408 
bark so treated have been satisfactory. The Cascara Sagrada 
wood was next examined to see if it contained enough active 
constituent to pay for extraction; solutions are being tested at 
the Vancouver General Hospital and by the Parks, Davis Com- 
pany, Detroit. A preliminary report from the hospital shows the 
surprising result that the wood is practically as active as the 
bark, and this result, if fully confirmed, will mean-a wonderful 
conservation of the fast disappearing Cascara tree, as the bark 
does not constitute more than 5 per cent. of the tree.” 
The trees at Kew continue to thrive well. The largest, 
raised from seed sent by Mr. Luther Burbank in 1891, is now 
25 ft. high, its trunk (at 3 ft. from the ground) 2 ft. 10 ins. in 
girth. It is therefore approaching maturity, the dimensions 
2 trees wild in Western North America being given as 20 to 
0 ft. in height, the trunk | foot or more in diameter. Young 
oe raised from seed produced at Kew in 1914 are 11 ft. 6 ins. 
high. 
Castor Seed and Oil (Ricinus communis).—Considerable interest 
during the last few years has been taken in this well-known 
product, of which our chief source in pre-war days was British 
India (1,203,355 ewt. of seed and 6,640 cwt. of oil imported in 
1913), with smaller supplies from foreign countries — Italy, 
United States, &c..The following note (from the Monthly 
Bulletin of Agric. Intell., International Institute, Rome; Dec. 
1922, p. 1499) may be of interest as showing the ‘developments 
in Brazil—‘ During the war the cultivation of the Castor-oil 
plant developed enormously in the State of Sao Paulo; it then 
decreased in importance owing to the rapid fall in prices and 
difficulties of preparation. At present the export demand has 
again increased considerably. In 1920 from the port of Santos 
alone 360,000 bags of castor-oil seed were exported and in 1921 
230,000 bags over and above the quantities prepared in Brazilian 
factories, which have considerably increased their machinery. 
The price for the first half of 1922 was 460 reis (about 8d.) per 
kilogramme of unhusked seed and 500 reis (8d.) for machine 
husked seeds, or 25 milreis (at 16d. = 33s. 4d.) per bag of 
50 kilogrammes. The exporting firms are constantly receiving 
large orders from Europe and America.” In the same Bulletin 
(p. 1498) cultivation for the French market is strongly recom- 
mended in Morocco, where “‘in the coast zone the climate is very 
favourable for growing the plant, which lives for about 10 years, 
assuming an arborescent form; the heavy night dews here render 
irrigation unnecessa 
The cake after the extraction of the oil is not suitable for 
feeding cattle, and it is generally used as manure on coffee and 
other plantations. 
The Castor-oil plant was recommended for cultivation in 
the warmer parts of the British Empire in Kew Bull. Nos. 7-8, 
