Ivory Nuts In Solomon

Islands

NEXT to copra, ivory nuts are the most important agricultural export of the British Solomon Islands; in 1932, 1,108 tons of nuts valued at £8,818 were exported to China, Japan, and England.

Ivory nuts are the seeds of the fruit of a palm tree botanically known as Phytele phas ruacrocarpa. The palms grow plenti fully in the swampy Solomon marshes, which are unfit for the cultivation of coco nuts. They grow to a height of about 16 feet and have immense leaves —generally about 15 feet to 20 feet in length.

When mature the nuts are approximately the size of an ordinary potato, are ex tremely hard and are black and woody in appearance. When washed and polished, however, they closely resemble elephant ivory. About six to nine nuts are con tained in the fruit, which is as large as a man’s head. The nuts are formed in the interior of the fruit and at first consist of a clear insipid substance which turns white, then gradually hardens into the kernel.

In the Solomon Islands the ivory nut trade is almost wholly in the hands of Chinese traders, who buy them from the natives. At the trade store they are bagged and finally shipped by the N.D.L. steamers to Europe and China, where at present they bring about £10 per ton.

As the ivory palm grows wild and bears fruit only once, after maturing for at least 10 years, the cultivation of ivory nuts on a commercial basis is impracticable. Each palm bears about three cwt. of nuts and, when they are exported, it is a regular practice in the Solomons to deduct 10 per cent, of the quantity to compensate buyers for nuts which are eventually rejected.

The kernels of the nuts under the name of vegetable ivory (sometimes called Corozo nuts) are in constant demand as a sub stitute for elephant ivory. They are used mostly for turning and carving, for mak ing buttons, umbrella handles, piano keys, billiard balls, knobs and many small articles of domestic use.