624 
The  Castor -Oil  Bean. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    December,  1895. 
A  FEW  REMARKS  CONCERNING  THE  CASTOR-OIL 
BEAN.— RICINUS  COMMUNIS,  LINN. 
By  D.  F.  Davenport. 
Read  before  the  Meeting  of  the  Georgia  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
Savannah,  1895. 
Gentlemen  of  the  Georgia  Pharmaceutical  Association : — You  have 
made  a  request  of  me  to  write  a  treatise  on  a  subject  which  very- 
few  of  us  this  far  South  and  East  know  much  about.  The  experi- 
ments which  have  been  made  in  my  locality  have  been  made  at  my 
expense,  and  the  "  returns,"  on  account  of  the  cold,  and  of  imper- 
fect knowledge  of  their  culture,  has  resulted  rather  disastrously. 
Still  there  are  many  reasons  to  believe  that  South  Georgia,  and 
especially  Sumter  County,  is  admirably  adapted  to  this  "  bean." 
The  experiments  began  by  loaning  out  seed  to  the,  farmers  in 
various  localities  in  small  lots,  and  giving  a  guarantee  of  a  price 
per  bushel  delivered  in  any  quantity  at  Americus,  after  September 
1,  1894.  Only  one  farmer  made  a  return  of  the  seed,  and  one 
other  was  so  delighted  with  the  enterprise  that  he  made  his  own 
shipments  to  the  Northern  market,  and  this  year  he  has  a  consider- 
able acreage  in  their  culture.  With  the  others  the  continued  frosts 
killed  the  young  plants,  and  very  few  came  to  maturity. 
Sufficient  to  say,  however,  the  plant  assumes  an  enormous  size, 
and  yields  abundantly  in  this  soil  and  climate.  As  to  the  character 
of  the  seed  :  one  large  crusher  said  that  the  specimen  sent  from 
Sumter  County  was  the  finest  he  ever  saw,  and  that  if  we  could 
grow  beans  like  the  sample  sent  he  would  give  a  contract  for  several 
thousand  bushels. 
Just  at  this  time,  however,  the  "  Wilson  Bill"  took  50  cents 
duty  off  of  castor  beans  per  bushel,  and  the  West  Indies  up  to  date 
has  "  out-classed  "  our  section. 
From  meagre  observations,  however,  I  am  sure  that,  if  sufficiently 
understood  and  extensively  cultivated,  we  have  the  advantage  of 
that  now  rebellious  district,  even  as  it  is. 
One  thing  we  must  understand  thoroughly,  and  that  is  their 
cultivation.  All  depends  upon  the  knowledge  of  it.  A  few  facts 
are  given,  gathered  from  the  St.  Louis  market,  which  will  be  of 
great  benefit  to  those  who  expect  to  engage  in  the  enterprise  in  this 
locality. 
