202 



illuminating purposes, and equal to cotton seed oil for the various 

 purposes to which that oil is put — cookery, soap-making, &c. The 

 cake after the extraction of the oil is used for feeding cattle, and the 

 burnt shells as a fertilizer. In the northern parts of N. Nigeria the 

 oil is used for cooking (Dudgeon, N. Nigeria Gaz. July 31st, 1909, 

 p. 158), and in general throughout Nigeria the roasted and ground 

 seeds are used in the preparation of "ground-nut soup " — a favourite 

 native dish. 



The ground shells, known as " Soga meal," are used mixed with 

 molasses for feeding cattle. They are largely ground at Marseilles, 

 where the meal is sold very cheaply — 3 fr. to 3 fr. 50 per 100 kilog. 

 f.o.b. ; exported chiefly to Hamburg and Stettin, and to a certain 

 extent to London, Liverpool, and Glasgow (Cons. Rep. Ann. 

 No. 3230, 1901, p. 9). In Marseilles the nuts imported undecorti- 

 cated (West Africa) are used for the extraction of edible oils, and 

 those imported decorticated (India) for soap oils (I.e. p. 7). The 

 finest soaps, known as " olive-oil soaps," are composed of varying 

 mixtures of ground nut and olive oil. Pure olive-oil soap is about 

 twice the price of ordinary soap (I.e. p. 9). 



The plant is suitable for green manuring, and for this purpose the 

 Pondicherry variety, which yields a greater proportion of leaf and 

 stem has been recommended (Bull. Imp. Inst. 1906, p. 125). 



It is a good fodder, both in a green state and when dried as hay. 



The essentials of cultivation are comparatively simple — a tropical 

 or sub-tropical climate, light rainfall (30-50 inches) ; plenty of sun- 

 shine ; a light rich sandy loam with a fair proportion of lime and 

 careful tillage until the pods have buried themselves in the soil to 

 ripen. It is advisable to grow it only as a rotation crop with cotton, 

 tobacco, maize, gero, or spiked millet, &c. as the crop is an exhausting 

 one, and this course is also necessary as a preventive of disease. 



Rotation appears to be the method adopted in Zaria and Kano 

 where the ground nut is the first crop in the local system, and in 

 Nupe and Yoruba where it is a terminal crop (Dudgeon, N. Nigeria 

 Gaz. July 31st, 1909, p. 158). 



The best selected seed only should be used and sown on ridges 

 about 2^ — 3 feet apart, the seeds in the rows being about 9— 12 

 inches apart. If the seed be shelled it should be sown with as little 

 delay as possible. 



A crop matures in from three to six months according to the 

 variety grown ; although the proper time to harvest will depend 

 largely upon local conditions. 



Usually the harvesting is done by hand, but under a large acreage 

 proper implements are required, and it is possible to obtain machines 

 which dig, pick, clean and separate the nuts. 



A good yield of nuts per acre may vary from about 1500 lbs. to 

 3000 lbs., and the yield of haulms or hay from one to two tons. 

 Any quantity much less than this would probably not be profitable 

 for commercial purposes. 



Some experiments carried out at Oyo in the Western Province of 

 Southern Nigeria (1908) gave a yield of undecorticated nuts of 

 1488 lbs. per acre. This result was obtained with seed from the 

 Gambia, sown in the middle of April, under the supervision of two 

 native planters from the Gambia (Dodd, S. Nigeria Govt. Gaz. 

 July 14th, 1909, Suppl. p. 30), Other results obtained at Oyo 

 were :— with Gambia nuts, sown middle of May, 92G lbs. per acre, 

 and with native nuts, sown middle of April, 948 lbs. per acre (I.e.). 



