290 



Bnt oven Kuch a simple plant mav be, in these times of extra- 

 vagrant prices, above the meaniN of the Planter, and in this ease he 

 will have to fall back on snrh makeshifts as lie may find at hand. 



With iii<ienuitv -and tlio ,trift of contrivance, he ^vill find that 

 his case is not hopeless. 



(iriiKUiiii of lite Seed. The Kernels of the Castor-seed are 

 soft and do not re(jiiire the elaborate process of shiedding or 

 pulverizins:, in disintegrators which Copra, for instance, requires. 

 They can 1 e yround, by passing between the rollers of a strong 

 manulc such as used for sheeting rubber, or by pounding in a 

 wooden mortar made ad hoc. 



Heating of flie (jround KrrneU. The pulp is conveyed to a 

 ]>latforin heated by means of a fine underneath. The heat should 

 not be greater than what the hand, can bear, or say 140° to 150° F, 

 and such a flue as used on coffee estates to dry parchment would 

 l)e suitable. Or it may be siinjily a barbecue in the open, dependent 

 on the heat of the sun, provided a movable roof shelters it from 

 rain and a flue underneath allows, in eases of insufficient sunshine, 

 to sut)ply the heat necessary (140-150° F) to penetiate the mass of 

 meal and rendi'r the oil nioi'c fluid. 



Vresmig. A hand-powei' Bcrew press will fulfill this purpose. 

 Such screw-presses are made l)y makers of oil maehinery, which are 

 furnished with several steel plates and capable of dealing with 8 

 to 10 pounds of seed per charge, the meal of crushed seeds Joeing 

 enclosed, after heating on tlie flue, in woollen or canvas bags and 

 inserted between the ])lates. On pressure l)eing applied, the ex- 

 pressed oil flows down to a tray at the foot of the press, wlience 

 tbrouaii a spout it falls into a suitable rece])taclc. 



So far, then, the series of manipulations are as follows:. 



1. '['he crushed meal of seeds, on issuing from the rollers of 

 the mangle, is laid on the heated table. 



■<?. When sufficiently heated, the me«l is takeji up with a 

 small hand-shovel in (|uantities sufficien't to fill a square or oblong 

 mould made of four small scantlings 4 to 5 indies liigh, without a 

 bottom, and of the same size (inside measuremeiit ) as the s,teel 

 |)lates mentioned above. Strips of canvas bagging — cloths of suit- 

 ail)le size are dis])ose'l on the top of the hot table and the mould 

 placed in the centre of these cloths, is filled \\\\\\ lieated meal: the 

 sides of the cloths are then folded round the meal following the 

 contour of the nioubl. which is taken off and the slabs of meal are 

 now wrajjped up in the cloths. They are left on tlie hot tahb^ until 

 the number of slabs, 5 or (i. is sufficient to (ill the press for one 

 pressing: they are then inserted in the press between the ])lates 

 which, in the meantime June l)een kept immersed in a bucket of 

 boiliii<if water. 



The ))ressure is now ;ii)]ilied and a whitish oil\- fluid oozes out 

 which is collected below .anrl boiled Avith its volume of water, while 

 all impurities, as thev rise to the .siirfac(\ are pkimmed off Avith a 



