676 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[November 



it has hitherto possessed. The analyses of 

 it read almost precisely like those made last 

 year; but there is some falling off in the 

 other sample IV., in which the percentages 

 of sand and water are both somewhat larger, 

 and all the active ingredients are according- 

 ly reduced in proportion. 



The difference in Value between II. and 

 IV. amounts to $4.20 per ton. 



Green & Preston's is still inferior to IV. 

 chiefly from containing less ammonia. 



CASTOR PUMMACE. 



Messrs. Baker, Latourette & Co., 142 

 Water St., New York City, manufacturers 

 of linseed and castor oils, have recently un- 

 dertaken the new enterprise of importing 

 the castor bean from India, and expressing 

 the oil from it in New York. The cake or 

 pummace remaining from this operation, has 

 been found to possess valuable fertilizing 

 properties, and is already employed as a ma- 

 nure in England. I have been employed to 

 analyze the castor pummace, and it has 

 turned out so satisfactorily, that in my 

 opinion it will be doing the members of the 

 State Society a service, to communicate the 

 results, and do so herewith, having obtained 

 permission of the manufacturers. 



Analysis. 



Water, - - - - - • 9.24 



Old, 18.02 



Woody fibre and mucilage, - - 38.29 



Nitrogenous bodies (albumen, etc..) 28.31 



Ash, ' 6.14 



100.00 



In the ash were found — 



Sand, - - - - - 0.75 



Lime, 0.36 



Phosphoric acid, .... 2.04 

 Alkalies with a little magnesia, sulphuric 



and carb. acids, - - - 2.09 



5.24 



The amount of nitrogen in the nitro- 

 genous bodies was found to be 4.32 per cent., 

 corresponding to 5.48 per cent, of potential 

 ammonia. 



On account of the purgative effect of the 

 castor oil, the pummace cannot be employed 

 as food for cattle, and its whole agricultural 

 value must consist in its fertilizing applica- 

 tions. 



Its worth commercially considered, lies 

 exclusively* in its content of phosphoric 



* The opinion has been entertained that oil is 

 a fertilizer; but numerous careful trials made in 

 England and elsewhere have proved that pure 



acid and ammonia. Its calculated value, 

 using the prices adopted in my first annual 

 report, viz., four and a half cents j er pound 

 for insoluble phosphoric acid, and fourteen 

 cents per pound for ammonia, is $17.20 per 

 ton (2000 lbs.) 



The manufacturers inform me that hith- 

 erto they have sent the castor pummace to 

 England* where it commands a price of £4 

 10s. sterling per ton (the English ton of 

 2240 pounds I suppose.) They now intend 

 bringing it into the home market, and there 

 seems no reason why we cannot use it to as 

 good advantage as English farmers can, if it 

 is afforded at a fair price.* 



The pummace is not hard like linseed- 

 cake, but easily crumbles to pieces, and is 

 sufficiently fine to be convenient in applica- 

 tion. 



It belongs to what are usually termed the 

 stimulating manures, and is rapid in action, 

 usually spending itself in one season. 



It may be applied directly to the soil and 

 harrowed in, or used in the preparation of 

 composts. I should judge it would be found 

 I exceedingly servicable in composting muck, 

 etc. 



Some caution must be exercised in the 

 use of this class of manures, because their 

 action is so powerful that in very heavy 

 doses they may overforce the crop, or even 

 destroy the seed when put in contact with it 

 at the time of planting. It has been as- 

 serted that the content of oil of the oil- 

 cakes hinders the germination of seeds, by 

 preventing access of water to them. I am 

 inclined to believe however, that their detri- 

 mental action is due to their readiness of 

 decomposition, whereby the seed is caused 

 to rot. In fact there are only a few in- 

 stances on record of their occasioning this 

 sort of injury, and in these they appear to 

 have been applied in very large quantity. 

 We can estimate the proper allowance per 

 acre of castor pummace, by comparing its 

 per cent, of ammonia with that of guano. 

 It contains just about one-third as much of 

 this ingredient, and accordingly we may 

 safely use three times as much of it. W r e 

 know that 600 pounds of guano per acre is 



oil is quite inert, and only such impure oils as 

 contain nitrogenous animal matters produce any 

 perceptible effects. # - 



* I see by the advertisements of Messrs. Baker 

 & Co., that they sell castor pummace aj from $12 

 to »$16 per ton, according to the quality. It is a 

 cheap manure. 



