OIL BEANS, SEEDS AND NUTS 449 



and subject to being shipped in lots of fifty to one hundred tons at a 

 time. No regular plantations have been made with this tree, but 

 it is probable that with cultivation an earlier and quicker yield of 

 nuts could be obtained, also with further grafting and seed selecting 

 the thickness of the shell over the kernel could be considerably reduced, 

 and also the thickness of the pod, and thus make the product more 

 valuable in proportion to its size. A small tree will bear half to one 

 bushel of beans, and a large tree will bear two. On the smaller and 

 younger trees the pods are narrower and shorter than on the older 

 trees, and the beans are much smaller, being only about half the size 

 and a third of the bulk of those from fully-grown trees. The pods, 

 which also contain a certain amount of oil, are not to be despised as 

 a source of fuel, especially as time goes on and the population increases. 



In this place also should be considered the beans of Xylia Evansii. 

 This is also a Leguminous tree. The natives apparently have no use 

 for the small, flattened round beans, which are about half to three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter and an eighth of an inch thick, and 

 sometimes less. The beans have not been collected or sold, neither 

 have they been examined chemically as to their oil or other content. 



Another oil-bean-bearing tree of this family is Berlinia acuminata, 

 which has large beans rather more than an inch and a half long, 

 an inch broad, and a third of an inch thick. Further examination 

 would show whether the oil content is such as to justify their com- 

 mercial exploitation. The Benin name is Ekpagoi and Yoruba 

 Apado. 



Closely allied to this one is Macrolobium palisoti, the Ogaba of the 

 Benis, which also yields a flat, almost square-shaped bean, nearly an 

 inch in length and an inch in width. The exact oil content of this 

 bean is unknown. 



The beans of Cynometra Afzelii and Cynometra Mannii are much 

 larger and stouter, but also contain a certain amount of oil of unknown 

 value. The Benin name is Upakeka and Yoruba Eggi or Ekku. 



Then we have the small, almost black, button-like beans of Brachy- 

 stegia spicceformis, which, despite their large quantity, have remained 

 uncollected and unused. A proper chemical examination would reveal 

 the oil or other content of the beans. The Benin name is Okwan 

 and the Yoruba Ako. 



Still considering this same family of plants, the Leguminoseae, 

 there are the brown beans of Erythrophlceum Guineense and E. micran- 

 thum. These are of a brown colour, about half an inch long, one- 

 third of an inch wide, and an eighth of an inch thick, and of a more 

 or less round shape. Here, again, further investigation would reveal 

 the oil content of these beans. The Yoruba name is Oginni or Inyi 

 and Yoruba Erunor Obo. 



It is also not known whether the nuts of the various Afzelias, 

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