458 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Dec., 1897. 
West African Oil Palm. 
(ELAIS GUINEENSIS.) 
By E: COWLEY, 
Manager, Kamerunga State Nursery, Cairns. 
TE production of oil for Australian necessities has long been a source of 
anxiety to economists on this continent. Excepting in adjacent. New Zealand, 
no stores of mineral oil seem to have been discovered. It is true, Australasia 
contributes, with her immense herds, large quantities of tallow. South Aus- 
tralia seems to have taken the initiative in producing olive oil; the product is 
well spoken of. New South Wales has erected a mill for the extraction of 
cocoanut oil, and, if report speaks truly, the supply of copra is not equal to the 
demand, even for this one mill. The markets for the South Sea Island supply 
have been found in Europe for many years past, and doubtless it is somewhat 
difficult to divert the stream into Australian ports. 
Cochin cocoanut oil was quoted, 6th August, in the Produce World, at 
£27 to £28 per ton; Ceylon, £23 to £24*; while palm oil, Lagos, was £24. 
The great question is, Can Queensland produce vegetable oils at such a price 
that the cultivation of the oil-producing palms will pay the grower? The case 
of cocoanut-growing will be considered in a later article. At present the 
subject will be the oil palm. his palm is apparently a native of Guinea. 
_ The name “eleis” is from elata, the olive; similarity of expressing oil 
from the fruit. Natural order, palms. The best kind of palm wine is from 
this palm. Palm oil, so much used in the manufacture of soap and candles, 
is chiefly the produce of this palm. The oil palm of western tropical Africa; 
height up to 40 feet, foliage superb; the leaves cccasionally reaching 15 feet. 
A well-developed cluster of fruit spike may attain a weight of 40 1b., and on 
it upwards of 800 fruits may be counted, each the size of a walnut. The 
outer portion of the fruit, almost of lard-like consistence, through boiling 
yields the commercial oil for soap or candle manufacture. This palm likes 
a coast climate. At Port Curtis it ripens fruit.—Zdgar. 
The import of the fat-like oil of this palm into Britain during 1860 was 
804,326 cwt., valued at £1,786,895 ; during 1886 it was 1,004,419 cwt., valued 
at £1,050,459.—Mueller. 
During September, 1890, the Department of Agriculture introduced 
from Sierra Leone twenty plants of Eleis guineensis for their State Nursery, 
Kamerunga. These plants doubtless suffered from the long sea voyage 
and transhipments. ight, however, survived, and now, having thriven, form 
no mean object of attraction to the nursery, Two fruiting spadices appeared 
for the first time during last year (1896), but the nuts are not fertile. 
This year (1897) some thirty clusters of fruit are disposed on the eight trees, 
The individual nuts weigh about half-an-ounce each. The entire spadix 
weighing 5 lb., this gives about 160 nuts to the bunch. The trees have been 
planted in a light, free, loamy soil, with abundant subterranean drainage, 
and have had to suffer considerable dryness of atmosphere for a lengthened 
period. The leaves, which are numerous and beautiful, have attained a length 
of over 15 feet. Indications of a stem being started are present. Male 
flowers are in evidence on most of the palms, so it is most probable the 
nuts will be fertile this year. It would be interesting to learn if Mr. Edgar, of 
Rockhampton, has succeeded in germinating any seeds from his plants. The 
yi ue Ceylon Observer of September, 1897, quotes Cochin cocoanut oil at £29 per ton.—Ed, 
