130 NIGERIA NORTHERN PROVINCES 



without great expense being incurred. If Ceara planting 

 should be adopted in Northern Nigeria, some such system 

 as this might prove remunerative. 



In the Lokoja forest reserve, about a hundred acres 

 of Funtumia elastica were planted in 1906, but these 

 have not succeeded as well as was originally expected, 

 owing, probably, to want of moisture. A few Ceara and 

 even Hevea plants, have been grown at Zungeru and 

 Baro, but, as yet, no plantations have been made. 



SHEA NUTS. The shea nut is the seed or kernel con- 

 tained in the green fruit borne by Butyrospermum Parlcii, 

 called locally " Kadainya." The fruit, which ripens about 

 May, is of variable size, from that of a pigeon's egg to 

 as large as a hen's egg where only one nut is contained, 

 but is nearly twice the size where two nuts are present 

 in the same fruit. The fleshy rind is not more than 

 one-sixth of an inch in thickness, is sweet to the taste, 

 and contains a white latex, which coagulates into a 

 product called " gutta-shea." The natives in some places 

 seem to regard the fruit as a delicacy, and the roads and 

 paths, in districts where the tree is plentiful, are strewn 

 with the nuts which have been thrown away after the 

 fruit portions have been eaten. The nut is quite smooth, 

 and is readily separated from the fleshy part. 



The butter, which is extracted by the natives, is ap- 

 preciated less than palm oil or groundnut oil for cooking, 

 but is used as a substitute. In Europe the kernels as 

 well as the extracted " butter " are employed, especially 

 on the Continent, for the manufacture of vegetable 

 butter and in candle factories. 



In some places the fruits are collected and put in heaps, 

 until the fleshy parts have decomposed and left the nuts 

 clean, after which the kernels are extracted, dried in 

 earthen stoves, and pounded or ground into a fine flour. 

 This is then pounded again, with the addition of a little 

 water, previous to being mixed in hot water to separate 

 the fat. The latter rises to the surface and solidifies on 

 cooling, being melted again for clarification by skimming 

 previous to being poured into moulds made from plantain 

 leaves or maize-cob sheaths. In this form it is sold for 

 export, and is then known as " shea-butter." An illus- 

 tration is given (Fig. 28) of some Shea nut collectors 

 resting beneath a Shea tree in the Ilorin Province. 



