496 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Noy., 1901. 
Bancroft and the writer carried outa series of experiments in this direction 
about fifteen years ago, and the results were most satisfactory. There are 
several varieties of this plant, which have recently been brought into notice, 
that are reputed to be much more prolific as seed bearers than the common 
one frequently found in vacant allotments, and in habit of growth are more 
dwarfed. 
Rapr.—This crop is about as easily grown as a crop of turnips, and the 
seed yields a useful oil. 
Peanut (Earthnut).—This plant will grow in almost any part of the 
State, and although some difficulty is experienced in harvesting the nuts, this 
will no doubt be overcome by the aid of mechanical means. Thousands of tons 
of these nuts are annually exported from Northern Africa for treatment by 
the English, French, and German oil-millers. There are other oil seeds, such 
as hemp, gingilly, &c., all of which can be produced. in Queensland, while 
the tropical North may some day produce cocoanuts in large quantity and other 
tropical oil-yielding seeds less in importance, but furnishing useful and valuable 
oils. 
Although Nature has been bountiful in supplying every condition for the 
successful cultivation of oil plants in this State, yet those who would venture 
to embark in the production of oil seeds have to face the fact that the market 
is too far distant to leave a margin of profit after deducting the freight and 
dues. The only remedy, therefore, is to endeavour to bring the market nearer, 
and this can only be done by bringing the oil-miller alongside the raw material. 
The actual outlay in erecting an up-to-date oil-mill is not large, as will be seen 
by the following table. The prices given are, of course, liable to a slight 
variation, but in round figures they approximately land near the mark. Freight 
to be added :— 
Linseed— Cotton— | Rape Seed— Castor— Cocoanut— 
Cwt. per Day. CWt. per Day. | Cwt. per Day. Cwt. per Day. Cwt. per Day. Cost. 
| re. 
No. 1 Mill. 
£ 
30to 40 | 35to 45 | 220to 40 | B0to 45 | 2to 40 | 750 
No, 2 Mill. 
40to 60 | G0to 70 | 35to0 50 | 40to 70 |  30to 50 | 1,050 
No. 3 Mill. 
100 to130 =| 110to140 | 70to100 | 100to150 | 70to120 | 2,400 
No. 4 Mill. 
150 to 200 | 150 to 180 | 150 to180 | 160 to 200 | 100to150 | 3,000 ; 
The No. 4 mill will consist of the following parts :— 
4 Hydraulic Presses 1 Sack Lift 
1 Set Hydraulic Pumps 1 Oil-pump and Cistern 
1 10-inch Gauge, with all Pipes. 1 Seed Screen { 
1 Set Steel Rolls All Gearing, including Columns, Girders, 
1 Seed Kettle and Piping 
1 Moulding Machine Oil Cisterns, 50 tons capacity, with Taps, 
1 Paring Machine Pipes, &e. 
1 Set Edge Stones 1 Horizontal Engine, 14-inch Cylinder, 
1 Set Elevators : 24-inch Stroke, with Suitable Boiler 
1 Screw Gear and Mountings 
The whole weighing about 93 tons. 
The foregoing has been penned, not with any view of inducing the farmer 
to embark in an oil-mill of his own, as the cost of same is beyond his reach, 
neither to venture to run an oil-mill on his own account, as skilled labour is 
needed to make oil, but merely to show that there is at least one industry 
affecting his interests that has not yet been undertaken. It may also be the 
means of inducing men with the necessary capital to take the matter in hand, 
and thus find another string for the farmer's bow. 
