INTRODUCTION. 



FEW people realise how important to us and to the 

 world at large are the products of the oil-yielding trees 

 and plants contained within the Empire. The Germans, 

 although they had wisely accumulated large reserves 

 of the vegetable fats and oils mostly from our own 

 and their lost African empire have recently suffered 

 through lack of these precious stuffs, while the British 

 official statement during the war that glycerine was no 

 longer to be supplied to chemists, showed clearly how 

 want of foresight added to the difficulties of the war 

 on our part. 



We have in our vast tropical possessions an enormous 

 variety of raw materials which can be exploited with 

 little trouble, and will produce lavish supplies of fats 

 and oil to satisfy our hungry population, and also give 

 the glycerine necessary for the manufacture of high 

 explosives. 



Soft palm oil, for instance, contains glycerides from 

 which 9 to 10 per cent, of glycerine can be obtained 

 by up-to-date machinery and methods. We have in 

 our Empire vast quantities of this raw material. 



Before the war the Germans practically controlled and 

 worked up the bulk of the oils and fats from West Africa 

 and in nearly all our tropical possessions ; and margarine 

 and nut butter were largely imported to Britain from 

 abroad. These products, now made in Britain, have 



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