291 



skimmer made of gauze. The mucilage and starch, contained in 

 the meal are taken up hv tlie water and the albumin, coagulated 

 by the Iicat, forms a (ilm below the oil between the oil and the 

 water. 



riie oil is remo\ed to another pan and boiled again with half 

 its volume of water, until water vapour ceases to riser when a small 

 quantity of the oil put jn a cup is fouaid to be perfectly clear, trans- 

 parent and colourless. 



By this second .boiling in a fresh supply of water, the oil is 

 clarified and freed of acid matters. 



The boiling may be, done in a ''dapur" such as used by the 

 Chinese for tllie cooking of gaml)ir or of pig-food ; a 2 feet diameter 

 pan will do for the purpose: its edges are let into the brick-wall 

 of the oven, and the walls are continued, forming like a well to a 

 heigiht of 2 feet,, thus giving a capacity, if we take into account the 

 tx)ncavity of the pan, of about 6| cubic feet or 40 gallons. 



The boiling should be stopped as soon as the last drop of water 

 has been expelled and no more bubbles appear. 



Instead of a ►second boiling, the oil may be clarified by pass- 

 ing through charcoal iu filtering bags, such as are used bv distillers, 

 or failing suc-h, through a blanket. 



The (juantity of oil thus expressed would range from 30 to 35 

 per cent of the weight of tlie seeds with the husks on. leaving from 

 35 to 40 per cent of cake. 



We may now bring our figures together and work out the pro- 

 duce of one acre of Iiiciruis interplanted with two successive crops 

 of groundnut in one year. 



An average crop of Castor-seed is computed to give from 800 

 to 1,200 pounds, or say, an average of 1,000 pounds of seeds which 

 would result in 350 pounds of oil and 350 pounds of cake, yielding 

 a gross Tevenue of: 



350 lbs. of oil @ 45 = 157.50/ a,,.~ ,,,, 

 350 lbs. of cake @ 5 = 17.50 p '^l"^-*"' 



The produce of tw^o crops of groundnuts was given above as 

 between 2,600 and 3,250 lbs. or say, 2,900 pounds of shelled Ker- 

 nels, a readily marketable product at the present rate of $25 per 

 pikul; which will leave the planter a sufficient margin to cover not 

 only all his costs of cnlti^■ation and of living but also the cost of 

 manuring his fields for the following crop of his rotation, cost 

 which need not be heavy Un; it may be here noted, the leaves of 

 Arachis hi/pogaea with the roots left after tlie nuts have been 

 gathered, constitute, when dug under, a highly nitrogenous green- 

 manure. 



(liven a land i)reviouisly cleared, or under light blukar,— ^a 

 land which could be made ready for cultivation at" a cost say, of 

 '$20 per acre, the cost of a first Oastor-oil crop (hot including 

 buildings and general farm c(iuipment, ploughs and harrows, spray- 

 ing apparatus or oil pressiiig a]ipliances) would amomit to about 

 $100 per acre made up: — 



