have found here the green to be the best, though they require prompt attention in saving, or there 

 is great loss in its popping out in the field. It must be cut as soon as the bottom part of the head 

 begins to crack open. The red would require a mill something on the order of the rice mill to 

 clean it, but would give good time to gatlier. I do not know which would produce the most in 

 vour conutrv. The seed, f think, is equally good for making oil. We have another kind of green 

 that grows here — seed quite small and hard to hull. This I do not think would be profitable on 

 account of the difficulty in hulling, though they are rich in oil. I plant in rows live feet apart, 

 and about three feet apart in the row. With you, if the same stalk continues to bear from year to 

 vear, I think a greater distance ouiiht to be given. My press is made nearly like tlie four-screwed 

 ipress used in compressing cotton — the wheels being made stronger, it requiring much greater pres- 

 sure to extract the oil than to compress the cotton. To build such a one as mine now, would cost 

 about ^5000. I can ^wess on mine in ten hours 100 gallons of oil. 



Thov use at the north-west two kinds of press, one a simple screw, that works in a cast iron 

 frame." Tliis kind will cost about §250, and will make about twenty-eight to thirty gallons of oil 

 in nineteen hours, if well attended to. The other is a hydraulic press, that costs, perhaps, §4000 or 

 $5000, and would make, perhaps, forty or fifty gallons of oil per day. The barrels should be made 

 of good white oak, and if not well made will not hold the oil. The process of clarifying the oil is 

 rather a ditfieult one, and requires, to do it well, both practice and good judgment, as it has to be 

 manafTcd very ditferently in its different stages. The person who boils it must know from its 

 appearance how to vary its management, or the temperatui'e of the fire in the least mismanage- 

 ment, will color the oil, and make it unsaleable. If boiled in its first stage too fast, it turns of a red 

 color; if boiled too slow it has the same etfect, as it leaves the impurities that should be thrown 

 on the top and skimmed olf in the oil, and stains it — if heated too hot it burns and colors it. 



I will endeavor to describe the process that I used : The oil from the press should be strained 

 into tlie kettle (which should hold about sixty gallons) through a coarse bag, made of coarse grass 

 skirting — putting to fifty gallons of oil about six gallons of water — bring it to boil by a slow fii-e — 

 after it commences boiling, keep it just at that stage that the dirt and scum will rise freely, (skim 

 this off and put it in a barrel or tub to be strained in the next boiling, as a considerable quantity of 

 good oil will be taken ofi' with it,) when the dirty scum has all ran off, and the oil begins to have a 

 somewhat milky ap]:)0.arance, the fire must be a little slacked, but kept high enough to cause the 

 wliite scum to run off freely, which must also be skimmed off to be put with the next boiling. The 

 oil, if well managed at this stage, will soon get quite clear, and will require less fire, as the water 

 evaporates from it — it must be continued to boil quite slow until all the water has evaporated, 

 which may be known by cooling some of the oil in a phial, set in cold water — if the water is all 

 .tit it will be quite clear in the phial when cold, but as long as the least milky appearance is left 

 in it, the evaporation must be kept up. Great care must be taken at this stage to prevent burning 

 the oil— only fire enough must be used to keep it simmering — it generally takes from ten to twelve 

 hours to complete a boiling. After it is done it must be strained through a thick satinet bag, into 

 something which will hold oil, and left to settle a few days before barreling it. 



I had forgot to mention that I have used about half a pound of loaf sugar dissolved inwater, to 

 be put in before or about the time it commences to boil. This, I think, aids much in separating the 

 impurities from the oil. 



If you should conclude to engage in this business, and I can give you any further information, I 

 will do so with pleasure. You wished to know if there would be any market for the seed in Mobile 

 or New Orleans. I do not suppose there would be in Mobile, but think they might be sold in New 

 Orleans, to be shipped to St. Louis, at which place they bring a good pi-ice, vai'ying according to 

 the price of oil. When oil sells at 15 cents per gallon, seed, 1 think, is worth about the same price 

 per bushel; when oil is worth a dollar, the seed would be worth about $1.20 or $1.25. If oil 

 should be Avorth $1,50, seed would bring about Sl.Yo in St. Louis. It would, however, be more 

 profitable to make the oil, if you can raise the seed advantageously. 



Yours respectfully, R. W. 



Manufacture of Lime. — The Wisconsin gives a description of some lime kilns, 

 recently erected at Milwaukee by Mr. P. C. Hale : 



"He has in operation one kiln, 16 by 20 feet in size, and 12 feet high, with an .arched roof of 

 brick, containing seven chimneys, and another kiln, nearly comjdeted, much larger than the first, 

 in whii'h he can manufacture 600 barrels of lime per week, and is prepared to increase the number 

 of kilns as fast as business demands. These kilns are so constructed that nearly an equal amount 

 of heat is thrown upon each stone at the s.ame time. Jn consequence of the arch no cold air 

 reaches the top stones, and the whole contents of the kiln are equfilly burneJ, leaving no small 

 stones half burncil, as is inevitable in the old fashioned kilns. As it is neither burned too much 

 nor too little, it is ])urer and sti-onger than other lime. The kilns are so constructed as lo save 

 about one-third of tiie wood, and one-half of the labor of other kilns, and are burned in fifty-four 

 hours, no matter how large the kiln. It is only necessary to keep the fires properly tended with 

 -|' . Buitable fuel, to insure u burn with as much certainty and accuracv, as the baking of bread in ovens." 



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