YAMS SHEA NUTS AND BUTTER 115 



tant food in many parts of the country, and is widely 

 cultivated, especially in the Western Province. No 

 tapioca is prepared from the root in Southern Nigeria, 

 such as is the case in the West Indies and elsewhere. 



YAMS. In many parts of the country, more especially 

 in the Central and Eastern Provinces, the various forms 

 of yam (Dioscorea) are extensively cultivated alone or 

 with maize, but the presence of five or six other crops 

 growing upon the heightened yam mounds is not un- 

 common, in the Cross River districts particularly. From 

 the latter locality quantities of yams are sent by river 

 canoes to the large ports in the vicinity of which culti- 

 vated land is often scarce. 



The Koko yam (Colocasia antiquorum) is also common 

 in the wet zone. 



GROUNDNUTS. The cultivation of groundnuts (Am- 

 chis hypogea), upon a more extensive scale than at present, 

 is to be recommended, as there are too few leguminous 

 crops grown in the local rotation. The colour of most 

 of the Southern Nigerian nuts is probably an obstacle 

 to their ready sale in Europe ; the shell being usually 

 a dirty greyish instead of a light straw colour. The 

 kernels are, however, satisfactory. It would, perhaps, 

 therefore be advantageous to ship decorticated nuts, as 

 is done in the Northern Provinces. Although new seed 

 and instructors have been brought recently from the 

 Gambia, very little more is grown than formerly. 



The variety seen in the Western Province is a larger 

 one than that of the Gambia, and has generally two 

 kernels. The market price for groundnuts at Lapita near 

 Oyo was 200 for Id., which will indicate the scarcity of 

 the product. 



SHEA NUTS AND BUTTER. The export trade in 

 shea nuts (Butyrospermum Parkii) was expected to develop 

 with the extension of the railway through Ibadan and 

 Ilorin to the Northern Provinces, but the exported pro- 

 duct still has its main source from localities north of the 

 Niger. The demand does not seem sufficient to induce ex- 

 pansion to a great extent {Bull. Imp. Inst., vol. vi. [1908]). 



The butter or fat is much appreciated in the country 

 for culinary purposes, and has been found of value in 

 Europe for soap and candle-making, as well as for the 

 manufacture of vegetable butter. 



