CASTOR BEAN. 



241 



which the hops are" stored, to prevent the damp steam from the 

 kilns as it will color them, and injure the flavor and quality." 

 Diseases. Hops are liable to attack from various insects, 

 blight, mildew, &c. There is no effective remedy of general 

 application for either. The best preventives are new or 

 fresh soil, which is rich in ashes and the inorganic manures, 

 and in a fine tillable condition to insure a rapid growth, by 

 which the hops may partially defy attack ; and open plant- 

 ing, on such positions as will secure free circulation of air. 

 When properly managed, hops are one of the most produc- 

 tive crops ; but their very limited use will always make them 

 a minor object of cultivation. 



THE CASTOR BEAN, (Ricinus communis, usually called Falma 

 Ohristi, Fig. 55). 



Is a native of the West India islands, where it grows 



with great luxuri- 

 ance. It is culti- 

 vated as a field 

 crop in our mid- 

 dle States, and in 

 those bordering 

 the Ohio River on 

 the North. It 

 likes a rich, mel- 

 low bed, and is 

 planted and hoed 

 like corn. It at- 

 tains the height of 



FIG. 55. five or six feet, and 



bears at the rate of 20 to 28 bushels per acre. The seed is 

 separated from the pods, bruised and subjected to a great 

 pressure, by which it yields nearly a gallon to the bushel, 

 of cold-pressed castor oil, which is very much superior to that 

 extracted by boiling and skimming. The last is done, either 

 with or without, first slightly roasting. This oil forms not 

 only a mild cathartic, but with some is an article of food. 

 Its separation or conversion into a limpid oil for machinery 

 and lamps, and into stearine for candles, has lately much in- 

 creased its valuable uses. 



ARROW ROOT (Maranta arundinacea, Fig. 56). \ . 



This plant is very extensively cultivated in South Ameri- 

 11 



