500 



OIL-BEARING PLANTS 



OIL-BEARING PLANTS 



Castor-oil {Rieinus communis, Linn.). Euphorbiacem. 



The cultivation of the castor-oil plant is cen- 

 tered in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois, 

 in which states, according to the last United States 

 Census, an annual crop of 100,000 to 150,000 

 bushels of seed is produced. The price is at 

 present about one dollar per bushel. The impor- 

 tation of seeds for the year ended June 30, 1905, 

 was 387,767.86 bushels. This plant is cultivated 

 chiefly in Egypt, Turkey in Asia, India and China. 

 The oil from this seed is obtained by expression, as 

 above stated, after which it is clarified by boiling 

 with water to free it from mucilaginous and other 

 objectionable substances or by leaving it standing 

 in the sunlight to settle. The cake remaining after 

 the removal of the oil is powerfully poisonous, as 

 are also the whole seeds. 



Castor-oil is used in a number of ways. When 

 cold pressed, it is used in medicine for its purgative 

 properties; it is mixed with other substances to 

 increase its mobility and used in making sticky fly- 

 paper, according to report ; it is valued in some 

 circumstances as a lubricating oil because of its 

 heaviness ; it is excellent as a dressing for leather 

 and is used somewhat in making transparent as 

 well as common soaps. This oil, like that from 

 cottonseed and peanuts, is semi-drying in character. 

 [See Castor-bean^ 



Colza {Brassica campestris, Linn.). Bosaeem. [See, 

 also, page 307, and Rape.] 



Colza oil, strictly speaking, is obtained from the 

 seed of Brassica campestris, the rutabaga, but the 

 oil from . this plant is probably not distinguished 

 in commerce from that of B. Napus and B. Rapa, 

 the different sorts of rape. 



Colza is cultivated especially in France, Germany 

 and Belgium, in part for the seed and the oil 

 expressed from it. The seeds yield about 85 per 

 cent of their dry weight of brownish yellow oil, 

 which, although odorless when expressed, develops 

 an unpleasant odor and taste on standing. The 

 crude oil is used as a lubricant and in some 

 regions for illuminating purposes, the refined oil 

 being used, it is said, as an adulterant for olive 

 and almond oils. The cake is a recognized stock- 

 food. The importation of products listed as rape 

 during the fiscal year ended July 1, 1905, was as 

 follows: Rape seed, 3,029,948 pounds, valued at 

 $78,344; rape-seed oil, 730,686 gallons, valued at 

 $264,025. Neither rape nor colza is grown in the 

 United States to any considerable extent as a 

 source of oil, being used rather as green forage 

 crops. The seeds of rape and colza, it is said, are 

 used in bird-seed mixtures. [See page 307.] 



Corn oil (Zea Mays, Linn.). Graminece. 



Corn oil is obtained from the germ of the seed 

 of corn. This part of the seed is practically free 

 from starch, so that in the manufacture of glucose, 

 in which the starchy structure only is of value, 

 the germs are discarded. From this formerly 

 refuse product, a useful oil is obtained in large 

 quantities. The center of the corn oil industry is 

 found in the upper Mississippi valley, where the 



glucose and starch industries are centered. This is 

 practically an American product and is exported 

 in considerable quantities to Europe, especially to 

 Belgium. In 1905, out of a total exportation of 

 71,372 barrels, valued at $873,579, Belgium re- 

 ceived 51,468 barrels. The "cake" remaining after 

 the removal of the oil is also an article of export. 

 The oil belongs to the semi-drying oils and is 

 used for the making of soap and as a lubricant. 

 [See Maize.'] 



Cottonseed. (Gossypium speeiesi) Malvacem. 



The cottonseed crop, of course, is confined to 

 the southern states. The states bordering on the 

 Gulf as well as the Carolinas and Arkansas are 

 important cotton producers. The crushing and 

 storage of the seed is practiced not only in cities 

 within the cotton-belt but also in centers most 

 readily accessible, such as Cincinnati, Louisville 

 and St. Louis, as well as in the larger commercial 

 centers. The domestic crop of cottonseed may be 

 stated as averaging 5,000,000 tons, of which about 

 60 per cent is crushed for oil. The average recent 

 oil yield has been about 110,000,000 to 115,000,000 

 gallons per year. 



Crude cottonseed oil is purified by heating with 

 caustic soda and by further treatment with fuller's 

 earth. The clear oil when cooled to 12° below zero, 

 Centigrade, separates into a part used in making 

 oleomargarine, and a clear oil which is used in 

 large quantities as a salad oil and for mixing with 

 olive oil. The impure residue removed by treat- 

 ment with caustic soda is used by soap-makers. 

 Cottonseed oil occurs very largely in various arti- 

 cles used in cooking as substitutes for lard. [See 

 Cotton.] 



In both cottonseed- and flaxseed-oil production, 

 the United States ranks as an exporter except 

 under special conditions, when the demand for flax 

 seed may result in importation from Argentina and 

 from British India. 



In the preparation of these oils, the residual 

 "cake" is a valuable by-product, which is also an 

 article of export as well as of home consumption. 



Flax {Linum usitatissimum, Linn.). Linacece. 



In the case of flax seed the crop of the country 

 seems to lie betwean 20,000,000 and 28,000,000 

 bushels per annum, grown in large part in Min- 

 nesota, North and South Dakota. There is a minor 

 production in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Idaho. 

 The important centers of the trade are at Chi- 

 cago, Minneapolis and Duluth, where store-houses 

 and crushers provide accommodations for the ship- 

 per or for the manufacturer of linseed oil. The 

 chief use of linseed oil is found in the making of 

 paints. The desired pigments, finely ground, are 

 mixed with the oil and applied to the surface to be 

 covered. The oil is quickly acted on by the atmos- 

 phere in such a way as to harden it, and is classed 

 for this reason as a drying oil. Linseed oil is put 

 on the market as raw oil or as boiled oil. The cake 

 left after the expression of the oil is a valuable 

 stock-feed, and, as such, forms an important article 

 of commerce. [See Flax^ 



