OIL PALM AND PALM KERNEL INDUSTRY 475 



oil out of it. The oil is now thoroughly boiled, and when quite thin 

 and of a reddish-orange colour is poured off carefully into clean pots. 

 A fine residue of fibre and particles of dirt remain in the pot in which 

 the oil was boiled ; this is used for native lamps by dipping a twisted 

 fibre into it. 



The clean soft oil is now ready for sale, and is carried in old kerosene 

 tins or other receptacles to the nearest market. Despite the very 

 large loss which occurs, owing to the breaking of calabashes on the 

 road to market, still very large amounts are carried in vegetable cala- 

 bashes or earthenware pots. By the time this oil reaches Europe it 

 is partially hardened in the cask, though usually there is a certain 

 amount of liquid on the top. 



Sale of Produce. — The palm oil is sold by the kerosene tin (one gallon), 

 by the keg, or by the puncheon. It is also sold by the bottle in the 

 markets for local use. 



The palm kernels are sold by the calabash in the districts further 

 away from the markets, but more usually by the coulah (Jekri). They 

 are also sometimes sold by the bag, weighing either 25 lb. or nearly 

 50 lb. in weight. The natives find old salt bags of different sizes 

 very convenient for this purpose, more especially when the kernels 

 are to be conveyed some distance to the nearest factory. 



76, At the beginning of 1915 hard oil was worth £32 per ton, and 

 soft oil £36 10s. per ton, whereas at the beginning of 1918 soft oil was 

 being sold at £36 5s. to £47 10s. per ton, whilst the official maximum 

 price for unbleached palm oil is £44 per ton, and £50 per ton 

 bleached. 



7a and 11. Utility of the Oil Palm. — From the Oil Palm are 

 obtained the following products : Palm oil, palm kernels, palm wine and 

 yeast from the fermented palm wine. The shells of the nuts are used 

 by blacksmiths, as thej give out great heat. The growing head of the 

 palm is used as a vegetable — palm cabbage. The stems of the leaves 

 are useful as rafters or house posts in the Yoruba country, the leaves 

 for making mats for roofing, and the midribs as brooms. 



To obtain the wine, the tree is either tapped below the male 

 inflorescence in Ibadan, Yoruba, etc., or when the tree is felled and 

 the crown cut off. A calabash is placed so as to catch the outflowing 

 sap, which is the palm wine. 



The natives frizzle the kernels in an iron pot and obtain an oil 

 which is used as an emollient for wounds and rubbing on bruises or 

 sprains. It has a burnt smell. Only small quantities of kernels are 

 used for this purpose in Nigeria. 



Tapping is sometimes effected at the base of both inflorescences, 

 but this is a more unusual method. 



So far no use has been found for the wood, though it is uncommonly 

 tough and very fibrous. 



