Oils and Fats. 



[March, 1909. 



the cake remaining after the oil is 

 extracted, for feed or feritlizer, but 

 they have not proved altogether satis- 

 factory. The Jr, Pharm et Chin. 28 

 (1801), No. 12, records a case of the poison- 

 ing of two cows fed on the cake : — 



On the day after feeding, the temper- 

 ature of one cow rose to 39 6° C, a 

 bloody diarrhoea set in, and the yield 

 of milk fell off from 11 to 5 liters per 

 day. The animal recovered in ten days, 

 when a second feeding was given, with 

 the result that one of the cows lost 

 its four mouths' old foetus, and high 

 fever and slight diarrhoea were induced. 

 Both animals were emaciated and 

 showed starring coats and dull eyes. 



Attempts have been made to extract 

 the poisonous principles, and some 

 have been successful, as it has been 

 fed in amounts varying from 1 to 3 

 kilos per day, mixed with chopped 

 straw, without any bad effects being 



observed, but the digestive co-efficient 

 was found to be low, owing, it was 

 thought, to the large percentage of 

 seed coat in the meal. 



While there is no doubt that the 

 cake contains good fertilizer material, 

 it has been found to be a more ex- 

 pensive source of nitrogen than cotton 

 seed cake, as is shown in the report 

 of the Connecticut Experiment Station 

 for 1897:- 



Fertilizer. 



Nitrogen 

 (per cent). 



Cotton-seed meal 6-92-8'02 

 Castor cake 4-51-4'02 



Cost of 

 nitrogen 

 (cents). 

 11-6 

 185-21-1 



In actual field experiments with 

 tobacco at the Connecticut Experiment 

 Station it has also proved defective 

 when the cost and grade of tobacco 

 produced are considered, as will be 

 seen from the following table :— 



Nitr-ogen 

 per acre 



Source of nitrogen, (pounds.) 



Yield (number leaves 

 Wrapper. 



Cotton-seed meal 

 Castor pomace 

 Cotton-seed meal 

 Castor pomace 

 Cotton-seed meal 

 Castor pomace 



105 

 105 

 175 

 175 

 210 

 210 



Per 



Total. Long Short cent. 



Number of 

 pole-cured 

 leaves per 

 pound. 

 Long Short 



Holds fire 

 (seconds). 



1,615 

 1,760 

 1,673 

 1,700 

 1,839 

 1,863 



740 

 803 

 795 

 769 

 957 



245 

 203 

 276 

 267 

 268 

 271 



wrap- 

 per. 

 66 

 59 

 61 

 62 

 60 

 60 



wrap- 

 per. 



89 

 84 

 85 

 81 

 85 

 84 



Long 

 wrap- 

 per, 



14 



10 



12 



10 



10 



10 



Short 

 wrap- 

 per. 



15 



15 



14 



13 



15 



12 



During a period of five years, castor 

 pomace produced an average of 111 

 pounds more tobacco than cotton-seed 

 meal, the increase in value being §13 87. 

 Two hundred pounds of nitrogen 

 in the form of castor pomace costs 

 $8"40 more than the same amount in 

 cotton-seed meal, so that the net 

 profit, provided the quality of the 

 crop were the same, would have been 

 $5 "47, but this was not the case. 



Another use that is sometimes made 

 of the cake in India is for making gas 

 to illuminate the railway stations. 

 Cultivation. 

 The method of cultivation followed 

 in Madras, outlined in a circular of 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, is 

 probably as good as any. There the land 

 is ploughed twice after rain, and the seed 

 dropped in the furrow and covered by 

 the plough following. A month later, 

 when the plants are a foot high, the 

 land between the rows, which are a 

 yard apart, is ploughed again. The crop 

 of beans is often followed by either pea- 

 nuts or corn. 



The only improvement to be suggested 

 on this method is that the field be given 



clean cultivation until the plants shade 

 the ground, and that the rows be 4, 

 instead of 3 feet apart. 



In Hawaii, accordiug to Agricultural 

 Press Bulletin No. 2, quite a different 

 system is followed on some farms situ- 

 ated near the sea level. After prepar- 

 ing the land, the seeds are planted at 

 distances of 15 feet in rows 20 feet apart, 

 which gives 150 plants to the acre. As 

 soon as the plants are 2 feet high the 

 teimiual bud is ripped off so as to force 

 the production of lateral shoots, which 

 are in turn shortened to compel the 

 plant to branch as much as possible and 

 keep down the height, so that the spikes 

 may be harvested fiom the ground and 

 in order to increase the number of bear- 

 ing shoots. 



The plants begin to flower when from 

 eight to nine months old, and the seed 

 matures in about ten months. During 

 the growing period the plants should be 

 well cultivated. Under this system the 

 crop is kept growing and should pay 

 commercially for from five to seven 

 years, but during that time must receive 

 occasional dressings of manure, 



