242 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



girth, whereas the farm-grown palm may be over 6 feet in 

 girth. It goes without saying that the latter bears larger 

 bunches of fruit and the individual nuts are larger and also 

 more numerous. 



Between the twelfth and fifteenth year the tree begins to 

 clear itself of the lower leaves, thus forming a clean bole up 

 to the tuft of fronds at the top. 



Owing to the fact that the bunches of fruit form in the 

 axis of the leaf stalk, they are compressed very tightly, and 

 thus ripen comparatively slowly. By cutting off the leaf 

 immediately below the fruit, the ripening period is shortened 

 by three weeks. This is, of course, partly due to the increased 

 amount of light. Cutting leaves, however, above the fruit, 

 or at all excessively in number, leads to a deceleration in growth, 

 so that pruning should only be moderate. Both in the forest 

 and in the open, epiphytic ferns, figs, and other plants grow 

 amongst the leaves on the stem, and more especially later 

 at the top of the tree. The trees are rarely, if ever, cleaned 

 of these hindrances to healthy growth, but naturally they 

 retard the flowering and ripening of the fruit. The leaves 

 are also used for making brushes for sweeping the ground. 



Native Use. — Oil is made from the pericarp of the fruit, 

 and from the kernels, for rubbing on the skin. The leaf 

 stalk is used for roof-poles. 



Natural regeneration is good, although the Oil Palm thrives 

 best in a deep, moist soil with considerable mineral content. 

 It is, however, found growing amongst rocks on laterite and 

 poor sandy land, and that in such case the rainfall is 

 deficient, i.e. below 40 inches. A few small plantations have 

 been made. It is noticeable that self-grown seedlings grow 

 much slower than those transplanted. In the first year the 

 self-sown seedlings grow only one pair of leaves, whereas 

 those transplanted grow five or six in the same period 

 Apparently the Oil Palm does not thrive unless the soil is 

 kept well covered and a good surface tilth maintained. With a 

 planting distance of 20 to 24 feet there is considerable scope 

 for the planting of other crops between. The chief difficulty 

 appears to be to grow these at a profit without impoverishing 

 the soil or hindering the quick development of the Oil Palm. 

 On suitable soil the most profitable crops appear to be the 

 following : ground-nuts, beans (three or four kinds), Egusi 

 Bara, Citrullus vulgaris. 



A fuller consideration of this subject, and the Oil Palm 

 generally, will be found in the separate section about it. 

 Elcesis Guineensis, var. Thompsonii. The Palm of Everlasting 



