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KOLA NUTS. 



By Fred. B. Kilmer, Chemist, New Brunswick, TJ. S. A * 



The kola nuts, as found in the American Market, come mainly from 

 Africa. The bulk of the "West India nuts are consumed by the inhabi- 

 tants of the islands where grown ; a very small part of the crop is shipped 

 to Europe. Lately, small supplies have reached our market from this 

 source. No accurate estimate of the extent of the world's supply, nor 

 the possible yield for this drug, can be given. The official reports of 

 the African trade give from 2,500,000 to 3,000,0 JO pounds per year, 

 which is largely utilised for home consumption. Those who are familiar 

 with tropical products can realise the difficulties and peculiarities of the 

 market in such a commodity. It is carried on mainly through native 

 women. There is a certain amount gathered for home demand. The 

 quantity that will reach the shipping ports must depend upon the ca- 

 price of the natives, and especially as to how much they stand in need 

 of rum or tobacco. The crop must all be carried, often hundreds of miles, 

 in head loads, through miasmatic forests, over impassable streams, 

 across pathless mountains, under a tropical sun. The conditions are such 

 that, to gather a ton of nuts and safely land them on a ship that plies 

 along Africa's sunny shores, is a task that one would shrink from after 

 a survey of the field. The native gatherers are shrewd dealers, even if 

 not well^skilled in the arts of civilised commerce. They know how to 

 corner supplies, to create a rise in price, and they also know that, when 

 a European buyer wants the nuts badly, grades that have no value at 

 home will find a ready market. This accounts, in p *rt, for the quite 

 variable nature of market specimens. In the West Indies, the govern- 

 ments encourage the cultivation of the plant, and, before many years, 

 ample supplies from this source will be obtainable. In our own 

 country, some attention and discussion has taken place, looking towards 

 its cultivation on our soil. 



The kola plant seems to grow well in any climate where there is 

 plenty of rainfall and a warm, tropical sun. Of course, the hotter and 

 more moist the climate, the better. Wherever bananas, nutmegs or 

 cocoa will grow, it is safe to say that this tree will thrive. The best 

 kind of soil is that which is deep, rich and clayey, although it will grow 

 in a great variety of soils. In some of the West Indian Islands, it may 

 be found as high as 5,000 feet above the sea level, but the best specimens 

 are generally found at about 1,000 to 2,000 feet elevation. If the situation 

 is low and damp, the gound must be well drained. The young plants 

 may be obtained directly from the seed, planted in the field where they 

 are to grow : but the best results seem to come from planting the seeds 

 in nursery beds, transplanting them when plants are from 2 to 3 feet in 

 height. The seeds as usually obtained from growers are packed for ship- 

 ment in boxes covered with earth, and the whole wet with fresh water. 

 Holes are bored in the boxes for ventilation. The nursery beds in 

 which they are planted are made of loam, peat or leaf mould and kept 

 shaded. In nursery planting the seeds are put in the bamboo pots com- 

 monly used in the tropics, and placed from 9 to 12 in ches apart It 



* Abstract by the author of a lecture delivered at the Pnar.naceutical Meet.ug 

 of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, January, 1893. 



