CHAPTER XII 
THE OIL PALM AND PALM KERNEL 
INDUSTRY 
1. AistHETIc AsPEct.—A most familiar sight to everyone visiting 
a farm in the southern part of Nigeria is the charming grace of the 
fronds of the Oil Palm in the clearings near the house. The long, 
straight, cylindrical, undivided stem, crowned by a large tuft of broad 
green palm leaves, easily distinguishes the Oil Palm (Hlaeis Guineensis) 
from the Tombo (Raphia vinifera), which has a thinner stem, clothed 
‘from the base to the top with 40-feet long heavy fronds, the 
undersides being silvery and the upper part light green. In certain 
times of the year huge bunches of yellow grape-like fruits hang quite 
4 feet down from the narrow crown of this tree. It is most noteworthy 
that the Tombo Palm is found growing in or near a swamp, and only 
occasionally planted as an avenue tree on drier land, whereas the 
Oil Palm is usually found in the hard and drier ground and only occa- 
sionally in the swamp. The Oil Palm is much larger than another 
Wine Palm, Raphia Hookeri, which is similar but smaller than Raphia 
vinifera, the growth being similar but the seeds smaller. 
Raphia Ruffia is a small swamp palm, with practically no stem, 
but a large number of long, thin, and somewhat light, pendulous fronds. 
Most visitors to West Africa are quite familiar with the huge casks 
of orange-coloured or yellow oil, which often leaks on to the deck of 
the ship, and the. peculiar, rather nauseatingly pungent odour of the 
‘‘ sweating ” kernel bags. 
la. GENERAL DEsoRIFTION oF THE Or Patm Trex, Fruit anp 
Nut.—From the railway carriage we can see numerous groves of Oil 
Palms, as well as isolated specimens, almost continuously for the first 
60 miles from Lagos, and more isolated for the next 180 miles. 
With few exceptions the Oil Palm is a single stemmed tree, one notable 
forked tree being seen on the northern side of the Nigerian Railway, 
a little more than three miles before reaching Ibadan. In this case 
an oil palm nut may have become embedded in an old leaf stalk sheath 
and subsequently sprouted, thus forming a separate tree growing on 
the other, which in the course of time has become joined up. 
It will be noticeable that in passing through the heavy forest near 
Olokemeji few or no Qil Palms are seen. This forest, however, is 
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