OIL-BEARING PLANTS 



OIL-BEARING PLANTS 



501 



TXigei iGuizotiaoleifera,Gass.). CompositcB. Pig. 726. 



Niger seed is derived from an erect annual plant 

 reaching a height of about three feet. It has 

 opposite, lanceolate-oblong, serrated leaves, numer- 

 ous bright yellow flowers one to one and one-half 

 inches in diameter, borne on elongated stems. The 

 seed is formed by the inconspicuous disc flowers. 



This plant, native of Abyssinia, is cultivated in 

 Mysore, India, and to a lesser degree in Germany 

 and the West Indies, principally for the pale yellow 

 fatty oil expressed from the seed. The yield is about 

 35 to 40 per cent. The oil is used for illumination, 

 and in making soap. The higher grades are also 

 used for food purposes. It has a chracteristic 

 pleasant aromatic odor. The seed is used also in 

 bird-seed mixtures. It reaches the European mar- 

 ket by way of London and Hamburg, but is not 

 imported in the United States. Its experimental 

 culture here has been recommended. 



Fig. 726. TXisN (OuizoUa oleifera) . 



Olive oil {Olea Europoea, Linn.). Oleacece. 



Olive-growing in the United States is practically 

 confined to California and Arizona. The total crop 

 in 1899, according to the United States Census, 

 was about 5,000,000 pounds. The fruit is in part 

 used for pickling and in part for the production of 

 olive oil. The oil is obtained by expressing. 



The demand for olive oil is large and is in part 

 supplied from foreign sources, notably Italy and 

 France. In 1904, the total importation was about 

 1,700,000 gallons. This oil does not readily become, 

 rancid. The better grades of the oil are used as salad 

 oil, the poorer for soap-making and in processes 

 connected with the manufacture of tobacco. 



Peanut oil (Araehis hypogma, Linn.). Leguminosx. 

 Peanut-culture in the United States is found 

 chiefly in the South, Virginia, North Carolina, 

 Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee being 

 the largest producers in the order named. The 



total crop for the United States in 1899 was about 

 12,000,000 bushels, valued at sixty-one cents per 

 bushel. In 1904, the United States imported pea- 

 nuts, shelled and unshelled, to a value of about 

 $148,000. The peanut crop has increased during 

 the last decade to a remarkable degree, due doubt- 

 less to the increased use. Aside from its use in a 

 whole roasted condition, the fruit is the source of 

 an oil which is expressed from it. 



Peanut oil when expressed cold is pale in color 

 and may be used as a salad oil, although it becomes 

 rancid more readily than olive oil. It is used as an 

 adulterant for olive oil, also in making butterine. 

 The lower grades are used in soap-making. Sar- 

 dines are frequently preserved in peanut oil. The 

 "cake" remaining after expression of the oil is 

 used sometimes as a stock-feed. [See Peanut.'] 



Sesame (Sesamum Indicum, Linn.). Pedaliacex. 



Sesame (bene or til) is an annual herbaceous 

 plant growing two and one-half to seven feet tall. 

 The leaves are variable, three to five inches long, 

 oblong or lanceolate, the lower often three-lobed 

 or three-parted ; the corolla is pale rose or white, 

 one inch long, and tubular. The pods are about 

 three inches long. 



Bene is planted in April or May, and is ready to 

 harvest about six months later. It is sometimes 

 planted between rows of cotton, and occasionally 

 hoed to keep out weeds. It begins to flower when 

 twelve inches high. As the stems elongate, new 

 flowers appear, and we eventually find ripe capsules 

 below, green ones in the middle, and flowers at the 

 top. The flower-capsules burst and the seed shatters 

 before the others are ripe. The seed may be gath- 

 ered by shaking into a sheet when the pods are dry. 



The seeds are valued for their oil. The seeds 

 yield about half their weight of oil- of -sesame, which 

 is odorless and does not easily become rancid. The 

 oil and seed are used in cooking and in medicine, 

 in the making of confections, soap, and as an 

 adulterant of olive oil. 



Sesame has been known from ancient times in 

 India, Greece and Egypt, and is much more used in 

 these countries and in Europe than in this country. 

 It is said to have been brought to South Carolina 

 by the early slaves. It now runs wild in parts of 

 the extreme South, and is cultivated in small 

 patches, chiefly by the negroes. 



During the flscal year ended June 30, 1905, the 

 importation of oil-of-sesame amounted to 1,394,- 

 975 pounds, valued at $91,314. Since the seeds are 

 not itemized in the customs returns, the amount 

 of seed imported is not ascertainable. 



Ldterature. 



Allen, Commercial Organic Analysis, London; 

 Brannt, A Practical Treatise on Animal and Vege- 

 table Fats and Oils, Philadelphia ; Gill, Handbook 

 of Oil Analysis, Philadelphia (1898); Lewkowitsch, 

 Chemical Analysis of Fats, Oils and Waxes, New 

 York (1898); Sadtler, A Handbook of Industrial 

 Organic Chemistry, Philadelphia (1900); Bureau of 

 Chemistry, United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Bulletin No. 77, Olive oil and Its Substitutes, 



