IN  ILLINOIS  AND  ST.  LOUIS. 
101 
producing  as  much  as  400,000  gallons  of  oil.  It  is  said  that  one 
of  these  presses  worked  on  castor  oil,  in  connection  with  others 
on  linseed  oil,  furnishes  sufficient  combustible  refuse  from  the 
castor  bean  to  supply  fuel  for  the  works ;  and  in  this  way  the 
fuel  from  the  bean  is  of  sufficient  value  to  pay  all  the  expenses 
of  manufacturing  the  oil.  The  amount  saved  in  Latourette's 
establishment,  by  burning  the  above  refuse,  when  in  full  opera- 
tion, is  about  fifty  dollars  per  week. 
After  the  oil  is  pressed  from  the  beans  it  is  'clarified  by  boil- 
ing in  large  kettles  with  a  small  portion  of  water,  and  when 
perfectly  clear  is  allowed  to  cool,  and  is  then  drawn  off  into  bar- 
rels ready  for  market.  During  the  months  of  July,  August, 
and  September  1854,  there  were  manufactured  thirty-two  thou- 
sand gallons  of  castor  oil  at  this  establishment  alone." 
Mr.  Chamberlain  obtained  the  following  statistical  view  of  the 
castor  oil  production  from  another  establishment  which  shows 
that  the  manufacture  of  the  oil,  which  in  1850  was  largely  car- 
ried  on  in  Illinois, 
is  now 
mostly  effected  in  the 
city  of  St 
Louis. 
Year.       Crop  in  bushels. 
Factories  in 
Factories  in 
Barrels  of  oil 
Equivalent  in 
Illinois. 
St  Louis. 
made. 
gallons. 
1350  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  65,000 
o 
O 
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  drouth 
that  prevailed  during  the  past  summer  over  that  part  of  the 
country.  The  number  of  mills  in  operation  in  1854  was  but  five, 
and  they  only  employed  part  of  the  time. 
The  above  statements  exhibit  a  gradual  decline  in  the  amount 
of  oil  produced  which  arises  partially  from  the  deceased  crops, 
and  partly,  probably,  from  a  limitation  in  the  demand.  The  price 
of  oil  in  1852  and  3  was  as  low  as  60  to  80  cents  per  gallon,  and 
is  at  present  up  to  $1.25,  if  not  higher,  by  the  barrel,  which, 
with  the  short  crop  of  the  past  year,  will  probably  raise  yet 
higher,  so  as  to  prove  an  inducement  to  the  farmers  to  again 
turn  their  attention  to  raising  the  beans.  We  saw  it  stated  in 
the  newspapers  that  castor  oil  had  been  used  on  one  of  the  west- 
