The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1885-10-03
The Castor Bean.
l"scrsps" in the Daily Tucson Times,l

| A-"AS A. WIG AoWSPeRcAp ~ W-e-eaSS W.
the castor bean en5 I ~. o-curer
-, mat brief account q. lls
/ tlveasss aud usefulness IF the pan E.e..
( be agreeable &c your rsa6grs.
70 make the -alslngOf the can
e Fucces- three things -rlFa -cessary
sfteI planting These Ill, moisture
SUD sunshine. IA- Alst two requisites
are to be found the world over, but the
last named, in its dry, shadeless, un.
alleged purity can be had only in South
srn Arizona. No. furnaces, evaporators
or other means of artificial drying are
needed here in order to cause the bean to
burst its husky cell.
At Tacna, Yuma county, Arizona, there
are q number of these plants that haYe
been growing and bearing for the past
three or four years, two crops annually /;
the last crop being the heaviest. These
plants have received no attention except
an occasional watering. The seeds were
sown four PEARS ago and the plants have
been bearing from the first year: the
plant maturing In one year from the seed.
Every winter the stalks die and are fol.
lowed the next spring by q new set Of
sprouts from the old roots. which in turn
bloom and bear their crops of beans, and
80 on continually.
The castor bean, or "Palms Christi"
possesses some remarkable characters
tics. No animal will dare eat 1t except
the goat, which generally repents 1t by
the next day, or sooner. Insects will not
trust themselves long among its branches,
and even the tobacco worm will wriggle
and squirm when placed upon leaf Of
this plant. It makes useful hedge when
sown thickly in two or three rows around
farm. It will not only keep out stock
by its branches, but the mole. gopher, or
chipmonk that eats It's roots forfeits It's
right to live, for death is sure to be its
penalty. Mosquitoes, gnats and fies would
rather roost on any other limb; the oil
like sap which oozes from the leaves
paralyzes them, so to speak. A young
caster bean plant in flower pot placed
In q room where flies are troublesome
will drive them away. Bruised leaYes
rubbed upon horses or other animals an
noyed by gnats or flies will prevent the
attacks Of these pests. A decoction COM
posed of the leaves and berries Of the
castor bean plant and alcohol, properly
applied, will keep away mosquitoes and
other insects which rob man of "nature's
sweet restorer, balmy Sleep"
In raising the castor bean for profit 1t
will be found to be a good keeper, SO that
there will be no need of rushing of to
market to dispose of 1t for any price for
fear 1t will spoil, as it can be kept per-
feotly secure while awaiting satisfactory
market. The yield of well cultivated
plants is about 5000 pounds per acre;
and 100 pounds of seed will produce about
so pounds of oil. A gallon of oil will
weigh about 10 pounds. Thus 1t will be
seen that one acre producing 5000 pounds
of beans will yield $50 gallons Of oil,
which sells in San Francisco for 1.25 per
gallon, which makes total gross yield Of
S225 per acre. One man can cultivate
and attend to twenty acres.
Arizona has the soil to produce the
plant, warmth and water to mature it,
and an abundance Of sunshine to harvest
It in. Let it be borne in mind that the
plant bears the first year from the seed,
and is in full bearing the second year, and
thenceforward bears two crops year,