Vol. XVII. 'Xo. 42(3. 



THE AGKIUULTUKAL -SKWS. 



261 



Two types of seeds, large and .small, are met with usually 

 in commerce 'J'lie large type yields a slightly larger 

 percentage of oil, but the oil extracted from the smaller type 

 is considered more valuable, aud is especially used for medi- 

 cinal purposes. 



Recent examinations in the Government Laboratory, 

 Antigua, of types of castor seed obtained locally, indicate the 

 following oil contents in the whole seed (unshelled): — 



Percentage of oil. 



Small local type 490 



Large white, slightly .speckled seed 56'5 



,, Riclnus /anzibarensis 55 2 



,, Communis major (brown speckled seed) 55'8 



Castor oil re'^nires considerable purification after expres- 

 sion tc free it of albuminous compounds, gummy substances, 

 etc. The following is a crude method which is sometimes 

 employed in these islands. The seed is heated in a pot, and 

 then pounded in a mortar. The pounded mass is then placed 

 in boiling water, and well stirred till the oil rises and is 

 skimmed oif; a fresh supply of boiling water is then added, 

 and it is boiled for the second time to recover any remnants 

 of the oil. The oil is then boiled to evaporate any water it 

 contains. This also helps to volatilize acrid principles. The 

 pan is at once removed from the fire when the last drop of 

 water has been evaporated, so as to prevent scorching or 

 burning of the oil. 



In the United States the seeds are cleaned from frag- 

 ments of capsules, etc., but are not decorticated like cotton 

 seed, nor crushed between rollers as are most oil seeds, but 

 pressed whole. The usual process is to express the oil cold, by 

 gradual pressure under a powerful hydraulic press. In the 

 United States of America single pressing is generally used, 

 the cake being trimmed, and the edges repressed with fresh 

 seed. 



The oil as it. flows from the press is a whitish liquid 

 containing starch, albumen, and mucilage, which are subse 

 quently separated by caretul clarifying and refining. 



In the United States of America 32 per cent, is the 

 average amount of oil expressed from the seeds, the beans 

 containing a total of 45 per cent. 



lu England the industry is chiefly centred at Hull, 

 where, after cleaning, the hulls are removed by a slight cru.3h- 

 ing, and the seeds pulped. The oil is then expressed in 

 hydraulic presses, and afterwards refined with fuller's earth 

 and filtered through a filter press. The pre.ss cakes are 

 afterwards steamed and repressed, and yield a lower grade 

 of oil. 



An interesting feature to West Indian planters is 

 the experimental trial in India of the Anderson (Jil 

 Expeller, a type of oil extractor which has been recently 

 erected in S . Vincent, and which has been found to give 

 excellent r. suits in the manufacture of cotton seed oil in that 

 colony. Trials with the Anderson Expeller in Mysore in 

 1915 (iave a yield of 443 per cent, with seed containing 

 47 '2 per cent, of oil, the residual cake containing 5'05 per 

 cent, oil, which is considerably less than with other types 

 of presses. 



The principal by product of the industry is the castor 

 cake or pomace; this has no feeding value owing to noxious 

 substances contained in it, and is only used as a fertilizer. 

 The toxicity of the cake is due to the presence of a poisonous 

 nitrogenous principle, ricin, which is not an alkaloid, bat 

 belongs to a class of unorganized chemical ferments termed 

 phytalbuiuoses. I! cin is extremely poisonou.s, 9'3 milli- 

 graiumes, ( 0046 grain) will kill a dog. Curiously enough, 

 fowls are fairly resistant to this poison, and castor cake 



can, to a certain extent, be fed to them with impunity. 

 Researches are being made in methods of removing this 

 toxin by treatment with high pressure steam. As a fertilizer, 

 however, the pomace is highly valued, and is largely used ia 

 India. 



In India the greater bulk of the Madras output of pom- 

 ace, some 80,000 cwt. in 1914-15, is shipped to Ceylon, to 

 be used as a fertilizer, and fetched from 75 f. to lOOi- per toa 

 in 1916. Its present value in Great Britain is £16 per too. 



In connexion with the recent boom in ca,stor seed pro- 

 duction, it may be noted that over 50,000,000 tt>. of seed 

 were imported into the United States of America in 1916. 

 With regard to West Indian and South American exports. 

 Puerto Cabello in Venezuela exported 185,463 B). in 1917, 

 and recently Colombia sent two shipments of 62,000 lb. of 

 seed to the United States. A contract of 500,000 bushels 

 (roughly 25,000,000 K).) of .seed was placed by the United 

 States Government with a local firm in San Domingo in lyl7. 



In London, February 1918, the price of castor oil was 

 £S0 per ton (about 9(/. per gallon), and of castor seed £37 

 per ton (about i//. per 1b.). In the United States of America 

 the price in Xew ^ ork, June 19J8, for castor oil was 29c. to 

 33c. I er R>., as compared with 9c. to lie. per ft. in 1904. 



THE PORTO RIOO COLLEGE OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE AND MECHANICAL ARTS. 



This college is situated in the neighbourhood of the 

 town of Mayaguez, and is a department of the University 

 of Porto Rico. It is one of the fifty colleges known under 

 the name of Land Grant Colleges, to which the Government 

 of the United States apportions the sum of i§50,000 annually 

 for the purpose of instruction in agriculture and mechanical 

 arts. The courses of instruction are as extensive and thorough 

 as those which are offered by the universities of the 

 LTnited States, The young men of Porto Rico have no need 

 to go to the United States to study agriculture or engineer- 

 ing, since they can obtain the same instruction in their own 

 country. 



It is to be noticed that a great portion of the work 

 of the college is carried out practically in the fields, in the 

 workshops, and in the laboratories. The aim of the college 

 is to turn out efficient workers. The students who finish 

 their collegiate course obtain the degree of Bachelor in Agri- 

 cultural Science, in Sugar Chetuistry, in Civil Engineering, 

 or in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, according to the 

 si\bject to which they have devoted their attention. 



The prospectus of the college for the year 1918-19, 

 from which we obtain the above information, indulges im 

 a little self gratulatory retro.spcctive. In enumerating 

 the reasons why the young men of Porto Rico should 

 in increasing numbers take advantage of this means of 

 education, the prospectus states that all the former graduates 

 of the college are in good positions, and are in receipt of 

 good salaries. The Department of Eitension of the Experi- 

 mental Stations of the United States has found situations 

 for all the graduates of the agricultural section which 

 the college has been able to f' rnish. The D^minicaa 

 Republic has taken all the graduates which the college haa 

 recommended and asks for more. All the students who are 

 taking the second and third year of the sugar chemistry 

 coarse are working in central factories in the island, anj the 

 college has been assured by many other contial factories that 

 they will glad y fiml siiuation.s for all such students as sooa 

 as they have completed their ourse. 



