at yielded by the olive. Almost any kind of soil being
adapted for it, nothing can be more simple than its management. All
that is required is the soil to be turned over and the seed sown in
drills like potatoes; after it begins to shoot it may be earthed with
a hoe or plough. In many parts of Western Australia they are now grown
in gardens for feeding pigs, the rich oil they are capable of yielding
being entirely overlooked. In regard to their marketable value at
home, I will give a copy of a letter of a friend of mine, received
from some London brokers, largely engaged in the African trade:--

"Wilson and Rose present compliments to Mr. N., and beg to inform
him the price of African ground nuts is as under:--Say for River
Gambia, L11 per ton here. Say for Sierra Leone, L10 per ton here.
For ground nuts free on board at the former port, L8 per ton is
demanded; these are the finest description of nut, the freight would
be about L4 per ton; the weight per bushel imperial measure, and in
the shell, is about 25 lbs."

The following, also, is an extract from a letter written in 1842, by
Mr. Forster (the present M.P. for Berwick), an eminent African
merchant. Speaking of the staple of Africa, he says:--

"I have lately been attempting to obtain other oils from the coast,
and it was only yesterday I received from the hands of the oil
presser the result of my most recent experiment on the ground nut,
which I am happy to say is encouraging. I send you a sample of the
oil extracted from them. They are from the Gambia. It is a pure
golden colored oil, with a pleasant flavor, free from the frequent
rancidity of olive oil."

Since then the cultivation has gone on, and the exportation largely
increased. The French also have entered into the trade, and several
vessels are exclusively employed in exporting this product from the
river Gambia, conveying it to oil factors on the continent, who
extract its oil. Seeing, then, the many advantages the cultivation of
such a product bestows, and its adaptation to the soil and climate of
Australia, I cannot refrain from expressing a hope that some of the
influential landowners in the cultivated districts will give the
matter their consideration.

I am informed by an American merchant that he cleared 12,000 dollars
in one year, on the single article of ground or pea nuts obtained from
Africa. Strange as it may appear, nearly all these