RICINUS 



COMMUNIS 



Trade 



Tanning and 

 Dyeing. 



Cost. 



Turkey-red 

 Oil. 



Possible 



Indian 



Monopoly. 



Oil-cake. 



Manure. 

 Gas. 



Trade 

 Exports. 



Decline in Oil. 



Expansion in 

 Seed. 



THE CASTOR-OIL PLANT 



Oils, p. 812). The value of castor-oil as a preservative has long been 

 known, and on that property depends its employment on leather goods of 

 all kinds, also as a lubricant for machinery. It is frequently employed by 

 the Indian dyers as an auxiliary in certain tinctorial results, and similarly 

 by calico-printers. The ordinary Native oil is sold in the United Provinces 

 at Rs. 10 to 16 per maund, the price of course varying with the quality, but 

 the medicinal oil and the purer grades may fetch as much as Rs. 24 to 

 27 a maund. Medicinally the oil holds an important position, and the 

 white seed is specially preferred for that purpose. 



Turkey -red Oil. This is a specially prepared oil used in mordanting alizarin- 

 dyed fabrics and for dressing tanned leather. The extent to which the Indian 

 manufacturers are using that dye may be judged of by the demand. A 

 difficulty was long felt in turkey-red dyeing to obtain an oil that would 

 diffuse readily in water. By the old process the fabrics and yarns to be 

 dyed had to be soaked in oils for a week or more. By the use of a sulpho- 

 ricinate of eoda the objects of the oil mordant may be attained expeditiously, and 

 turkey-red dyeing has thereby been greatly simplified. Almost any oil may be 

 employed, but Indian castor has been found the most suitable, and may be said 

 to enjoy a monopoly in meeting this new and increasing requirement. It may 

 be suggested that a profitable opening exists for the manufacture and exportation 

 of turkey-red oil in place of having to import the supplies required by the Indian 

 dyers. \Cf. Blount and Bloxam, Chem. for Engin. and Manuf., etc., 1900, 235-6.] 



Castor Oil-cake. The oil-cake is regarded as a good fuel, but it is 

 never given as food to cattle. Is fairly largely used by cobblers for 

 stuffing the soles of the shoes they make or repair. The cake is generally 

 stated to contain the whole of the poisonous property of the seed, hence its 

 not being used as an 'article of cattle food. It is, however, rich in nitro- 

 gen and therefore much in demand as a manure, especially for potato and 

 sugar-cane. In some parts of India the cake, and even cheap castor-seed, 

 are used in the manufacture of gas, which is treated exactly like coal-gas, 

 and is in some respects superior to it. Where coal is scarce and expensive, 

 this utilisation of castor is deserving of more consideration than has as yet 

 been bestowed on it. 



TRADE IN CASTOR SEED AND OIL. 



Foreign. It is significant that Milburn, in 1813 to 1825, should say 

 nothing of the EXPORTS of castor-seed from India, though he makes mention 

 of a small traffic in the oil. Hawkes states that the average export of 

 castor- oil during 1850-5 came approximately to 100,000 gallons. By 

 1878-9 the exports of the oil were 2,119,755 gallons, valued at Rs. 31,53,969, 

 and of the seed 74,214 cwt., valued at Rs. 5,00,056. Ten years later these 

 items were (1888-9) : oil, 2,092,913 gallons, valued at Rs. 20,31,467, and 

 seed, 585,769 cwt., valued at Rs. 31,28,741. The exports for the five 

 years 1902-7 were as follows : 1902-3, oil, 2,073,573 gallons, valued at 

 Rs. 24,68,222; 1903-4, 1,916,200 gallons, valued at Rs. 20,83,239 ; 1904-5, 

 1,632,106 gallons, valued at Rs. 16,43,982; 1905-6, 1,432,108 gallons, valued 

 at Rs. 17,12,088 ; and 1906-7, 1,445,636 gallons, valued at Rs. 22,22,015. 

 Similarly seed : 1902-3, 1,751,688 cwt., valued at Rs. 92,05,666 ; 1903-4, 

 1,566,838 cwt., valued at Rs. 69,19,562; 1904-5, 1,460,908 cwt., valued 

 at Rs. 69,15,892 ; 1905-6, 1,298,624 cwt., valued at Rs. 78,66,786 ; and 

 1906-7, 1,505,059 cwt., valued at Rs. 1,14,16,925. 



It would thus appear that since 1888-9 the quantity of castor-oil 

 exported has declined by fully half a million gallons, but the price has 

 considerably improved. The traffic in castor-seed, on the other hand, has 

 very materially increased within the period indicated, namely from 

 half a million to one and a half million cwt. These circumstances thus 



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