733 



Dunstan); Dum (Upper Niger, W. Africa, De Gironcou..,. 

 Dum, Dom, or Doum Palm (commonly referred to as such), 

 Ginger-bread Palm. 



Bornu in N. Nigeria and also known in West Africa from the 

 Gambia and in Nile Land from Nubia, Eritrea, Kordofan, Sennar, 

 Abyssinia, Somahland and British East Africa (Fl. Trop. Afr. 

 I.e.). Chevalier records it from the Chari region. 



The leaves are used for mats and the best kind of hats at 

 Sokoto and Gwandu (Baikie, Technologist, iii, 1863, p. 104), 

 for plaiting various articles, N. Nigeria (Dalziel, Hausa Bot. Voc! ' 

 p. 40); for tent-making, Somahland (Bull. Bur. Agric. Inst. 

 Rome, May 1911, p. 1011). It has been found that a very satis- 

 factory paper can be made from them, and they have also been 

 tried by a manufacturer as a material for the production of 

 braiding for straw hats, who reported that they were satisfactory 

 for the purpose, but that the manufacture of braid from them 

 would only be practicable if labour and other conditions would 

 allow of its being undertaken as a local industry in the Sudan 

 (Col. Rep. Ann. No. 882, 1916, p. 15). 



A fibre is obtained from the root (Dalziel, I.e.). 



At Berber the leaves are made into coarse rope (specimen in 

 the Museum, Kew) and the trunks into beams and posts (Spoke 

 & Grant). 



Dum palm fruits from 2?ungeru have been examined at the 

 Imperial Institute; they averaged 2\ in. in length and IJ in. 

 in breadth, the pericarp, which was tough and fibrous, being 

 about f in. thick, approximately 70 per cent, of the whole, the 

 seed or nut being 30 per cent, and weighing 16-7 kg. per 1000; 

 they were of good quahty and quite equal to those received 

 from the Sudan and elsewhere [see Bull. Imp. Inst. 1911, jDp. 

 105-109). It was stated that Doum Kernels are not much used 

 at^ present (1912) in the United Kingdom* as ov/ing to the 

 existence of a central cavity they are not so suitable for the 

 manufacture of buttons as"^ are " corosos " nuts {Phytelephas 

 macrocarpa) . In Italy, where cheap buttons are extensively made 



Africa 



whom 



valuation, mentioned that a small consignment which was received 

 at Genoa remained in store for several months before it found a 

 purchaser at about 135. per 100 kg., landed terms; the firm 

 further stated that nuts weighing less than 35-40 kg. per 1000 

 would not find a market in Genoa and that it would be better 

 to ship nuts weighing 45 50 kg. per 1000 (N. Nig. Gaz. Suppl. 

 Sept. 14th, 1912, p. 264) or approximately 3 times the weight of 



eru 



" Dom palm nuts " to the value of E£l4,736 were exported 

 from Port Sudan, Egypt (1912), going mostly to Italy, Germany 

 and the United Kingdom. Stated to be used as a substitute for 

 the " Vegetable Ivorj- Nut " {PhyteJei^Tias macrocarpa) (Dip & 

 Cons. Rep. Ann. No. 5026, 1912. p. 5), Dum palm nuts are 



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