2^8 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUKIST. [Oct. 1. 1899. 
have had various translations from the German, and 
we have had endless articles in our own columns and 
those of our comtemporaries, but Mr. lilassee is tiie 
first to give us in anything like a complete form, a 
combination of these scattered records into a system- 
atic whole. This will be invaluable as a book of refer- 
ence. Our gratitude to the author is proportionate. 
— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
THE OIL TRADE OF SOUTHERN INDIA. 
The Oil Trade of Southern India, which in 1897-98 
WJ.a represented by an export of 40,804,81 gallons, 
valued "at 58,699,30 rupees, and accounted for an area 
of 1,646,628 acres of cultivation, is one of those 
branches of industry which possesses the remarkable 
characteristic of never, under any circumstances, 
suffering from under-production. The supply at all 
times is equal to the demand. Domestic consump- 
tion is largely in excess of export, but can never be 
exactly ascertainea, as much of the oil used is ob- 
tained from trees and shrubs growing in a wild state, 
and manufactured by the poorer classes. Among 
plants regularly cultivated for oil are the coconut, 
the giugely, two| species of the racinus from which 
lamp and castor oil are made, and linseed-coconut 
oil is exported from the Western Coast and from 
Ganjam, Eajamundry and Tanjore on the Eastern 
Coast. It is extracted from the dry kernels of the 
nut by expression in the ordinary native oil mills. 
AVhen made with care, the oil is colourless and 
solid at a low temperature, but very liable to be- 
come ranciil by keeping. For edible purposes it is 
made from the fresh kernels, which are rasped, and 
the milk, being squeezed out, is boiled with a 
little water. The Cochin coconut oil is reputed the 
best, and is exported in large quantities to the 
United Kingdom and to France, where it commands 
good prices, and is used for the manufactuie of 
candles and soap. Coconut oil soap is lighter 
than water and is the basis of the floating soaps 
of the perfumers. Inferior soaps made from coco- 
nut oil are liable to melt away if exposed to damp, 
and if allowed to dry will shrink. For these reasons, 
and to prevent loss, only small quantities of the 
article are made at a time. The method of manu- 
facture in the coast is exceedingly simple. Two cis- 
terns are built one above another ; the upper filled 
two-thirds full with the compounds above specified 
and tightly pressed down;, water being poured on 
the lye filters through and is received in the lower 
reservoir. About two-thirds or so of this lye is 
stirred with oil and allowed to stand for three days 
■with occasional subsequent stirrings. The solution 
ia then removed and boiled in a copper cauldron 
until the soap separates. Pure water is poured on 
the mass and stirred to clarify it, and the soap is 
then moulded and cut into bars, when it is ready 
for s'>le. Coconut oil is to the inhabitants of 
the Western Coast what glii is to the Hindu else- 
h ve Property in the coconut tree is considered a 
round' and profitable investment, as each tree is 
calculated to yield 2^ gallons oil per annum, and 
tha refuse after the oil la extracted finds a ready 
Rftle as cattle-food or as manure— to say nothing of 
the coir and thatching that form bye products of 
the nalm Before the introduction of kerosine oil, 
poconut oil was a very popular illuminaut. It still 
priiovs a great deal of favour in this respect, as it 
gives a bright light, and there is no risk whatever 
^"Amons^the poorer classes Gingely Oil is much 
riRPd for domestic cookery, sometimes by itself, but 
more frequently as an adulterant of glii. Care is 
npressarv in the preparation of the oil, which be- 
comes discoloured by the matter from the epidermis 
before expression, but it is doubtful whether this 
is done exclusively to improve the oil, for it also 
confers an increased value on the oil cake as a 
cattle-food, The manufacture of the oil is primitive, 
and the mills used in the present day are the same 
as were employed for the purpose thousands of years 
ago. By throwing in the seed without any prelimi- 
nary cleaning the oil becomes discoloured and de- 
preciated, but it can be make very clear, when high 
prices are obtained. This clear oil is the yield of 
a white seed, which however is not so profitable as 
the black seed or Sesatnuni oiientale of commerce. 
The price of the oil varies according to the district, 
but a uniform rate is obtained in Europe, where it 
is imported for the laanufactute of soap. 
Two oils are extracted from the liacinus com- 
Munix: one known as castor oil, and the other 
the real lamp oil of the country, racinus communis 
wiiwriliis is a small-seeded variety, that after being 
sifted and cleaned is slightly crnsbed between two 
rollers ; then fjeed from basks and colonrsd grains 
and enclosed in squares of clean gunny or canvas. 
These squares are put into a mould to give them 
uniformity, when they are known as bricks. The 
bricks are thi n arranged alternately in a screw or 
hydraulic press with sheets of iron, and pressed 
till the oil exudes through the pores of the gnnny, 
and is received into clean tins. After boiling the 
oil ia filtered through blankets, and forms the castor 
oil of commerce. Much less care is exercised in 
pressing the larger-seeded variety of the Kacinua 
and the seed is partially roasted before passing 
through the mill — both imparting the dark and even 
dirty red colour which this oil has when sold in 
the bazaars. As much as 50 per cent in weight of 
oil can be obtained from the seeds, and the price 
of the oil is always maintained. The ground or 
Manila nut is largely grown in Madras more parti- 
cularly in North and South Arcot and in Nellore 
and Tanjoie. The cleaned seeds yield by cold pressure 
43 per cent by weight of a clear, straw-coloured, 
edible oil possessing all the qualities and character- 
istics looked for in imported salad oil — which often 
is nothing more than Indian ground nut oil clarified 
and reimported from Europe. This oil is seldom 
used by the natives, but they eat the nut after 
being slightly roasted over a charcoal fire. From 
the trade statistics it appears that 19,631 acres of 
ground in Madras grows linseed, and that the crop 
is raised principally in the northern districts. It is 
not, however, easy to arrive at the actual acreage 
of linseed because it is sown in furrows on the 
borders of fields, and so escapes calculation. The 
introduction of linseed into the Punjab, and especially 
into fcind, is credited to a military settler on the 
Nilgiris, Generil Wormald, before his retirement. 
He appears to have tried it at Jamadar-ka-Sandee, 
and the experiment is said to have been thoroughly 
satisfactory from the commencement, the yield being 
tenfold. The above are the staple oils of the Pre- 
sidency, but the list might be easily multiplied by 
local products of which no account is taken, such 
as poppy oil, the oil of the neem tree, cotton seed 
oil, the oils of various woods, and fish oils. Few 
of us in fact remember what a great part oil playa 
in the economy of the country. — Fionter. 
of the seed which should first be repeatedly washed 
in cold water or partially boiled iu water to re- 
rr ove the reddish-brown colour before passing it 
through the mill. In the northern diatricta of the 
Jftfsileocy, the babool gum. a<ilcled to the seed 
New Source of Gutta-percha.— M. Joufiroy 
d' Albans, the French Consul at Sinj^apore, AViites 
to the Courricr de Saigon, regarding an invention 
made by a Frenchman in the Straits to extract 
guttapercha, principally from the leaves of Isonati' 
dra Hookeria. The leaves, dried, are sent to 
Belgium and l ranee for the extraction of the gutta. 
This trade in dry guttapercha leaves has consider- 
ably increased at Singapore and Penang. The 
gutta thus produced is said to be of such high 
quality that the Eastern Extension Cable Com- 
pany has contracted with the inventor for a supply 
of it. 
