368 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



It is Wrong 



To plant the new MANIHOT varieties Dichotomct and Piauiensis Ule on 

 humid soil. They want rather dry ground to develop into full strength. 

 Another point to be taken into serious consideration is that both varieties 

 can also be cultivated on land not fit for other kinds of Rubber Trees or 

 Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Cotton, &c. 



An early and large out-put of rubber of these new varieties is their most 

 important quality, and we strongly recommend a trial sowing; we supply 

 10 lbs. (about 3,700 seeds; by parcel post (post free) to all countries on 

 receipt of £3. Bags containing 135 lbs. at the rate of 3/6 per lb. delivered 

 in Hamburg, Pleass state full postal address when ordering. 



The Seeds are Reliable. 



They are harvested from indigenous trees each season and have always given 

 the fullest satisfaction to our clients. 



Detailed informal ion for the cultivation of bath sorts Dicho- 

 tonta for clay soil ; Piauiensis for sandy soil— on application* 



Gevekoht & Wedekind 



Hamburg 1. 



Telegraphic-Address : " Gevekind Hamburg." 

 A. B. C. Code 6th Edition. :: 



tons in the preceding year, being an augmenta- 

 tion of 5,565 tons. In the case of Europe alone 

 the stocks are returned at 6,554 tons, or 1,447 

 tons in excess of 1909-10, and those in the 

 United States also advanced from 228 tons in 

 the latter year to 589 tons on June 3Uth, 1911. 

 The statistics farther show that the price of 

 fine Para, which amounted to 10s. per lb. at the 

 beginning of July, 1910, had fallen to 4s lod. by 

 the middle of January, and to 3s. lid. by the 

 end of May recovering to 4s. Id. at the close of 

 June. Since then the price has been fairly 

 stable, and has experienced an increase to 4s. 7d. 

 — Financier, Aug. 19. 



PALM OIL IN WEST AFRICA. 



[By A. P. Chalkley, b.sc (London), &c, in the 

 Financial News.] 

 It is a trite saying that the speculating and 

 investing public must always have some com- 

 modity to boom, and a good deal of discussion is 

 now prevalent in financial circles as to the direc- 

 tion which the next move is likely to take. A 

 large amount of interest is being centred by 

 those acquainted with the matter in the products 

 of the West Coast of Africa, and it seems very 

 probable that the forthcoming autumn will wit- 

 ness remarkable developments in this part of the 

 world. The possibilities of the oil palm, which 

 is so widely distributed in Nigeria, the Gold 



Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Cameroons, have as 

 yet bsen but faintly grasped by most people; but 

 when the subject is thoroughly understood it is 

 likely that the public will be very anxious to 

 provide capital for schemes to promote the palm 

 oil industry. 



The palm tree is indigenous, and no special 

 attention is needed for its cultivation ; it reaches 

 maturity atter seven or eight years, and there- 

 after produces its fruit with unvarying regularity 

 for an indefinite period, estimated at well over 

 fifty years, and by some observers at one hundred 

 years. The production of palm oil from the 

 fruit is now practically entirely in the hands of 

 the natives, who employ the most antiquated and 

 wasteful methods, and yet are able to dispose of 

 all the oil they collect on most profitable terms. 

 The fruit grows in bunches — the yield of each 

 tree being from five to ten bunches — and. they 

 are stripped of their fruit, which is thrown into 

 pits, and the oil collected by washing off with 

 hot water. The nuts which then remain after 

 the palm are thus abstracted from the covering 

 (or pericarp) are picked out and cracked singly 

 by the women between two stones, yielding 

 the palm kernels, which are shipped in bulk 

 to Europe for the palm kernel oil to be ex- 

 tracted. 



These means are obviously not economical, and 

 have only been retained because suitable machi- 

 nery for the extraction of the oil on the spot has 



