40 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



a heap and the stones taken out, leaving the oily 

 fibrous pulp, which is put into a pot with a small 

 quantity of water under a good fire and well stirred 

 until the oil begins to melt out. The pulp is then 

 removed and put into a rough net opened at both 

 ends, to which are attached two or three short sticks, 

 by turning which at opposite directions the oil is 

 squeezed out ; from the nettings it runs into a receiver 

 or tub, leaving the fibre in it. 



"The longer the oil-nuts remain underground the 

 thicker the oil will be when made ; the quality will 

 also be inferior, and the smell bad ; cceteris paribus, the 

 shorter time, within certain limits, the nuts are under- 

 ground, the more superior will be the quality of the 

 oil made from them. This in a great measure will 

 account for the difference in the quality of the oil 

 shipped from different parts of the coast." 



Palm Oil for Home Consumption. — (V) " The 

 nut bunches are kept in a hot place for three or four 

 days, and the nuts are taken out ; a small quantity — 

 from three to four lbs. — is made at a time ; they are 

 boiled in iron pots, then put into wooden mortar and 

 pounded with wooden pestles. The pulpy mass is 

 then mixed with tepid water with the hand, the chaff 

 is first removed, and afterwards the stones. The oil 

 remains mixed in the water, which is passed through 

 a sieve, to remove the remaining chaff, into a pot 

 placed on the fire, and heated to boiling point, and 



