412 



SESAME SEED. 



common to take tkree or four crops of brown mustard running, and in 

 that way to pay for the fee simple of the land (from 601. to lOOZ. an 

 acre), when the opportunity is presented. The tillage required is next 

 to nothing ; a shallow furrow is ploughed, the seed is sown broad- 

 cast, a bushel of seed an acre, in April, and is ready for harvesting in 

 June or July. The land is generally sufficiently seeded to produce 

 another crop ; which may, perhaps, be gathered in the autumn of the 

 same year. In England brown mustard often fetches from 15s. to 1/. a 

 bushel, and 40 bushels is no uncommon crop. White mustard is less 

 remunerative and less speculative. 



Mustard seed is cultivated in many departments of France, and 

 especially in the Nord, Pas de Calais, Bas Khin, and the Charente. 

 The annual produce is about 650 tons, worth 6000Z. Triturated in 

 special mills, mixed with vinegar, and flavoured with some condi- 

 ments, it is delivered to the trade ready for the table. The quantity 

 produced in France was stated in the Official Catalogue of the Paris 

 Exhibition of 1867 at 3000 tons, of the value of 2,000,000 francs. 



Five or six species of Sinapis are cultivated throughout India for 

 the sake of their oil, which is much esteemed in the country for 

 cooking, for medicine, and for anointing the body, which it is sup- 

 posed to invigorate. They are known as sarson seed. Brassica juncea, 

 Hooker, Sinapis juncea, Lin., is largely grown in the south of 

 Eussia, and in the steppes north-east of the Caspian Sea. Eight 

 hundred tons of the seed are used in one factory annually for making 

 mustard, and the seeds yield more than 20 per cent, of a fixed 

 pleasant oil. 



The imports of colza and ravison seeds into Marseilles have ranged 

 from 300,000 to 660,000 cwts. of late years, but they have been 

 declining ; in 1875 the quantity was but 214,920 cwts. 



In 1872 there were sent from India to England and France 

 1418 tons of mustard seed. 



Safflower Oil. — This is a light yellow clear oil, when properly 

 refined or prepared ; it is used in India for culinary and other 

 purposes. This oil deserves more attention than it has hitherto 

 received in this country ; and, if once fairly introduced, there is no 

 doubt whatever of its becoming a staple import. It is used in some 

 of the Government workshops as a " drying oil." It is believed to 

 constitute the bulk of the celebrated " Macassar oil." The seed is 

 exported under the name of Curdee, or safflower seed. The Lucknow 

 Exhibition Committee fui-nishes the following note: In Oude it is 

 sown in October, either alone, or at the edge of wheat crops ; both 

 light and heavy soils are adapted to it. It is cultivated in every 

 village, but not extensively. There would be no difficulty in farther 

 cultivating it to any extent. The oil is extracted by pressing. The 

 cost of the seed, which is called " Barre," is 18 J seers per rupee, and 

 the cost of the oil from 3 to 4 seers per rupee. 



Sesame Seed (Sesamim indicum, Dec), frequently called Til, or 

 Gingely. This is an erect, pubescent annual herb, from 2 to 4 feet 

 high, indigenous to India, but propagated by cultivation throughout 



