The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Part 78

About Seringapatam, as soon as the millet crop has been reaped the field is ploughed four times, and the seed sown, a gallon per acre, during the month of July or August, after the first heavy rain. No manure or weeding is required, for the crop will grow on the worst soils. It is reaped in three months, being cut close to the ground, and stacked for a week. After exposure to the sun for two or three days, the seed is beaten out with a stick. The crop in Mysore rarely yields two bushels per acre, but about Poonah the produce is much larger. The seed is sometimes parched and made into sweetmeats, but is usually grown for its oil. This is used in cooking, but it is not so abundant in the seed, nor so good as that of the sesame. Bullocks will not eat the stems unless pressed by hunger.

About 5,000 maunds are exported annually from Calcutta. 3,703 bags were imported into Liverpool in 1851. The price per quarter of eight bushels, in January, 1853, was from 30s. to 2; of teel oil, in tins, weighing 60 to 100 pounds, 2 to 2 4s.

Bombay linseed was worth 2 11s. to 2 12s. the quarter of eight bushels, in January, 1853. Bengal ditto 2s. less. The imports into Liverpool were 68,468 bags and 54,834 pockets in 1851, and 14,490 bags and 33,700 pockets in 1852. About 9,000 bags of mustard seed and from 18,000 to 20,000 bags of rape seed are also imported thence. The price of the latter is about 2 the quarter.

NATIVE OIL MILLS.--The princ.i.p.al native oil mill of India, of which, however, there are some varieties, consists of a simple wooden mortar with revolving pestle. It is in common use in all Belgaum and Bangalore. Two oxen are harnessed to the geering, which depends from the extremity of the pestle,--a man sits on the top of the mortar, and throws in the seeds that may have got displaced. The mill grinds twice a day; a fresh man and team being employed on each occasion. When sesame oil is to be made, about seventy seers measure, or two and a half bushels of seeds are thrown in; to this ten seers, or two quarts and three-quarters of water, are gradually added; this on the continuance of the grinding, which lasts in all six hours, unites with the fibrous portion of the seeds, and forms a cake, which, when removed, leaves the oil clean and pure at the bottom of the mortar.

From this it is taken out by a coco-nut sh.e.l.l cup, on the pestle being withdrawn. Other seed oils are described by Dr. Buchanan, as made almost entirely in the same way as the sesamum. The exceptions are the hamlu, or castor oil, obtained from either the small or large varieties of _Ricinus_. This, at Seringapatam, is first parched in pots, containing something more than a seer each. It is then beaten in a mortar, and formed into b.a.l.l.s; of these from four to sixteen seers are put in an earthenware pot and boiled with an equal quant.i.ty of water, for the s.p.a.ce of five hours; frequent care being taken to stir the mixture to prevent it from burning. The oil now floats on the surface, and is skimmed off pure. The oil mill made use of at Bombay, and to the northward, at Surat, Cambay, Kurrachee, &c., differs a little from that just described, in having a very strong wooden frame round the mouth of the mortar; on this the man who keeps the seeds in order sits. In Scinde a camel is employed to drive the mill instead of bullocks.

Castor oil seed is thrown into the mill like other seeds, as already described; when removed it requires to be boiled for an hour, and then strained through a cloth to free it from the fragments of the seed.

It is a curious fact, and ill.u.s.trative of the imperfect manner in which the oil is separated from the seeds, that while the common pressman only obtained some 26 per cent., Boussingault, in his laboratory, from the same seeds, actually procured 41 per cent. When the oil cakes are meant for feeding stock, this loss is of little consequence, inasmuch as the oil serves a very good purpose, but when the cake is only intended to be used as a manure, it is a great loss, inasmuch as the oil is of little or no use in adding any food for crops to the soil.

The chief oil made on the sea board of India, is that yielded by the coco-nut palm. The nut having been stripped of the husk or coir, the sh.e.l.l is broken, and the fatty lining enclosing the milk is taken out.

This is called cobri, copra, or copperah in different localities.

Three maunds, or ninety pounds of copperah, are thrown into the mill with about three gallons of water, and from this is produced three maunds, or seven and three-quarter gallons of oil. The copperah in its unprepared state is sold, slightly dried in the market. It is burned in iron cribs or grates, on the top of poles as torches, in processions, and as means of illumination for work performed in the open air at night. No press or other contrivance is made use of by the natives in India for squeezing out or expressing the oil from the cake, and a large amount of waste, in consequence of this, necessarily ensues.--_Bombay Times_, June 5, 1850.

Oil, of the finest kind, is made in India by expression from the kernels of the apricot. It is clear, of a pale yellow color, and smells strongly of hydrocyanic acid, of which it contains, usually, about 4 per cent.

"On inquiring into the use made of the sunflower, we were given to understand that it is here (in Tartary) raised chiefly for the oil expressed from it. But it is also of use for many other purposes. In the market places of the larger towns we often found the people eating the seeds, which, when boiled in water, taste not unlike the boiled Indian corn eaten by the Turks. In some districts of Russia the seeds are employed with great success in fattening poultry; they are also said to increase the number of eggs more than any other kind of grain.

Pheasants and partridges eat them with great avidity, and find the same effects from them as other birds. The dried leaves are given to cattle in place of straw; and the withered stalks are said to produce a considerable quant.i.ty of alkali."--_Bremner's Interior of Russia._

658 barrels linseed oil were brought down to New Orleans from the interior in 1849, and 1009 in 1848.

During the period of the Great Exhibition special enquiry was made by many manufacturers as to the different oils of Southern India, suitable for supplying the place of animal fat in the manufacture of candles, and generally adapted for various other purposes. Enquiries should be directed to the specific gravity, the boiling point, the per centage of pure oil in the seeds, and the means of obtaining a regular supply. The demand for vegetable oils in European commerce has been steadily on the increase for several years past, and the quant.i.ties consumed are now so large that the oleaginous products of India and the colonies must sooner or later have a considerable commercial importance, from the value which they are likely to acquire. Indeed some have already established a footing in the home market, and Drs.

Hunter, Cleghorn, and others in India, have specially directed the attention of the natives and merchants to the subject.

MARGOSE, OR NEEM OIL.--From the pericarp or fleshy part of the fruit of the _Melia Azederachta_, the well known Margosa oil is prepared; which is cheap and easily procurable in Ceylon. Dr. Maxwell, garrison surgeon of Trichinopoly, states that he has found this oil equally efficacious to cod-liver oil in cases of consumption and scrofula. He began with half-ounce doses, morning and evening, which were gradually reduced.

ILLEPE OIL.--The seeds of three species of Ba.s.sia, indigenous to India, yield solid oils, and are remarkable for the fact, that they supply at the same time saccharine matter, spirit, and oil, fit for both food and burning in lamps. The Illepe( _B. longifolia_) is a tree abundant in the Madras Presidency, the southern parts of Hindostan generally, and the northern province of Ceylon. In Ceylon the inhabitants use the oil in cooking and for lamps. The oil cake is rubbed on the body as soap, and seems admirably adapted for removing the unctuosity of the skin caused by excessive perspiration, and for rendering it soft, pliable, and glossy, which is so conducive to health in a tropical climate. The oil is white and solid at common temperatures, fusing at from 70 to 80 degrees. It may be advantageously employed in the manufacture of both candles and soap; in Ceylon and some parts of India this oil forms the chief ingredient in the manufacture of soap.

Mahower (_B. latifolia_) is common in most parts of the Bengal Presidency. The oil a good deal resembles that last described, obtained from the Illepe seeds; and may be used for similar purposes.

It is solid at common temperatures, and begins to melt at about 70 degrees.

Vegetable b.u.t.ter is obtained from the Choorie (_B. butyracea_). This tree, though far less generally abundant than the other two species, is common in certain of the hilly districts, especially in the eastern parts of k.u.maon; in the province of Dotee it is so abundant that the oil is cheaper than ghee, or fluid b.u.t.ter, and is used to adulterate it. It is likewise commonly burnt in lamps, for which purpose it is preferred to coco-nut oil. It is a white solid fat, fusible at about 120 degrees, and exhibits very little tendency to become rancid when kept.

Shea, or galam b.u.t.ter, is obtained in Western Africa from the _Ba.s.sia Parkii_, or _Pentadisma butyracea_, a tree closely resembling the _B.

latifolia_, and other species indigenous to Hindostan. According to Park, the tree is abundant in Bambara, the oil is solid, of a greyish-white color, and fuses at 97 degrees. Its product is used for a variety of purposes--for cooking, burning in lamps, &c.

This tree has much of the character of the laurel, but grows to the height of eighteen or twenty feet. Its leaf is somewhat longer than the laurel, and is a little broader at the point; the edges of the leaf are gently curved, and are of a dark sap green color. The nut is of the form and size of a pigeon's egg, and the kernel completely fills the sh.e.l.l. When fresh it is of a white drab color, but, if long kept, becomes the color of chocolate. The kernel, when new, is nearly all b.u.t.ter, which is extracted in the following manner:--The sh.e.l.l is removed from the kernel, which is also crushed, and then a quant.i.ty is put into an earthen pot or pan, placed over the fire with a portion of water and the nut kernels. After boiling slowly about half an hour the whole is strained through a gra.s.s mat into a clean vessel, when it is allowed to cool. Then, after removing the fibrous part from it, it is put into a gra.s.s bag and pressed so as to obtain all the oil. This is poured into the vessel along with the first-mentioned portion, and when cold is about the consistence of b.u.t.ter.

The nuts hang in bunches from the different boughs, but each nut has its own fibre, about seven or eight inches long, and about the thickness and color of whip-cord. The nut is attached to the fibre in a very singular manner. The end of the fibre is concealed by a thin membrane, about half an inch wide and three-quarters of an inch long.

This membrane is attached to the side of the nut, and, when ripe, relinquishes its hold, and the nut falls to the ground, when it is gathered for use. A good-sized healthy tree yields about a bushel of nuts, but the greater number are not so prolific. The trees close to the stream present a more healthy appearance, probably on account of being better watered, and the fire being less powerful close to the stream.

THE CANDLE NUT TREE (_Aleurites triloba_, of Foster) grows in the Polynesian Islands, and is also met with in some parts of Jamaica and the East Indies. In the latter quarter it is known as the Indian Akhrowt. A very superior kind of paint oil is produced from the nut, and the cake, after the expression of the oil, forms an excellent food for cattle, and a useful manure. 31 gallons of the nut yield ten gallons of oil, which bears a good price in the home markets.

The yearly produce of this oil in the Sandwich Isles, where it is called kukui oil, is about 10,000 gallons. It has been shipped to the markets of Chili, New South Wales, and London, but not as yet with much profit. It realized about 20 per imperial ton in the port of London. In 1843, about 8,620 gallons were shipped from Honolulu, valued at 1s. 8d. per gallon.

In Ceylon the oil is known as kekune oil, and a good deal of it might be obtained there from the district of Badulla. From the trials made it appears that it cannot be used as a drying oil, but will probably answer best as a subst.i.tute for rape oil. Samples have been sent to several clothiers, and the nature and quality of the oil renders it most applicable to their purposes.

COLZA (_Bra.s.sica oleracea_), a variety of the common cabbage, is much grown in the South of Europe and other parts, for the oil obtained by pressure from its seeds, and which is used for lamps and other purposes. The plant will not thrive on sand or clay, but requires a rich light soil. After the ground has been well ploughed and manured, the seed should be sown in July, in furrows eight or ten inches asunder. The plants are transplanted about October. When ripe the stalks are reaped with a sickle, and the seeds threshed out with a flail. The cake, after the oil is expressed, is an excellent food for cattle.

Like all the oleaginous plants cultivated for their seed, colza greatly impoverishes the soil.

In Peru the caoutchouc is used as a subst.i.tute for candles. A roll of it (which is generally about a yard long and three inches in diameter) is cut lengthways into four parts, but before it is lighted the piece is rolled up in a green plantain leaf, to prevent it from melting or taking fire down the sides. The natives of Peru also bruize the beans of a species of wild cacao after they have been well dried, and use the substance instead of tallow in their lamps.

Mr. Dearman, writing from Dacca, to Dr. Spry, Secretary to the Agricultural and Horticultural Societies of India, in 1839, says--"I will send you some seeds from a tree, which resemble chestnuts. One of these seeds, after taking off the sh.e.l.l, being stuck on the point of a penknife, and lighted at a candle flame, will burn without the least odor for four or five minutes, giving a light equal to two or three candles. From the flower of the tree (he adds), I am told, is distilled a delightful scent." [I presume this must be the candle-nut tree.]

At the Feejee and Hawaian islands, the seeds of the castor oil plant and of the candle-nut tree (_Aleurites triloba_) are strung together and used for candles. Species of torches are also made from the candle wood in Demerara.

THE CANDLEBERRY MYRTLE (_Myrica cerifera_) abounds in the Bahama Islands. The shrub produces a small green berry, which, like the hog plum, puts out from the trunk and larger limbs. Much patient labor is required in gathering these berries, and from them is obtained a beautiful green wax, which burns very nearly, if not fully, as well as the spermaceti, or composition candles imported from abroad. Not long since Mr. Thos. B. Musgrove, of St. Salvador (or Cat Island), obtained about 80 lbs. of this wax, and made some excellent candles of it. The method of procuring this wax is by boiling the berries in a copper or bra.s.s vessel for some time. Iron pots are found to darken and cloud the wax. The vessel after a sufficient time is taken from the fire, and when cool the hardened wax, floating on the top of the water, is skimmed off.

MYRTLE WAX.--According to the experiments of M. Cadet and Dr. Bostock, myrtle wax differs in many respects from bees' wax, Specimens of it a.s.sume shades of a yellowish green color. Its smell is also different; myrtle wax, when fresh, emitting a fragrant balsamic odor. It has in part the unctuosity of bees' wax, and somewhat of the brittleness of resin. Its specific gravity is greater, insomuch that it sinks in water, whereas bees' wax floats upon it; and it is not so easily bleached to form white wax. The wax tree of Louisiana contains immense quant.i.ties of wax.

Mr. Moodie ("Ten Tears in South Africa") says,--

"I occasionally employed my people, at spare times, in gathering wax berries that grow in great abundance upon small bushes in the sand hills, near the sea, and yield a substance partaking of the nature of wax and tallow, which is mixed with common tallow, and used by the colonists for making candles. The berry is about the size of a pea, and covered with a bluish powder. They are gathered by spreading a skin on the sand, and beating the bush with a stick.

When a sufficient quant.i.ty of the berries are collected, they are boiled in a great quant.i.ty of water, and the wax is skimmed off as fast as it rises; the wax is then poured into flat vessels and allowed to cool, when it becomes hard and brittle, and has a metallic sound when struck. The cakes thus formed are of a deep green color, and are sold at the same price as tallow. The wild pigs devour these berries when they come in their way, and seem very fond of them."

A good specimen of myrtle, or candleberry wax, accompanied by candles made from it in the crude unbleached state in New Brunswick, was shown at the Great Exhibition.

Vegetable wax was also sent from Shanghae, in China; from St. Domingo, in the northern parts of which the plant is indigenous; and a remarkable specimen from j.a.pan. This substance, from its high melting point and other physical characteristics, has of late attracted a good deal of attention; it is admirably suited as a material for the manufacture of candles.

At a meeting of the Central Board, at Cape Town, in March, 1853, the members voted about 300, to employ some 20 or 30 men, in gathering berries from the Downs, and making wax during the winter months, that is, from the beginning of May to the end of September. The wax fetches a good price in the Cape market.

In the annual report of the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society, in May, 1853, a very fine sample of myrtle, or terry wax, grown on the Cape Flats, was exhibited by Mr. Feeny, Superintendent of the Road Plantation, by direction of the Commissioners of the Central Road Board, in different stages of purification, from green to white, as also some candles; and it being conceived by the meeting that this article might ultimately become one of considerable importance for purposes of export, a letter of thanks was addressed to Mr. Feeny; and Nathaniel Day, the constable who a.s.sisted him, was presented with the sum of 5, as a remuneration for his trouble in a.s.sisting to purify and prepare the wax. On reference to the juror's report on the Great Exhibition, it will be gratifying to find that the berry wax, forwarded by this Society, had attracted peculiar notice, and a prize medal been awarded for it; the following reference is therein made to it: "some fine specimens of myrtle or berry wax, from the Cape of Good Hope, are exhibited by J.

Lindenberg, of Worcester. This is an excellent material for the manufacture of candles, when employed in conjunction with other solid fats. The jury awarded a prize medal for these specimens."

Your Committee would suggest every possible attention being drawn to this subject, in which they are gratified to state, the Commissioners of the Central Road Board have evinced a readiness to co-operate, by offering to place at the Society's disposal the sum of 10 10s., "to be given as a premium for the best information respecting the wax berry plant, the soils and situations in which it is found to grow most luxuriantly: the best mode of propagating and cultivating it, of collecting the berries, and extracting and preparing the wax, &c." And from a letter received from the Secretary to the Central Road Board, it appears that the Board had authorised the shipment to England of 2,561 lbs. of the wax, by the _Queen of the South_ in November last, which, from the account sales lately received from Messrs. J.R. Thomson & Co., realised as follows, viz.:--

4 cases weighing nett 856 lbs. a 8d. 28 10 8 4 " 1040 lbs. a 9d. 39 0 0 3 " 745 lbs. a 11d. 34 2 11 3 " 6 lbs. a 11d. 0 5 6 --------------- 101 19 1 Discount 2 per cent. 2 11 0 --------------- 99 8 1

CHARGES.

Warehouse Entry 3s. 6d. Fire Insurance 2s., Ports 2s. 6d 0 8 0 Freight 7 3 3 Primage 0 14 4 Dock Charges 3 9 6 Sale Expenses 0 9 0 Brokerage 1 0 6 --------------- 13 4 7

Commission at 2 per cent 2 11 0 --------------- Carried forward 16 15 7

Brought forward 15 15 7 --------- 83 12 6 Deduct Bills of Lading, &c. 0 19 6 --------- 82 13 0 Deduct the Board's expenses for gathering and preparing, &c 28 8 7 --------- Leaving a clear profit of 54 4 5

This statement shows that from a plant, which is indigenous to the colony, and might he cultivated to almost any extent, and mostly on soils unavailable for other purposes, an article of great export could be derived at a comparatively small expense; it is with that view that I desire to direct public attention more prominently to it.

In the Museum of the Royal Botanic Gardens, at Kew, wax is shown as sc.r.a.ped from the trunk of the wax palm (_Ceroxylon andicola_), and candles made from it, as also some made of acorns and closely resembling common tallow. Concrete milk and b.u.t.ter made from the Shea b.u.t.ter tree, and others growing in Para, are also exhibited.

Wax candles have been made from the seeds of _Myrica macrocarpa_ in Colombia, and also from vegetable wax in Java. Some of these are to be seen in the Museum of the Pharmaceutical Society of London.

CASTOR OIL PLANT.

Castor oil is expressed from the seeds of _Ricinus communis (Palma Christi)_, a plant with petale-palmate leaves, which is found native in Greece, Africa, the South of Spain, and the East Indies, and is cultivated in the West Indies, as well as in North and South America.

In the temperate and northern parts of Europe, the plant is an herbaceous annual, of from three to eight feet high; in the more southern parts it becomes scrubby and even attains an height of twenty feet; while in India it is often a tree thirty to forty feet high. The best oil is obtained by expression from the seeds without heat, and is hence called "cold drawn oil." A large quant.i.ty of oil may be produced by boiling the seeds, but it is less sweet and more apt to become rancid than that procured by expression.