Oct. 1, 19j1] 
Suppteinenl to the f tropical AgriculMHsV* 
289 
valuable manure. We have been collectiiipf a 
fmnll quantity of seed of tlie Inrge fruited 
viiriety of the Castor from plants grown in the 
Colombo stock, nnd will be glad to give these away 
to any one desiring to have seeds- The variety 
is a fairly high shrub and rather a good 
shade tree. 
In the Quee>i.^land Agricultural Journal for 
July we are told that 2s. 9d. per gallon is 
the price the oil may be expected to bring 
in Australia, though buyers would probably be 
willing to pay 3*'. to local manufacturers, as 
the loss by leakiige in tins from Europe is very 
considerable. The quotation is for lubricating 
not medicinal oil, 
Tlie following note about the extracting of 
the oil (from the Queensland Agricultural Gazette 
for June last) will be of interest: — Briefly the 
operations of oil extraction are by expression, by 
boiling with water, or by the agency of alcohol. 
A comparatively simple process can be tried 
by any one interested, and a good oil should 
result if the seed is of the right variety. 
Fisrt, cleanse the seeds from fragments of 
the husk and from dust, and submit them to 
a gentle lieat, but not greater than can be 
borne by the hand, which process makes the 
oil more fluid and more easily expressed, A 
whitish oily fluid is thus obtained, whicli is 
boiled with a large quantity of water, and all 
impurities are skimmed off as they rise to the 
surface ; the water dissolves the mucilage and 
starch, and the albumen is coagulated by the 
heat, thus forming a layer between the oil and 
the water ; the clear oil is then removed and 
boiled with a small quantity of water until 
aqueous vapour ceases to rise and a small quantity 
taken out in a phial remains perfectly trans- 
parent. The effect of this is to clarify the oil 
and rid it of volatile acid matter, C;ire is 
necessary not to carry the heat too far, as the 
oil would acquire a brownish colour and an 
acid taste. 
In India the seed is first shelled and then 
crushed between rollers, placed in hempen 
cloths and pressed. The oil is afterwards heated 
with water in a tin boiler until the water 
boils. This serves to separate the mucilage and 
albumen, the product being then strained through 
flannel and put into canisters. Any oil-press 
would suffice for extracting oil for ordinary 
purposes, and by decantation and some process 
of filtration it could be purified. Cheap wooden 
rollers would serve the purpose, and these 
could be driven by a horse-gear, after the 
fashion of driving the old horse-mills for 
crushing sugar-cane. 
"We should very much like to see Castor oil 
cultivation given a fair trial on a few acres 
of land that are found unsuitable for the 
regular crops of the country, so as to prove 
the value of the produse, both oil and 
poonac, per acre. 
Bulrush Millet, Curaboo or spiked millet, nnd 
in many parts of India as Bajri or Bajra. In 
the Bombay Presidency the area occupied by 
it is considerably over 4 million acres, and 
in many parts forms the staile food of the 
people. In the Madras Presidency the area 
under Kambu (as it is there called) is nearly 
2^ million acres. In the North-Western Provinces 
nnd other parts of the Indian Peninsula it is 
also grown to a large extent. 
The following are the uses of the plant as 
enumerated by Dr. Watt, Eeporter on Economic 
Products to the Government of India : — 
Food.—Tho grain is chiefly used by the 
lower classes, and in many parts of India it 
is their principal food. It is, supposed to be 
heating, and is, therefore, in Northern India 
consumed mostly in the cold weather. The 
flour, made into bread or cakes with butter 
milk is the staple food of many, nnd is more 
nutritious than rice. In Khandesh it is often 
eaten with butter and various condiments 
by the well-to-do. The following is the com- 
pDsition of a sample of the unhusked grain 
according to an analysis made by Professor 
Church: — 
Water 
Albuminoids 
Starch 
Oil , 
Fibre 
Ash 
... 11-3 o/^ 
... 10-4 „ 
71-5 „ 
... 3-3 
... 1'5 „ 
... 2-0 
THE BULRUSH MILLET. 
Pennisetum Typhoideum, as the plant is 
fi^ntiflcally uamed, is also knowo as tlie 
The nutrient ratio being 1: 7-6 and ih^ 
nutrient value 89i. The grain contains '42 
per cent of potash and '68 per cent of nhos* 
phoric acid. 
Fodder.— U is occasionally grown for ereen 
fodder, but the stalks, after the grain boa 
ripened, are more or less utilized as fodder in 
various parts of India. Sometimes the straw 
13 carefully stacked and preserved to be choDced 
up and given to cattle with green fodder. 
In an interesting report on South Indian 
Fodders, wr.h analyses bv Dr. Van Gevzel 
M B CM F C.S., F.I.C., Chemical E.varainV, 
JIadras, the following is given as the compo- 
sition of Cumboo straw : Moisture. 7 ()7 • A=h 
^':T' '^"^'v ^f' 1-^*' CarbohVdrates. 
43-65: A buminoids 194; Nitrogen in nonl 
Albuminoid compounds, -33; Albuminoid ratio. 
,u • . nitrogen found in the uon- 
albuminoid compounds be calculated in the 
usual way as albuminoids and the nutritive 
relation worked out, the result shows that 
Cumboo contains 4-02 albuminoids and its albumin- 
oid ratio will be 1-21. In Trimen's Flora 
we read that Cumboo is cultivated in the 
hot region. He describes it as a widely culti- 
vated millet in the old world from Italy to 
China, especially in Africa, and records 
the interesting fact that the grain, like Canary 
seed, was used for feeding the carrier pitreona 
which were employed before the introduction 
of the telegraph in carrying news from Galla 
to Colombo, ! 
