Am'Mayr'  ?9hia7rm'  ^     Cultivation  of  Castor  Oil  Plant.  219 
that  there  is  no  longer  any  attention  given  to  the  cultivation  of  castor 
oil  bean  as  an  industry.  The  Journal  quoted  from  has  the  follow- 
ing which  I  prefer  to  make  part  of  this  paper  as  a  pleasant  memory 
of  our  departed  friend : 
"  Southern  Illinois  is  the  source  from  whence  all  the  beans  are  brought 
that  are  sold  or  manufactured  in  St.  Louis.  The  ground  is  prepared  as  for 
other  crops,  and  when  there  is  no  longer  any  danger  from  the  spring  frosts, 
the  seeds  are  planted  in  hills  and  rows,  much  in  the  manner  of  planting  Indian 
corn,  with  the  exception  that  there  is  but  one  seed  put  into  each  hill,  and  that 
at  every  fourth  row  a  space  is  left  sufficiently  wide  to  admit  of  the  passage  of 
a  team  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  the  crop.  Unlike  the  cereal  grains  the 
ricinus  bears  at  the  same  time  flowers  and  fruit,  and  the  severity  of  our  cli- 
mate, which  renders  it  in  this  latitude  an  annual  plant,  destroys  its  vitality 
whilst  yet  decked  with  bloom.  The  ripening  commences  in  August,  and  the 
crop  is  gathered  at  intervals  from  this  date  till  the  plants  are  destroyed  by 
the  frost. 
"The  yield,  of  course,  varies  with  the  quality  of  the  soil,  and  the  care  of 
the  culture.  Twenty-five  bushels  from  an  acre  of  ground  is  considered  a  very 
large  crop,  and  is  but  seldom  obtained.  From  sixteen  to  twenty  bushels  per 
acre  is  a  very  fair  yield  in  a  season  not  marked  by  drought  or  other  unfavor- 
able feature. 
Year. 
Crop 
in  bushels. 
Factories 
in  Illinois. 
Factories 
in  St.  Louis. 
Barrels 
of  oil  made. 
Equivalent 
in  gallons. 
1850   
250,000 
18 
2 
9,900 
350,000 
1851  
160,000 
7 
2 
7,000 
255,000 
1852  
90,000 
5 
2 
"5-500 
192,500 
1853   
65.OOO 
3 
3 
4,200 
147,000 
"The  estimated  crop  of  beans  for  1854  is  but  10,000  bushels,  being  almost 
a  total  failure,  arising  from  the  excessive  drought  that  prevailed  during  the 
past  summer  over  that  part  of  the  country.  The  number  of  mills  in  opera- 
tion in  1854  was  but  five,  and  they  only  employed  part  of  the  time." 
As  indicated,  I  planted  the  bean  of  Ricinus  sanguineus — I  knew 
no  other  variety  at  that  time.  There  are  other  varieties,  and  I  have 
obtained  and  planted  this  year  Ricinus  Gibsonii,  Ricinus  macro- 
carpus  and  Ricinus  philippinensis.  The  mature  plant  in  my  yard 
attained  the  height  of  about  fifteen  feet.  The  foot  stalk  of  one  of 
the  plants,  as  well  as  some  specimens  of  the  fruit,  are  herewith 
exhibited. 
Through  correspondence  with  one  of  the  largest  seed  crushers 
and  oil  producing  firms  in  this  country,  much  valuable  information 
was  obtained,  and  the  following  excerpts  from  several  letters  will,  I 
feel  sure,  interest  you : 
