CHAPTER IV. 

 THE SHEA NUT. 



THE shea-butter tree was originally brought to our notice 

 by Mungo Park, and named after him, Butyrospermum 

 parkii. The shea-butter grows everywhere in West and 

 West-Central Africa, where the oil palm does not. In 

 Northern Nigeria especially, it flourishes over large areas. 

 Vast and unexploited supplies exist also in the North of 

 Ashanti beyond the evergreen forest. It is content with 

 less rain than the oil palm requires. The vegetable fat 

 from the nut of this tree is used by the West African 

 natives as a food, and has been employed in this country 

 in the manufacture of candles, and mixed with other 

 oils, in soap-making. It is now within the scope of 

 modern chemistry to find some means of preparing and 

 preserving this vegetable fat so that it is an exportable 

 form of butter. It is far nicer in taste, and far more 

 wholesome than some of the present substitutes for the 

 fat derived from cow's milk. 



The shea tree grows to a height of 45 to 60 feet or even 

 more. The trunk reaches a diameter of 9 feet or over, 

 and is covered with rough greyish bark. The reddish- 

 coloured wood is hard, heavy, and difficult to work, 

 but is used by the natives for making pestles, mortars, 

 and other implements. The leaves are elongated, grab- 

 rous when fully developed, but downy when quite young, 

 and measure from 4 to 10 inches in length and 1J to 2| 



inches in width, each leaf being borne on a petiole from 



59 



