KOLA TREE AT MANO.
Fig. 12, [p. 29.]
The appearance of a young tree is that of a thick stem throwing out annulate series of long feathery leaf fronds, upon petioles, which bear roughly-formed spines. As the tree increases in height the lower petioles are shed, and the trunk assumes a narrower but more regular form; indistinct rings being traceable, formed by the bases of the fallen leaf stems. A mature tree will measure about one foot in diameter at four feet from the ground, and at the ground surface the diameter will be two and a half to nearly three times as much. The male flowers are collected in the form of a number of tassel-like pendants, springing from a common stalk, and one such bunch is usually found above and upon each side of the female inflorescence. Both sexes of flowers usually occur upon the trees, but the natives recognise the existence of a non-fruiting tree, and one which only produces male flowers. The number of fruit heads and the weight of these vary according to the position, age, and treatment of the tree. An idea may be given of the fruitfulness of trees, from the accounts obtained from natives in different parts of the country. The palm has two fruiting seasons, one during the dry weather and another during the rainy season, the latter being generally the lighter crop. It is estimated that a tree in full bearing will yield from twelve to twenty fruiting heads in one year, each of a fairly large size. A younger tree may only produce four to eight heads, but usually of a larger size; and a tree of only five or six years old may give about the same number of heads, but of smaller dimensions. From very old trees small heads with fruits of a diminished size are obtained. The weight of a moderately large head will be about thirty pounds, and will contain about twelve hundred fruits weighing roughly 23 lbs. An illustration showing two fruiting heads is given ([Fig. 9]).
The ripe fruiting heads are gathered by a man using a climbing sling, with which he encircles the tree and his waist, and by means of a skilful manipulation of the part in contact with the trunk and remote from the body, he proceeds to ascend the tree rapidly, almost as though walking up it. On reaching the crown, a number of dead leaves have to be removed in order to get at the fruit stem. These are cut by means of a “cutlass” or “machete,” which the climber carries, and are thrown to the ground. Only one head ripens at a time upon each tree, and the time occupied in climbing and cutting out the fruit head is estimated at about eight minutes. A photograph showing a native climbing a palm tree is reproduced ([Fig. 11]).
Both the Mendi and Timani races distinguish the fruit, at different periods during the advance towards maturity, by special names given with regard to the appearance. Identifications of the same series of fruits by different individuals have shown that these names are widely used.
Although it will be seen that in the Gold Coast and Nigeria the natives recognise a number of different varieties of fruit, this does not appear to be the case in Sierra Leone. The thin-shelled forms, so well known to the natives of the former countries, appear unknown, except around Sherbro, where there are a few trees recognised as productive of this type of fruit. In the appearance of the mature fruit, the presence or absence of black at the apex seems to be of equally common occurrence, but no importance is attached to this feature.
The Sierra Leone form appears to be at a disadvantage with regard to the proportion of oily pericarp covering the nut, as well as in the great thickness of its shell. Comparing it with the varieties obtained in the Gold Coast, it is probably nearest to, if not identical with, that called “Abe pa.”
When the percentage of oil extracted from the fruit of the Sierra Leone trees is compared with that from other parts of West Africa, it at once becomes apparent that the amount is small. The results of three series of experiments, made in different parts of the country, showed that the fibrous pericarp, which contains the oil, constituted only about 30 per cent. of the whole, the nut containing the kernel being large and approximating 70 per cent. Palm oil extracted by native methods gave 1·201, 5·47, 5·637, and 8·326 per cent. respectively in four tests. If these results are compared with the extractions of oil from the several Gold Coast varieties, the deficiency is very marked. Compare Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. vii. (1909), pp. 364-71.
A close examination of the local fruit shows that the outer fibrous portion or pericarp, which alone contains the palm oil, is very thin, whereas the hard shell surrounding the kernel is thick. The kernel represents about 15 per cent. of the total weight of the fruit, and is largely exported from the country for the extraction of another kind of oil.
Small Export of Oil compared with Kernels.—The proportionately larger weight of kernel than of palm oil capable of extraction, accounts for the large quantities of kernels exported compared with palm oil. As an example of this, it may be mentioned that in the year 1906 Sierra Leone exported only 12½ gallons of palm oil to each ton of kernels, whereas Southern Nigeria figures for the same year showed 142 gallons of oil per ton of kernels. Since this date, up to the beginning of the war, a comparison of the annual exports of oil and kernels shows a fluctuation between about 12 and 19 gallons of pericarp oil for every ton of kernels; the latter still remaining disproportionately high.