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OniGmAL AND EXTRACTED ARTICLES. 
NOTE ON THE CULTIVATION AND PREPAIIATION OP 
CASTOK OIL IN ITALY. 
BY H. GEOVES, FLOEENCE. 
T\to species, or more probably varieties, of Hicimis^ are found growing 
spontaneously in the kingdom of Italy,— JR. communis and JR. africamis, the 
distinction being chiefly in the stigmata, of wdiicb the former has three deeply- 
forked, and the latter six. 
I have not been able to learn at what epoch these plants were introduced, 
but it would seem probable, from the early use of castor oil, that they have 
figured amongst Italian, or at least Sicilian plants, from a remote period, 
choosing their liabitat in the moist thickets that abound near the southern 
coasts. 
The cultivation of castor-oil plants for the purpose of commerce, and es¬ 
pecially for export trade, has a comparatively recent date, and the introduc¬ 
tion of one of the most esteemed varieties dates back but twelve years. 
Although the cultivation is carried on in nearly every province in the king¬ 
dom of Italy, as well as the Papal States, it is chiefly from the province of 
Verona that we draw our supplies both of seed and oil. There are other 
large manufactories at Leghorn, Genoa, etc., but both there as in the Veronese 
territory it is frequently found necessary to purchase foreign seed to make up 
for the scarcity of the native supply, which is regulated in great measure by 
the value of maize and sagina—plants preferring the same soil as that re¬ 
quired by the Ricinus. 
The two principal varieties cultivated south of Verona are the black-seeded, 
or Egyptian, and the red-seeded, or American. The latter yields a greater 
percentage of oil than the former, but the oil is not so pale in colour. The 
Egyptian variety differs also in requiring a rich soil, whereas the American 
plant prefers a clry soil with plenty of sun. 
Speaking generally, the land best adapted for the cultivation of the castor- 
oil plant should not be too argillaceous, but friable, and well exposed to the 
sun. In November the ground is ploughed up and allowed to remain all the 
winter exposed to the frosts and north winds, which are frequently severe. 
By this means the soil is well broken up, and in the spring a series of deep 
furrows are made about 5 feet apart for rich soils', or 4 feet for ground of a 
less fertile nature. In these furrows are deposited beds of stable manure, 
which are lightly covered up by means of a plough. In May, or before, ac¬ 
cording to the precocity of the season, the soil in the furrow is well mixed, 
and the couch grass and other weeds having been uprooted, planting is com¬ 
menced. The seed, which is carefully selected, is held in the aprons wmrn by 
the women, who take up three or four grains between the thumb and two 
fingers, and thrust them into the middle of the furrow, dexterously earth¬ 
ing up the hole in the withdrawal of the fingers. The distance between 
the plants should be about feet. After fifteen or twenty days the 
young plants will have sprung up to a height of about 2 inches, and the 
women again visit the fields for the purpose of selecting the strongest plants 
in each bunch, destroying the others and earthing up the chosen one. After 
another fifteen days, the plants having attained a height of about 8 inches, a 
plough usually drawn by two oxen is passed between them, to turn more soil 
into the furrows, and the women following earth up the plants, leaving only 
the leaves uncovered. Later, the “ incalzation” as it is called, is repeated 
