July, 1908.] 



17 



Saps and Exudations* 



tree by means of rope girdles made of 

 palm-leaf fibre. They cut the bunches 

 of fruit. In the Cameroons the fruits 

 are detached and placed in a boiler, with 

 sufficient water to cover them. They 

 are then boiled for one and a half or two 

 hours. The water is then poured off, 

 the fruits are placed in a wooden or 

 metal vessel, and crushed with wooden 

 clubs. The hard shells containing the 

 seeds— the " nuts "—are then removed, 

 and the pulp is pressed by hand to 

 extract as much oil as possible. The 

 remaining pulp and the " nuts " are then 

 thrown into a receptacle with cold 

 water, and stirred. The " nuts" are 

 then removed, and the pulp is again 

 pressed by hand. The exuding liquid 

 runs back into the receptacle, and the 

 remaining pulp is thrown away. The 

 liquid is thoroughly and continuously 

 whisked. A yellow froth forms on the 

 surface, which is skimmed off and 

 thrown into a boiler and boiled for half 

 an hour, and the oil is then ladled off. 

 In this way Dr. Preuss finds that from 

 60"5 kilograms of fruit 4 062 kilograms of 

 oil are obtained. 



Lord Mountmorres thus describes the 

 process on the Gold Coast: " In the 

 preparation of palm oil the fruit clusters 

 of the palm are cut off by the natives, 

 and the fruits themselves detached from 

 the stalk. The first process in the re- 

 covery of the oil consists in heaping the 

 fruit up in large masses to the extent of 

 several hundredweights, on a flooring 

 of loose rods overlying a shallow 

 cemented pit. The heap is covered up 

 with banana leaves, palm fronds and 

 mats, and left for several days, during 

 which a kind of fermentation occurs and 

 a certain fraction of the oil exudes and 

 drips into the pit. The whole mass is 

 then transferred to a large saucer-shaped 

 cement floor, round the edge of which a 

 gutter leads to a small well on one side. 

 It is again covered up and left for a few 

 days, when the fermentation advances a 

 stage further, and more oil issues and is 

 collected in the well. Neither this oil 

 nor the first fraction are ever exported, 

 being retained by the natives for their 

 own use, the one for culinary purposes 

 and the other as an unguent. Both 

 remain liquid at ordinary temperatures, 

 and are of a dark amber colour and 

 perfectly clear. Subsequently the fruit 

 is pounded with logs or trodden by large 

 groups of natives standing round the 

 heap, water being constantly thrown 

 over it to assist in the extraction of 

 the oil. This process is repeated for 

 some hours daily, sometimes for a fort- 

 night, the heap being covered up with 

 banana leaves and mats during the 

 remainder of the twenty-four hours. As 

 3 



soon as no more oil can be extracted in 

 this fashion, the nuts are removed and 

 the fruit is boiled in large cauldrons, 

 and the oil which rises to the surface 

 skimmed off. Finally, the mass of pulp 

 is removed from the cauldrons, placed in 

 large wicker-work bottles, which are 

 squeezed between two logs by leverage 

 across a bar over a pit or well. The oil 

 collected from these processes is gener- 

 ally mixed together for purposes of 

 trade, and the oil is boiled to remove 

 water. After boiling it sets as a semi- 

 solid." 



It is perfectly evident that by these 

 methods a very large percentage of the 

 oil is lost, for though no considerable 

 quantity is left in the fibrous pericarp, 

 during the operations of skimming, etc., 

 a very great deal is wasted. Exactly 

 what proportion is lost is not quite 

 settled, and no doubt it varies according 

 to the care exercised by the natives. 

 Dr. Preuss is of opinion that in the 

 Cameroons about two-thirds is lost. 

 Lord Mountmorres estimates the loss on 

 the Gold Coast at not over one-third 

 on the average, and amongst the care- 

 ful Krobos at probably much less. 



Quantity of Fruit Produced 

 by a Tree. 



It is difficult to make any general 

 statement, as the number of bunches 

 formed per tree varies so widely. Lord 

 Mountmorres is inclined to think that 

 not more than four should be couuted 

 upon as an average ; while Dr, Preuss, 

 speaking for the Cameroons, says ten; 

 and Mr. Evans, ot the Gold Coast, gives 

 four to twelve. 



The size of the bunches varies, but 

 about 1,500 fruits per bunch is not an 

 outside limit, and bunches with less than 

 1,000 are said to be scarce. 



The percentage of oil as given per 

 fruit is very variable. 



Also the size of the fruits varies. I 

 have found volumes : — 7 "2, 4'0, 5*2, 6"7, 

 and 7 - 5. cc respectively, and even with 

 simillar sized fruits the quantity of 

 fat-containing pericarp is a variable 

 quantity. 



Hence any calculation as to the amount 

 of oil to be obtained from one tree is 

 hardly worth undertaking, as the 

 figures can never be trustworthy, except 

 for any given district. 



What is certain, however, is that with 

 suitable machinery for ^crushing the 

 pericarp the yield would be materially 

 greater than that obtained at present 

 by native methods, and, accepting aver- 

 age figures, it ought to be sate to count 

 upon 33 to 35 lbs. of oil per tree per 



