75
3,429. Rape seed. Kangra.
397. Radish seed (Raphanus sativas). Chaloo Hin-
doo of Boobuc, Sind.
CASTOR OIL SEED.
Ricinus communis.
The castor-oil plant is extensively oultivated all
over India. It is sown in June by almost all the
villages, not extensively, but principally for their own
use. Its cultivation can be extended all over Oude.
The oil is extraoted by bruising the seed and then
boiling it in water; the oil is afterwards skimmed off.
This is the only seed out of which the oil is ex-
tracted by boiling, as in this case it is found cheaper
than the method used for other seeds, whieh is by
pressure.
The cost of the seed is one rupee per maund, and
the price ef the oil is from 2 to 5 seers per rupee,
according to the abundance of the crop in the season.
The proportion of the oil yielded is about half the
weight of the seeds boiled; it is only used for
burning.
In Cuttaek, the plant is grown all over the pro-
vince, a good deal in patches of newly oleared land
in the .jungles of the Tributary States and. Sumbul-
pore. the oil is extraoted in two ways. It is used for
burning and culinary purposes, and medicinally also.
The local market is now 11! peculs of the seeds per
rupee. Both the native methods of extracting oil
are wasteful and tedious, and therefore expensive.
European oil presses and a knowledge of some
methods of clarifying the expressed oil seem only to
be required to render the oil seed crops of this ex
tensive division of great value.
The large seeds, Ricinus communis major, are em-
ployed for lamp oil, and the small seeds of the variety
Ricinus communis minor yield the medicinal castor oil.
1.506. Ricinus communis major. Dr. G. Bidie.
Madras.
1.507. Ricinus communis minor. Dr. G. Bidie.
Madras.
3,623. Castor oil seed. Oude.
979. Castor oil seed. Nagpur.
5,959, 5,962. Castor oil seed. Baroda.
6,053. Castor oil seed. Dharwar.
6,131. Castor oil seed. Ahmednugger.
6,266. Castor oil seed. Khandeish.
2.778. Ricinus communis minor. India Museum,
London. ,
2.779. Ricinus communis major. India Museum,
London.
POPPY SEED.
Papaver somniferum.
The seeds yield by expression about 50 per cent.
of a bland and very valuable oil, of a pale golden
colour, fluid to within 10° of the freezing point of
water. It dries easily, is inodorous, of agreeable
flavour, and partially soluble in alcohol. The seed
is worth about 61s. in the English market, By
simple exposure to the rays of the sun in shallow
vessels the oil is rendered perfectly colourless. It is
expressed by means of a heavy circular stone, placed
on its edge, made to revolve by a long lever, and the
apparatus is worked by draught bullocks.
The seed has no narcotic qualities, but has a sweet
taste, and is used, parched, by the lower dass of
natives as a food; it is also much used by the sweet-
meat-makers as an addition in their wares. This
and the seed of the Teel (Sesamum orientale) are the
only seeds, with the exception of the cocoanut, which
are used for that purpose.
1,509. Poppy seed. Dr. G. Bidie. Madras.
8,823. Poppy seed. Shahabad.
817. Poppy seed. Berar.
852. Poppy seed. Indore.
3,570, 3,572. Poppy seed. Oude.
980. Poppy seed. Nagpur.
5,952, 5,978. Poppy seed. Baroda.
6,094. Poppy seed. Aden.
6,268. Poopy seed. Khandeish.
2,774. Poppy seed. India Museum, London.
SAFFLOWER.
Carthamus tinctorlus.
These seeds yield by expression an oil which when
properly prepared and refined is transparent and of
a light yellow colour. It is used in India for culinary
and other purposes. This oil deserves more atten
tion than it has hitherto received in this country ;
and if once once fairly introduced, there is no doubt
whatever of its becoming a staple import. It is used
in some of the Government workshops as a “ drying
oil.” It is believed to constitute the bulk of the
celebrated “ Macassar oil.” The seed is exported
under the name of Curdee or safflower seed. In
Oude it is sown in October, either alone or along
the edge of wheat crops ; both light and heavy soils
are adapted to it. It is cultivated in every village,
but not extensively. There would be no difficulty
in farther cultivating it to any extent. The cost of
the seed, which is called “ Barre,” is 18f seers per
rupee, and the cost of the oil is from 3 to 4 seers per
rupee.
3,627. Safflower seed. Oude.
985. Safflower seed. Nagpur.
6,050. Safflower seed. Dharwar.
6,281, 6,135. Safflower seed. Ahmednugger.
2,721. Safflower seed. India Museum, London.
RAMTIL.
Guizotia oleifera.
These seeds of a composite plant arc much
esteemed as an oil seed, and, as such, enter into
European commerce. The plant is commonly culti
vated in Mysore and the Deccan. The oil is sweet
tasted, and is used for the same purposes as Gingelly
oil.
853. Ramtil. Indore.
2,749. Ramtil. India Museum, London.
TEEL OR GINGELLY SEED.
Sesamum Indicum.
Three varieties of sesame seed are cultivated in
India—the white seeded (Suffed-til), the red or
parti-coloured (Kala-til), and the black variety
(Tillee); it is the latter which affords the greater
proportion of the gingelly oil of commerce. At the
commencement of 1861, ivhite seed was worth in the
London markets, 65s.; black and brown, 58s. and
60s. perquarter.
A second sort of sesame oil, sometimes called
“ Rape,” is obtained from the red-seeded variety.
Black sesame is sown in March, and ripens in
May. Red sesame is not sown tili June.
Sesamum seed has of late been exported largety to
France, where it is said to be employed for mixing
with olive oil.