March i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



657 



OIL SEEDS OF EGYPT. 

 Several plants are grown iu Egypt for the sake of 

 (lieir oleaginous properties, the principal being as 

 follows; — Se^ianie^ or Stm:<etn {Ststiaiinn '.iiiticuiii)^ is cul- 

 tivated in Central Egjpt on a large scale, being sown 

 iu -Tune and harvested in autumn. The stems are 

 pulleil up bodily, and conveyed in an upright position 

 to suitablf spots; as S30U as the capsules are dry 

 they open iu the sun, and shaking tbeni suffices to 

 dislodge the seed. The oil obtained by pressing the 

 seeds is thin and yellow, and serves largely iu cook- 

 ing, though liable to rancidity ; when purified it is 

 a good illumiuaut. The castor-oil plant, or Jiharoi'ia 

 ahiiiur iHiritms commvnis), attains the proportions of 

 » small tree, and produces much oil, especially iu 

 Kayouui, An oil-yielding lettuce (KJki.-h) is grown 

 about Edfou, and iu the southern part of the province 

 of Thebes ; when ripe, the plant is cut, dried, and 

 threshed, the seed affording a pale yellow very sweet 

 oil, n^d in cooking. An oil-yielding radish {Syt^UMjdh) 

 is gruwu lor its seed, the oil finding application in 

 the arts. Tlie ground nut, or Fi'd sennari (Arachis 

 lii/poi/aa), re(|uires a light soil into which it can thrust 

 its .seeds for maturation ; the oil obtained from them 

 may replace that of the almond, while the roasted 

 nuts themselves are good eating, and serve instead 

 of hazel nut in pastries. Garden cress, or Rieluiil 

 (Lepiduui *■((/(>«»;*), iu T'pper Egypt, affords a seed oil, 

 while the young plants are used in salad. Mustard, 

 or Khardal is similarly utilised, and colza, or Selgdm 

 •,Bt-<mica io.titpestns), is grown solely for its seed oil. 

 The seeds of the safflower. Max, and cotton, arc all 

 pressed for their oi! in Lower Egypt ; whilst the 

 opium poppy (Poparcr somniffrum) and the heliotrope, 

 turnsole, or Ayu-vl-chem^ {Htliotropitim- CHro]}ff'uui)^sxe 

 similiariy utilised iu upper Egypt. — Journal of the Societ;/ 

 of ArU, 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN QUEENSLAND. 

 In this district (Mackay) the present season has proved 

 itself to be one of the best on record for the growth of 

 cane. No very heavy fall of rain has occurred — that 

 is, nothing over four or five inches during the 24 

 hours — but rain has fallen at such timely intervals that 

 the cane has grown as if it had hothouse treatment. 

 Aiul it has had such treatment, for the sun-heat has 

 been intense, and the average temperature of the 

 autumn above the usual figure. Similar favourable 

 accounts are to hand from the Herbert Kiver, Johnstone 

 Kiver, Cairns, and Cooktown districts. All the plant- 

 ations at these places expect a heavy crop this 

 ensuing season. On the Burdekiu prospects are not so 

 promising, the climate there being not near so wet 

 a one as are the other localities both north and 

 south of it. Here there has been an absence of that 

 tropical growth so congenial to cane. Still, on one 

 of the plantations the fields look splendid, and quite 

 equal to those of Mackay. On the Burnett the cane 

 also suffered from prolonged absence of rain, although 

 this district is not a dry one : yet, through some 

 cause or other, it did not receive its fair share of 

 rain this season. The same remark applies, with not 

 quite so much force, to the Mary River district. 

 Everywhere the cane is healthy, no disease (new or 

 old) having attacked it. In the Mackay district the 

 Staiuhii-d — the most authentic organ of the planters — 

 after a careful estimate, puts down the area under 

 cane there at 17.770 acres, a slight increase over that 

 of last year, though by no means so great as would have 

 undoubtedly taken place but for the various adverse 

 circumstances with which the industry luus been 

 surrouuded for the past 12 months. The number of 

 acres that will actually be brought to the rollers is 

 put at U,fiOO by the same authority, and the yield 

 of sugar at 'Si cwt. jier acre. This I consider too 

 low, but the Standard justifies the estimate by 

 pointing out the large area under rations, which will 

 give only a low return, and the fact that among the 

 plant-cane there are many misses. The estimate for 

 the coming crop will therefore he ILCKiO tons of 

 sugar. — Australa.itian. 



m 



THE LINSEED-OIL TRADE. 

 A few weeks ago the Managing Director of the North 

 British Floor-Cloih Co., Limited, wrote to the Under 

 .Secretary o' State for India, from Kirkcaldy, stating 

 that " a very large amount of linseed-oil is used by the 

 mauutacturers of Floor-cloths (wax-cloth). Linoleums, 

 &e., apart irom the general painters' work, ami that 

 all these not merely prefer but pay a much higher 

 price for Russian called Baltic linseed-oil, in preference 

 to Indian or Calcutta linseed-oil, the reason beins that 

 the Indian seed-oil is considered to be too fat or rich 

 and devoid of the more readily drying quality of the 

 poorer oil obtained from the Baltic seed-oils. Presently 

 Calcutta seed-oil is plentiful and cheap, whilst Baltic 

 seed-oil is scarce and dear, and I think I pretty nearly 

 give the respective value at £19 to ,t!lt) 10s. per ton 

 for Calcutta and i'23 10s. to £2-1 per ton for Baltie 

 linseed-oils. In this comparatively small town, but the 

 seat of the Floor-cloth and Linoleum trade for Scot- 

 laud, I think that not less than from 50 tons to (iO tons 

 of linseed-oils are used ii-eeldi/. Of course the (similar) 

 manufacturers in London, Manchester, and Lancaster, 

 &c., must use a very large quantity, and all doubtiesH 

 preferring and paying a higher price for the poorer 

 quality oil. No doubt, agriculturists prefer the richer 

 quality of linseeds for cake for feeding purposes. 

 Perhaps the Indian growers of linseed, were they fully 

 aware of the higher prices obtained for the Baltic or 

 poorer oils, could readily grow, and at smaller cost, 

 linseed that would serve the purposes for which Russi.an 

 seed is so much preferred and for which so much more 

 money is obtained for the oils." In a letter sent by 

 Mr. A. G Murray, from DoUerie-Crietf, to the Secretary 

 of State, it is stated : — " I am told by Mr. Aytoun, 

 Manager of a large Floor-cloth "Works at Kirkcaldy, 

 that they use fifty tons a week of linseed-oil, but that 

 they find Russian oil best, the East Indian linseed is 

 too rich and does not make a hard surface. I have told 

 him how I found it possible to harden East Indian 

 linseed-oil by adding rosin to it. This seems unknown 

 here and keeps down the price of East Indian linseed, 

 one of those apparently small details that turn trade. 

 At the same time the cake made from East India seed 

 is best for cattle feeding, but is not much used at 

 present; the oil is the article that leads the market." 

 This has been communicated to the Board of Revenue 

 and the Director of Revenue Settlement and Agricult- 

 ure. Inquiries will be instituted in view to determining 

 — (1) the cause of the richer quality of the Indian 

 article as compared with that supplied by Russia ; and 

 (2) how the Indian oil might be assimilated in cpudity 

 to that which is in demand for the special trade indic- 

 ated and for painters' work generally, for which a 

 good drying oil is essential. — Madras Timen. 



WATERING PLANTS. 



This is a subject which has been treated of fre- 

 quently in the .Journal, but not too often if the 

 importance of the operation is taken into consider- 

 ation. Good potting is essential to success, but care- 

 lessness in the application of water will tjuickly 

 nullify the benefits of perfect potting. Too nmch 

 and too little are the extremes to guard against. 

 Supposing anyone to be growing four dozen plants ; 

 all may be watered rightly until growth is satisfactory, 

 then there comes a day when one of them is so 

 dry that the put in which it is growing sounds 

 like an empty one if struck with the knuckles. 

 This plant is permanentlj injured, the young roots 

 which were forming fast to support the plant are 

 dead, and although the man in charge' may deter- 

 mine that nothing of the kind shall haj>pen again 

 to that particular plant, his good resolution is too 

 late. Once dry is once too much. I#y-and-by another 

 plant in the same batch may be subjected to the 

 same ordeal, and so it goes on until nearly the 

 whole of the plants are thrown into an untlourisliing 

 condition. There is no excuse for anyone who haa 

 the plants in charge, and can examine them twice 

 daily. Staking and tying, and everything else connect- 



