Oils and Fats, 



418 



[May, 1909. 



The stalks of sunflowers, though not 

 in themselves very nutritious, are 

 obtained in such large quantities 

 that it pays to make them into ensil- 

 age. Their average composition is as 

 follows :— 



Fat 2*5 per cent. 



Albuminoids 4*75 



Carbohydrates ... 54 „ 



Fibre 28 



Ash 11 



The high percentage of ash in the 

 stalks makes all the more value in the 

 manure, even if only ploughed in, 

 though this is rather difficult with such 

 large and strong material. The com- 

 position of an average ash is as follows : — 



Phosphoric acid ... 0*22 per cent. 



Potash ... 4-4 



Lime ... 12 



We see here a low percentage of phos- 

 phoric acid and lime, in which our soils 

 are also deficient, and the growth of a 

 crop succeeds best and most economi- 

 cally when it can be arranged that it 

 takes out of the soil its mineral matter 

 in proportion as it is present, a better 

 crop could not be found for the country. 

 This is, however, a state of scientific 

 farming that is not likely to be reached 

 for some time to come. 



The average yield of seeds is about 

 4 tons per morgen, which means about 

 21 tons of decorticated seed, and with, 

 say, about 40 percent, of oil extracted, 

 gives nearly one ton or over 200 gallons 

 of oil per morgen. 



We see here room for a fairly large 

 profit if an economically-worked factory 

 is set up, or even if exported the seeds 

 should pay their way. 



We often hear that the sunflower robs 

 the soil and leaves it in a poor condition, 

 but if all the crop is returned to the soil 

 again, except the oil, which contains no 

 mineral matter, as would be the case 

 under the above conditions, no loss 

 would occur, — Agricultural Journal of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, January, 1909. 



THE AFRICAN OIL PALM AND 

 ITS PRODUCTS. 



The well-known Oil Palm of West 

 Africa (Elwis guineensis) has a wide 

 geographical range, for it flourishes from 

 the Gulf of Guinea to the South of 

 Fernando Po, as well as in the islands of 

 Zanzibar and Pemba, and along the 

 shores of the Central African lakes. Of 

 all the vegetable products of* the countries 

 on the West Coast, the Elceis guineensis 

 is undoubtedly the most important to 

 the native. The fruit supplies him with 

 a favourite article of food and forms the 

 chief article of commerce ; with the leaf- 



stalk he builds his house and barn, and 

 thatches them with leaves, and from 

 the stem he extracts a pleasant and 

 (sometimes) intoxicating drink. 



During 1907, the total value of the 

 palm oil and kernels exported from 

 Southern Nigeria alone was £2,972,252. 

 In the same year the oil and kernels 

 shipped from the Gold Coast were 

 valued at nearly £221,290, this being an 

 increase of over £15,000 on the exports of 

 the preceding year. Supplies of palm 

 oil have also lately been exported from 

 the Philippine Islands. 



In all the abovementioned countries 

 from which the produce is shipped, the 

 oil palm is indigenous and occurs 

 naturally over enormous areas. Little 

 expense is incurred in looking after the 

 trees, and the oil must be regarded as 

 more or less a natural forest product. 

 No authentic information has been 

 placed on record in regard to any syste- 

 matic planting and cultivation of the 

 oil palm which may have been made in 

 Southern Nigeria or elsewhere, or to the 

 average returns that may be expected 

 from such plantings. 



It seems reasonable to expect, how- 

 ever, that if plantations of the palm 

 were established in many tropical 

 colonies, the production of the oil would 

 prove a valuable industry. It would be 

 a matter for experiment to determine 

 whether the cultivation would be as 

 remunerative in any given district as 

 rubber or cacao planting. Some thirty 

 or forty years ago an estate owner in 

 British North Borneo, who had consider- 

 able faith in the profitable possibilities 

 of oil palm cultivation, planted a fairly 

 large area. The trees grew well, but by 

 the time they were nearing the pro- 

 ductive age, the ownership of the estate 

 changed hands, and the new proprietor 

 cut down the young palms in order to 

 make room for some other product. 



The Aftican Oil Palm has been accli- 

 matised in Jamaica and some of the 

 other West Indian Islands, where groups 

 of the trees are f requently to be met 

 with. Little or no use, however, is 

 apparently made of the nuts, and, so far 

 as is known, no attempt has ever been 

 made to cultivate the palm in regular 

 plantations. 



The oil palm reaches a height of 30 

 or more feet. In the course of a report 

 on the oil industry of the Gold Coast 

 which appeared in the Keiv Bulletin for 

 1889 (p. 190) it is stated that the tree 

 grows best in a moist soil, flourishing in 

 warm damp valleys. It begins to bear 

 in its fourth or fifth year, the produce 

 increasing until its fifteenth, and con- 

 tinues to bear for at least sixty years. 



