58  CULTIVATION  AND  PREPARATION  OF  CASTOR  OIL  IN  ITALY. 
of  castor  oil,  that  they  have  figured  amongst  Italian,  or  at  least 
Sicilian  plants,  from  a  remote  period,  choosing  their  habitat  in 
the  moist  thickets  that  abound  near  the  southern  coasts. 
The  cultivation  of  castor  oil  plants  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
merce, and  especially  for  export  trade,  has  a  comparatively 
recent' date,  and  the  introduction  of  one  of  the  most  esteemed 
varieties  dates  back  but  twelve  years. 
Although  the  cultivation  is  carried  on  in  nearly  every  province 
in  the  kingdom  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  and  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  required  by  the  Micinus. 
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  color.  The  Egyptian  variety  differs 
also  in  requiring  a  rich  soil,  whereas  the  American  plant  prefers 
a  dry  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  five  feet  apart  for  rich  soils,  or 
four  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,  according  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  commenced.  The  seed,  which  is  carefully  selected,  is  held  in 
the  aprons  worn  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  earthing  up  the  hole  in  the 
