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Harvesting and Yield. 

 Having started planting in November, picking should, begin 

 about April for the earlier varieties and in May-June for the later 

 ones. It is not a laborious operation and it can be done by women 

 and children going over the fields once a week to ])ick the capsules 

 when the calvces turn from green to brown and the yellow husks 

 become visible. It may take over two months to finish the crop, 

 but it often lasts less "long if the weather, keeping hot and dry, 

 hastens maturitv. Harvesting is done by cutting the spikes, but 

 where it is found that the capsules mature very unevenly on the 

 spikes, a little hand ]ncking of the cai>sule« may be resorted to at 

 first, to avoid loss of seeds, the spikes lieing cut later on when all 

 the capsules present a more uniform degree of maturity. A less 

 commendable metlwd, l)ut one which shortage of labour may excuse, . 

 is to let the capsules ripen and drop their seeds to the ground where 

 thev are gathered at leisure. This, of course, saves time, but St is 

 admissible only where Ricinus is gro^\Ti as a pure crop, .and where 

 the ground is clean and free from weeds. Where, Ricinus is grown 

 with" another oil-seed crop, especially groundniit the seed should be 

 picked; the least admixture of Castor-seed with groundnuts would 

 l)e fatal to the sale of the latter. 



The capsules, collected in bags or baskets are hrouglit to the 

 store, and thrown in a heap on a clean concrete floor; a square 

 enclosure is made to enclose the heap by putting up boards or iron 

 sheets to a height of 3 feet— this to prevent the scattering of the 

 seeds when the caipsules open. 



The heap which must be protected from the rain, is covered 

 with gunny bags for 3 or 4 days and when, a beginning of fermen- 

 tation having set in, the capsules have somewhat softened, the heap 

 is opened, spread out and turned over in the sun. Most of the 

 capsules will have shed their seeds in 5 to 6 days. Women are 

 then put on to sort out by hand the brokeai pieces of shells which 

 are taken to the compost heap or reserved for fuel. What capsules 

 remain unopened arc lieaten with cudgels until all are disposed of. 

 Small del)ris of shells remain mixed with the seeds after the bigger 

 pieces have been removed, these are dealt with liy means of the 

 *■ II cent " a triangular tray, made of bamboo strips, with raised 

 sides, or, if one is at hand, by passing the lot, seeds and debris, 

 through a hand-winnowing machine. 



The clean seeds, if thev are to be made into oil on the farm, 

 must be divested of tlieir coats or husks. To this end, after two 

 or three hours exposure to the sun to heat them, by which the husks 

 are made more ""orittle, the seeds are passed between horizontal rolls 

 set at a distance apart from each other, just sufficient to break the 

 luisks bv slight pressure, without quashing the Kernels. The husks 

 licing vcrv brittle crack easily, and witli a very simple contrivance, 

 to lead the seeds on to the rollers, a mangle such as used for the 

 sheeting of ruliher wouhl do very well for this pui-joose. The husks, 

 though%racked, mav still adhere to the Kernels: a second passing 

 between the rollers set a little closer will insure a further cracking, 



