20 SIERRA LEONE 



growing in a damper and lighter soil. It is probable, 

 although no experiments have yet been made affording 

 direct evidence for the conclusion, that the fertility 

 and yield of fruits of the trees growing upon the flat 

 lands are greater than those established upon the higher 

 undulating country because they are subject to less wash 

 and more natural irrigation. It is also quite possible 

 that the variety of palm fruit produced in the former 

 places will be found to furnish better commercial results. 

 No distinct varieties are, however, recognised by the 

 natives, although distinctive names are applied to the 

 same fruit in different stages of development. 



The oil palm does not appear to be able to thrive in 

 heavy forest, and in a natural state occupies open valleys 

 with low undergrowth, but upon the clearance of primary 

 forest it soon becomes established. 



The seeds or nuts, which are large and heavy, are 

 distributed by the agency of frugivorous birds and 

 mammals. The grey parrot, for example, may be ob- 

 served extracting the ripe fruits from the heads or picking 

 them from the ground where they have fallen, and, after 

 conveying these to a convenient tree, carefully removing 

 the oily pericarp before dropping the nut in a new position. 

 Monkeys doubtless convey the fruits to even greater 

 distances in their cheek-pouches. 



Owing to the presence of rocky and swampy strips of 

 country in the Protectorate, and the direction in which 

 farm fires have been carried by the prevailing winds, 

 the distribution of palms has been thought to assume 

 the character of " belts," defined by fairly well-marked 

 boundaries. When looked into more closely, however, 

 the distribution appears to be better described as con- 

 sisting of dense patches linked sometimes by almost 

 unrecognisable chains of widely scattered trees, and often 

 broken into by short ranges of hills which are completely 

 destitute of palms. 



The patches referred to may bear 500 palm trees to 

 the acre, and these may represent 80 to 100 per cent, 

 of the total tree-growth on the patch. The area of such 

 a patch may be roughly estimated at from J acre to 

 15 sq. miles, or even more, but it should be added that, 

 where such extensive tracts as these occur, the difficulties 

 of transport and the scarcity of the population have 



