Oils ' and Fats. 



16 



[July, 1908. 



common base, — Capitat. — [The Indian 

 Agriculturist, Vol. XXXIII, Calcutta, 

 Monday, March 2, 1908, No- 3.] 



[The sunflower is already, thanks to 

 its introduction by the School Gardens, 

 being: cultivated as a village crop for oil 

 in the Welimada District. — Ed.] 



A SHORT NOTE ON THE 

 POSSIBILITIES OP THE OIL PALM 

 (BLJEIS GUINEESNIS, WILD.) IN 

 CULTIVATION. 



By Eaic Drabble, d scf.l s. 

 The oil palm is abundant throughout 

 most parts of tropical West Africa. It 

 is a palm attaining a height in large 

 trees of as much as ninety feet, but it 

 is usually considerably smaller, even 

 when mature. It flourishes on all kinds 

 of soil, whether on steep slopes or on 

 the level ground, and from sea level up 

 to 3,000 feet, though at these great 

 elevations it does not bear fruit so 

 abundantly as at lower levels. Itgiows 

 best of all in damp valleys, but will not 

 succeed in marshy land, though occa- 

 sional floods do not affect it adversely, 

 Preuss states that sea breezes do not 

 harm the tree, and this appears to be 

 perfectly correct for certain localities. 

 A. E. Evans, however, writing of the oil 

 palm on the Gold Coast, says that it 

 grows in all localities, except those 

 directly exposed to the sea breezes. 



In any case, it is a tree that will succeed 

 inmost soils in tropical West Africa, and 

 will bear fruit abundantly except at 

 great heights. 



Though truly native in West Africa, the 

 tree is most abundant in the neighbour- 

 hood of human habitation, owing to the 

 fact that the natives use the oil very 

 extensively for cooking and for anoint- 

 ing their bodies. The hard shells con- 

 taing the seed are thrown away, and 

 may germinate, giving rise to new trees. 

 Lord Mountmorres states that in some 

 parts the natives have been in the habit of 

 deliberately cultivating the oil palm 

 from apparently quite early times. 

 Some of the so-called natural " palm 

 belts" he believes to be plantations, and 

 instauces one in Western Krobo, Gold 

 Coast, which was planted by the then 

 Omauheue of the tribe forty years ago, 

 and is of very large extent. Certain it 

 is that even the belts of wild self-sown 

 plams are in many cases very carefully 

 tended and maintained by re-planting, 

 and the ground often weeded and hoed 

 by the natives who draw their supplies 

 from them. 



There can be little doubt that the tree 

 would prove remunerative to Europeans 

 in cultivation, on one condition, namely, 

 the presence of suitable machinery for 

 extracting the oil. This will be referred 

 to later. It is certainly curious that 

 whilst so much energy and capital are 

 expended in the introduction and culti- 

 vation of exotic crops, so little attention 

 has been given to this, the great staple 

 of West Africa. 



Formation of Plantation. 

 The seeds germinate readily. Indeed 

 the heaps of "nuts" thrown away by 

 the natives, after the oily pericarp has 

 been removed, are found to become 

 covered with the young plants. It is 

 only necessary to plant the fruits to 

 obtain a growth of seedlings very 

 quickly. 



The native method is to transplant 

 the young plants which spring up 

 plentifully around the old trees, and this 

 method has advantages over direct 

 growth from the seeds. It demands 

 more trouble, but the time taken to reap 

 a harvest of fruits is lessened ; and hardy, 

 likely-looking plants alone need be 

 chosen, guaranteeing a high yield per 

 acre. 



Though usually set very close together 

 by natives, it is probable tnat the young 

 plants should be at a distance of about 

 twenty-five feet apart. This gives sixty- 

 seven trees to the acre. They begin to 

 produce fruit very soon, at about the 

 third to the fifth year, but are not in 

 full bearing until the tenth to the 

 fifteenth year. Occasionally trees are 

 found which do not begin to bear fruit 

 before the fifteenth to the twentieth 

 year. It is possible that this statement 

 may refer to a distinct variety, but this 

 has not hitherto been proved. 



The plant begins to form a trunk at 

 about the fifth year under favourable 

 conditions, and from that time onwards 

 it needs but little attention. Previously 

 to this it is advisable to see that the 

 young plants are not choked out ot 

 existence by surrounding vegetation. 

 Once the crown gets above the other 

 plants in the neighbourhood it shoots 

 ahead rapidly. 



Diseases and Pests. 

 The oil palm seems to be singularly 

 free from fungal and insect pests. The 

 principal one is Rhynchophot us phcenicis, 

 whose larva lives in the trunk, but does 

 relatively little damage. The mature 

 weevil also sucks the juice of the fleshy 

 upper portions. 



Method of Gathering and Extrac- 

 tion by the Natives. 



The naoives of West Africa climb the 



