Gums, tens, ', 



18 



fJOLY, 1908. 



annum, or, at 67 trees per acre, almost 

 exactly one ton per acre. 



The kernels contain a rich supply- 

 about 47 % when fully ripe—oi palm 

 kernel oil. 



The kernels are in neai'ly all varieties 

 of oil palm enclosed in an exceedingly 

 hard shell. This is at present cracked by 

 amost laborious process, each shell being 

 individually broken by hand between 

 two stones, and though the women who 

 do this work acquire an extraordinary 

 dexterity at it, there is no doubt but 

 that it represents a very great loss of 

 valuable labour. Many attempts have 

 been made to introduce many mechan- 

 ical nut-crackers', to be worked either 

 by hand or by steam or water power, 

 but so far without much success. For 

 various reasons tlie machines, most of 

 which are based on the centrifugal 

 principle, inveuted up to the present, 

 have proved unsatisfactory, though there 

 are two recent types at least which give 

 some promise of solving this very great 

 problem. Most of the kernels at present 

 go to Germany, where the oil is extract- 

 ed. Since the establishment of the 

 African oil mills in Liverpool, however, 

 a considerable quantity come to this 

 country. 



In forming a plantation it must be 

 remembered that the whole of the oil 

 will not be available for export, since 

 the natives must be supplied with a 

 considerable quantity for their domestic 

 purposes. Still this would be only a small 

 drain on the production. 



Varieties op Palm. 



It was noticed by Lord Mountmorres 

 that there were several varieties of oil 

 palm, differing in their botanical charac- 

 ters, and also in their yield of oil. Mr. 

 Evans of the Gold Coast, following 

 up this observation, finds four well- 

 marked forms as follows :— 



1. Abetumtum or Yue Yumu, with 

 black fruits, yielding 13"7 % of oil. 



2. Abepa or Yue, with 11-2 %. 



3. Abdem or Yue-hlem, with reddish 

 yellow fruits, larger than those of 

 the outer varieties, and yielding 

 11-2 %. 



4. Abobo-be or Yue Wyiam. This 

 is the best variety on the Gold 

 Coast. The shell of the kernel 

 is much thinner than that of the 

 other varieties, and is so soft 



that it can be cracked with the 

 teeth. The fruits are reddish 

 black, and the oil yield is 19'3 %. 



These yields are all poor as compared 

 with those found Oy me for fruits sent 

 from Benin and Calabar, where I found 

 24*8 % and 29-0 % respectively. 



Attention should be paid to these two 

 forms. Seeds can well be taken from 

 them to other parts of the Coast, as they 

 will retain their power of germinating 

 for many months. 



Varieties to be Planted for 

 Cultivation. 



These two last-mentioned forms from 

 Calabar and Benin are the best I have 

 met with of the ordinary hard-seeded 

 palm fruits, from the point of view of 

 pericarp oil, and should be planted if 

 their quality is found to be general. 

 The results obtained were founded on 

 only a small sample, and hence too 

 much stress should not be laid on them. 



The A bobo-be of the Gold Coast, with 

 its thin shell, should also be grown, 

 as the shell may not need removing 

 before the kernels are crushed. This 

 would be a very great saving in labour of 

 extracting the kernel oil. 



A form similar to this Abobo-be is 

 found in the Cameroons. and was describ- 

 ed by Dr. Preuss. He terms it the 

 Lissombe or Issombe. It differs from the 

 odinary form, and resemblesthe Abobo-be 

 of the Gold Coast in possessing a soft 

 shell, and should be grown on that 

 account, 



It must be remembered that the oil 

 palm commences to bear very early, and 

 continues to bear for as much as sixty 

 years. 



It hence presents a great advantage 

 over crops which need replanting year 

 by year, or after a few years. 



It is only necessary that good and 

 suitable machinery be forthcoming to 

 ensure a very great success f rom the cul- 

 tivation of the oil palm. — Liverpool Uni- 

 versity, Institute o/ Commercial Research 

 in the Tropics Journal, Vol. III., No. 6, 

 Janury, 1908. 



[Though the oil-palm was not much 

 taken up in Ceylon in the eighties, and 

 only, so far as we know, is to be seen 

 conspicuously on one estate at Matale, 

 there seems no reason to suppose that it 

 might not prove as profitable a crop 

 to the natives of Ceylon as to those of 

 West Africa.— Ed.] 



