CHAPTER XI 
THE OIL BEANS, SEEDS AND NUTS OF 
THE FOREST 
In a separate chapter the Oil Palm and its produce are more fully con- 
sidered, so that we give here a detailed account of the other important 
Oil Seeds and Nuts. Oil-bearing nuts and seeds are usually found 
in great profusion in the Tropics, and West Africa is no exception to 
the rule. 
Amongst the botanical families in which the plants yield oil-seeds 
or nuts are the Palmz, Leguminose, Euphorbiacee, Ochnacezx, 
Sapotacee, Rhizophoracez, Meliacee and Guttifere. As far as the 
Protectorates of Nigeria and Sierra Leone are concerned, the 
“Oil Bean’ (Pentaclethra macrophylla) is one of the most important. 
According to the data in the Niger district, oil beans have been 
bought for some ten years from the natives. They are also known 
as Owala beans. The natives prefer a price of Is. per case, but the 
minimum of 6d. and the maximum of 9d. per case was about the limit 
for the nuts in pre-war days. Even then only a small profit was made 
by the European merchant at the prices then ruling for the nuts in 
England. With the much greater, almost universal demand for all 
kinds of oil-nuts and seeds, it is probable that higher prices will be 
paid for these nuts now that the war is over, provided a reasonable 
charge for freight can be arranged. The natives themselves say that 
the nuts should be cooked for twelve hours to be good for eating. 
There are six or seven beans in each pod. 
Now that many roadsides in the Owerri province and other 
districts have been planted with Oil-bean trees as a shade tree, there 
will be a continual supply of nuts each year. The tree starts bearing 
in the tenth year, and almost every year bears a fair crop. An example 
of one of these avenues is seen on the Ikpoba Road, just outside Benin 
City. The pods are used as a firewood, which makes a hot, rapid fire. 
In Sierra Leone they are known as Fai beans. The beans are large 
and fiattened, covered with a hard brown seed-coat. They may be 
from one and a half to two and three-quarter inches in length, 
and from one to one and three-quarter inches in breadth, and 
one-third to nearly half an inch in thickness. The kernels are white 
and soft and contain a quantity of oil. 
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