48 COCONUTS, KERNELS, AND CACAO. 



Marseilles, and they will probably do their utmost to 

 encourage the Colonial industry. 



Other countries which express this oil are China, 

 Java, the United States, and Japan. 



The ground-nut, earth-nut, monkey-nut, or pea-nut, as 

 different nuts of the same species are variously called, is 

 the fruit of a yellow-flowered herbaceous plant belonging 

 to the Nat. Ord. Leguminosce, which is cultivated ex- 

 tensively in Gambia, Senegal, Hong Kong, India, Nigeria, 

 East Africa, and the United States. The value of the 

 nut largely depends on its oil content, which in a good 

 sample will average 40 per cent, of the seed by weight 

 after extraction. At the same time, the leaves and 

 branches of the plant form an excellent fodder for cattle 

 and sheep, and should always be utilised after harvest. 



The flowers are peculiar and worthy of consideration, 

 as they have a considerable bearing on the successful 

 cultivation of the crop. After fertilisation the torus or 

 seed stalk of the flower becomes elongated, rigid, and 

 deflexed, and forces itself into the ground where the 

 ovary at its extremity begins to enlarge and develop into 

 a yellow wrinkled one to three-seeded pod. If the ground 

 be so hard as to prevent the seed stalk from burying 

 the developing ovary, the whole part withers and no 

 fruit is formed, hence the necessity for keeping the soil 

 in a friable condition until the flowers be set. 



The highest percentage of marketable nuts is produced 

 in sandy loams ; soils deficient in lime, if rich in nitrogen, 

 will produce luxuriant plants but little fruit, and clay 

 soils are always unsuitable, producing small pods of 

 low quality. 



In ordinary field conditions, the soil should not be 



