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native, and too heavy to be carried about easily. In Nigeria 
we now have a railway from Lagos to Kano, and one from 
Port Harcourt right through the oil-bearing tracts of the 
northern provinces. In this region the natives are very fond 
of the oil as an article of diet, so the railway, in a certain 
section, takes oil north from the coast. Hence we find that 
there is a zone in which no merchant is able to buy oil for 
export at a price which would allow him to make a profit. 
That is one of the factors which will, in all probability, in- 
fluence the export of this oil to Europe. 
In Nigeria there is nothing done in the way of cultivation 
‘of the oil palm; and I consider that is a pity, because it is 
‘probable that by this means the quality and yield could be 
improved. Though I would not say there are as many species 
as Herr Hupfeld speaks of, there are distinct differences in 
the palms met with, and I think there should be methodical 
attempts at cultivation; there should be selection, and only 
the best variety should be grown. With regard to the palm 
oil itself, everything at present is left to chance, and the method 
of preparation adopted by the natives is very bad; they allow 
their fruits to ferment very much, and in that way there are 
produced hard oils which contain a large percentage of acid, 
and these kinds are not liked on the markets. That is a 
consideration chiefly for the European merchant on the coast, 
for when buying he should exercise discretion, and employ 
some simple chemical test with a view to finding out what per- 
centage of acid the particular oils contain. I also think that in 
West Africa people should be very careful in introducing new 
crops. We have the oil palm, and a practical monopoly of that 
in the whole world; and when cocoa or rubber, or both, are 
introduced, it means that in connection with the two latter 
every man who is put to work on them is taken away from the 
palm oil industry. 
Mr. J. Avian (Messrs. Crosfields, Warrington): Mr. Chair- 
man and Gentlemen—I have listened with the greatest pleasure 
to the address which has been presented to us by Director 
Hupfeld, and I should like to ask him one or two questions 
in the course of the remarks which I propose to make. He 
has mentioned a yield of 16 per cent. of oil being obtained, 
and the cost of working the plant in the plantation. I hope 
he may be able to tell us what percentage of the actual existing 
oil in the palm fruit has been obtained. I understand he has 
obtained 16 per cent. of oil from the total weight of the fruit 
worked. I should much like to know what is the loss of oil, 
or how much oil existed in the fruit to begin with, because 
when we know that it will give us a measure of the efficiency 
of the plant which he has described. The author has suggested 
