cent, of oil by pressure. The oil 

 is of a yellow color and very agreeable flavor. It is used exclu- 

 sively as a food oil. 



VEGETABLE FATS 



The most important of the oils which come under this group 

 is palm oil, obtained from the nuts of Elceis guineensis, native 

 of west Africa, where it occurs in enormous areas. The oil 

 palm is also cultivated in various tropical regions, particularly 

 in Nigeria. It is a handsome tree 40 to 60 feet high, with large, 

 graceful, pinnate leaves. The oil palm begins bearing at the 

 age of 5 or 6 years and comes into full bearing at 15 years 

 of age, after which it continues its productive life for 60 to 70 

 years. Each tree bears about 10 bunches of 200 nuts each per 

 year. About 70,000 tons of palm oil and 175,000 tons of ker- 

 nels are annually exported from west Africa. The United 

 States imports 25,000 tons of palm oil per year. 



The bunches of ripe nuts are cut off with a machete and 

 allowed to fall to the ground. The fruit pulp yields a yellow- 

 ish oil which is widely used in the soap and candle industries. 

 The kernels yield a white fat which is much employed as a 

 vegetable butter. The kernel oil is obtained by hydraulic pres- 

 sure in the oil mills of Europe. A high-grade pulp oil is se- 

 cured by the natives through the use of hand presses and a 

 low-grade oil by boiling. The yield averages about I to 3 gal- 

 lons of oil per tree annually. This yield could be much in- 

 creased by improvement in the methods of handling the nuts. 

 The present native methods are very wasteful. It has been 

 estimated that these careless methods cause an unnecessary 

 loss of about one-third the possible oil yield. 



From I ton of the palm kernels 900 pounds of oil are ob- 

 tained. This oil is a white, solid mass at ordinary tempera- 

 tures. It is used in the manufacture of soap and candles and 



