366 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturists 
[Nov.  2,  1896. 
this  material  in  the  form  of  definite  granular 
^gg^sgfl'tions,  which  botanists  have  called  aleuroriQ 
r/rains.  If  we  take  for  instance  the  pea  or 
bean,  we  see  that  the  cells  contain  embedded 
in  their  protoplasm  structural  elements  of  two 
sizes.  The  larger  shows  tlie  curious  concentric 
marking  peculiar  to  starch,  the  smaller  show 
no  structure.  Instead  of  turning  blue  when 
treated  with  iodine,  they  become  brown  or 
brownish-yellow.  These  small  grains  are  the 
aleurone  grains,  and  are  made  of  proteid.  This 
substance  i-;  not  all  uinform  in  its  properties, 
indeed,  we  are  familar  with  many  k.inds  of 
proteids,  which  differ  very  considerably  with 
regard  to  the  fluids  in  which  they  will  dis- 
solve. Those  proteids  which  most  readily  occur 
to  our  memory  are  the  albiumin  or  white  of 
egg,  the  globulin  of  muscle,  the  fibrin  of  blood 
and  so  on.  Though  the  vegetable  proteids  are 
not  met  with  in  the  same  condition  exactly  as 
the  animal  ones  they  are  nevertheless  very  mnch 
like  them  in  their  composition.  The  aleurone 
grains  of  the  pea  have  very  striking  similarities 
with  the  globulin  found  in  muscle.  A good 
deal  of  the  substance  is  soluble,  like  that,  in 
a ten  per  cent,  solution  of  common  salt,  and 
salt  added  to  saturation  to  such  a solution  of 
the  protied  precipitates  it  in  the  form  of  an 
amorphous  mass.  Parts  of  some  aleurone  grains 
are  soluble  in  water,  and  resemble  some  of  the 
soluble  proteid,  of  an  animal  digestion.  The 
albumin  of  white  of  egg  is  very  much  like  a 
proteid  which  is  found  on  the  undergrnond 
parts  of  the  asparagus,  which  must  be  accor- 
dingly called  a vegetable  albumin. 
If  we  wish  to  study  the  deposition  of  pro- 
teids  in  these  vegetable  reservoirs,  we  turn  to 
the  seeds  rather  than  to  other  parts  of  the 
plant.  In  seeds  they  are  very  common.  The 
pea  and  bean  have  been  alluded  to  ; here  they 
occur  in  conjunction  with  starch.  Other  seeds, 
such  as  the  rape  and  the  linseed,  show  them 
associated  with  oil.  In  some  seeds  they  are 
distributed  thi'ough  the  whole  substance  of  the 
embryo  ; in  others  they  fill  the  endosperm  ; in 
the  wheat  and  barley  they  occupy  a single 
layer  of  cells  just  underneath  the  outer  cover- 
ing. 
In  most  of  the  seeds  produced  by  our  culti- 
vated plants,  the  aleurone  grains  are  very  simple 
in  structure;  indeed  they  show  no  structure, 
being  little  rounded  masses  of  granular-looking 
material.  In  some  foreign  seeds,  particularly 
the  seeds  of  the  castor  oil  and  the  Brazil  nut, 
they  are  much  more  complicated.  In  our  own 
flax  we  have  similar  ones.  Various  solvents 
need  to  be  used  to  show  the  structure,  which 
consists  of  the  following  parts.  There  is  an 
oval  casing  or  matrix,  part  of  which  dissolves 
in  water,  and  the  rest  in  10  per  cent  solution 
of  common  salt.  Embedded  in  it  is  a large 
regular  crystal  of  proteid  matter,  which  will 
only  dissolve  in  a saturated  solution  of  salt 
This  is  known  as  the  crystalloid.  Between  this 
and  the  outside  of  the  grain  is  a rounded 
irregular  mass  of  small  crystals  of  the  double 
phosphate  of  magnesium  and  calcuim,  which 
is  known  as  the  globoid.  This  of  course  is  not 
proteid  though  it  is  always  embedded  in  the 
grain. 
RAPE. 
A correspondent  to  the  Ceylon  Observer,"  has 
made  some  enquiries  about  the  cultivation  of 
rape. 
In  England  two  forms  of  rape  are  distin- 
guished (1)  Winter  rape  (Coleseed)  Brassica  napus, 
and  Summer  rape  (Colza)  B.  Campestris.  The 
latter  matures  faster,  though  they  are  both 
biennial  crops.  Rape  may  be  said  to  grow  on 
all  soils  but  best  on  clay  fen  or  alluvial  soils : 
peaty  laud  suits  it  very  well.  The  summer  rape, 
however,  likes  a heavy  clay  best.  The  crop  grows 
very  rapidly  and  is  ready  for  eating  off  as  fodder 
in  12  to  14  weeks.  The  seed  is  best  drilled  12 
to  1.5  in  apart,  4 to  6 lb.  being  required  for  one 
acre.  It  is  said  that  there  is  no  cron  on  which 
sheep  feed  faster  and  do  better  than 'rape.  The 
leaves  are  rather  liable  to  attack  by  fly,  and 
a remedy  against  this  is  dusting  over  with  lime, 
ashes,  soot  or  salt.  The  seed  crop  yields  from  24 
to  36  bushels  per  acre.  Rape  seed  contains  35  to 
4J  % of  oil.  The  residue  or  cake  is  good  for  feed- 
ing though  much  inferior  to  linseed  cake.  In  spite 
of  it  being  ratlur  bitter  to  the  taste,  stock  do  not 
dislike  it.  When  mustard  seed  is  found  along 
with  rape  the  cake  is  only  fit  for  manure  for  which 
it  is  valuable  as  containing  nitrogen  in  a slowly 
available  condition.  Mustard  seed  commonly 
occurs  with  India  rape  seed  which  is  therefore  quite 
unsuitable  for  feeding  purposes.  To  detect  the 
presence  of  mustard  in  rape  mi.x  the  cake  with 
cold  water  and  leave  in  a covered  vessel : a 
characteristic  smell  is  soon  perceived.  Gene- 
rally rape  is  first  fed  and  then  allowed  to 
seed.  On  the  continent  it  is  commongly  grown 
for  green  manuring  or  ploughing  its  herbage  into 
the  soil.  Rape  oil  is  extensively  used  for 
machinery,  lamps  &c.,  but  the  oil  and  cake  so  called 
are  not  e.xclusively  obtained  from  this  oil  nor  are 
the  name  Colza  oil  and  rape  oil  used  to  distin- 
guish the  produce  of  different  plants.  The  seeds 
of  other  cruciferous  plants  are  also  crushed  with 
rape  and  Colza.  In  particularly  rich  soils 
rape  sometimes  grows  to  a height  of  3 or  4 
feet. 
In  the  “ characteristics  and  composition  of  feed- 
ing stuffs  ” given  in  the  H.  and  A.  Society’s  Jour- 
nal we  read  of  Rape  seed  (seed  of  Brassica 
napus  and  campestris}: 
“It  has  a greenish  mottled  apearance  and 
a bitter  taste  which  renders  it  distasteful  to 
cattle  at  first.  Should  be  given  in  small 
quantities  to  begin  with.  Not  suited  for  calves. 
When  given  to  milch  cows  the  quantity  should 
not  exceed  2 or  3 lb.  per  head  per  day,  or  it  will 
give  a disagreeable  taste  to  milk  and  butter.  Some- 
times very  impure.  A dangerous  impurity  is 
mustard  seed.  May  be  detected  by  steeping  in 
cold  water  for  some  hours  and  noting  smell  of 
mustard.  Danger  may  be  avoided  by  stoepimr 
tlie  ground  Cake  in  boiling  water."  ” 
The  average  composition  of  pure  rape  cake 
is  given  as ‘-albuminoids  31,  oil  10,  and  carbo- 
hydrates 30  per  cent.  ” Rape  is  a good  deal  culti- 
rated  in  India.  In  our  next  we  shall  refer  to 
the  special  features  of  rape  cultivation  in 
India, 
