mClNUS COMMUNIS. 



39 



Soil. 



Season. 



Harvesting. 



Method of extracting the oil. 



Yield of seed. 



ing to cotton and sugar-cane fields, and is not uncommonly grown on isolated patches 

 of a few square yards in the neighbourhood of dwelling houses, and used as a support 

 for the creeping bean known as sevi {Dolichos lahlaU). It thrives on a rich soil, but 

 curiously enough succeeds exceedingly well when sown along the top of the high mud 

 banks which commonly surround orchards and vegetable gardens. In this situation 

 the young plants are protected from flooding, and their roots rapidly strike deep enough 

 to acquire sufficient moisture. 



It is sown at the commencement of the monsoon or in the hot weather just before 

 the rains break. Tlie seeds are either sown behind the plough, being dropped at inter- 

 vals of about 18 inches in every alternate furrow, or they are planted by hand. In the 

 latter case a little manure is commonly buried with them. The young plants are oc- 

 casionally earthed up to prevent the accumulation of water round the bottom of the 

 stem. The seeds ripen in March and April. 



When ripe the seed pods are picked, and are either dried in the sun and broken 

 by rolling (Azamgarh), or are buried in the ground and allowed to rot. The latter is 

 the common practise in Doab districts. The oil is extracted by boiling, and the oper- 

 ation is not performed by the professional oil pressers (or telis), but by the gram- 

 parchers {bhujjis). The seeds are first slightly roasteil, then crushed in a mortar, and 

 then boiled in water over a quick fire, when the oil rises to the surface and is skimmed 

 off. Asa rule the seeds yield a quarter of their weight of oil, but seeds of the bhatreri 

 variety are said to yield as much as one-third of their weight. 



Young castor leaves are relished by cattle, and the dried stalks are utilized for 

 thatching. Castor trees are commonly cut down after their first year, but it has been 

 already mentioned that the bhatreri variety of Azaragaih is commonly allowed to stand 

 for three or four years, when it yields a crop of seed each spring, and is finally cut down, 

 not because its bearing powers are exhausted, but because it is a breeding ground for 

 a hairy brown caterpillar which is supposed to bring ill-luck. 



A well grown castor plant will yield as much as 10 seers (=20 lbs.) of seed in a 

 season, but the plants which are grown round fields rarely give more than from £ seer 

 to H seer apiece. The yield of individual plants grown together as a single crop in 

 a field is much less than this, since flowering is hindered by a loss of light and air, 

 when the plants are not separated from each other by a considerable space. 



The castor is popularil}^ ranked as the chavidr amongst plants, and men of this 

 caste are particularly afraid of a blow from the stalk of a castor plant. 



Explanation of Plate XLIII. 



1. Upper portion of plant with inflores 



cence, 



2. Male flower, i 



3. Ditto, seen from below, J ^ ' 



J nat. size. 



4. Cluster of young capsules, 



5. Single capsule, 



(5, A carpel opened to show the seed, 

 7 & 8. Seed, 



I nat. size. 



Drawn from a living specimen gathered at Saharanpur. 



