Arizona republican., 1918-01-30
CASTOR BEAN
 CULTURE MAY
 BEATTENP TED

Frequent inquiries relative to the possibilities of raising castor beans in this section have been received by Secretary Harry Welch of the chamber of commerce. It is believed that interest in the product has been materially stimulated by reports that the government requires large uuan- titles for the manufacture of oil for aeroplanes.
 In the California Cultivator, an agricultural publication, from which clippings have been received locally, the situation is treated in detail. It is pointed out that a similar i'm pression was gained some years ago by California farmers, and that while the crops were produced in sufficient quantities to the acre, it was found that the cost of harvesting and mill ing was almost prohibitive The ab- sence of a mill in California was one of the elements which entered into the project in such way as to deprive the farmers of the profits they may have made, and this con- nected with an indifferent market caused the undertaking to be not an altogether successful venture.
 At present the market is far more favorable. although the "Cultivator'' advises that the crop should be grown only under contract
 The following excerpts from the article will be of value to any farmer who may contemplate the raising of such a crop:
 "The castor oil plant belongs to a family of over 4,000 species and is developed most highly in the tropics It furnishes a great variety of use full products, among which may be named cassava or tapioca, caoutchouc and shellac. In the tropics the castor bean grows to a tree 30 to 40 feet high, but in temperate regions it is a large annual.
 The original home of the castor oil plant was in Africa or India, but 1t is now cultivated in all the warmer parts of the world, either for it's oil or as an ornamental plant. Int highest yield of oil is secured in the tropics, and it is grown only fol ornamental purposes in the northern part of the corn belt, where it would be a failure if grown for oil It is said however, that the oil secured from beans grown in the temperate
 
 perior for medicinal purposes to tha grown in the tropics.
 Tn the United States the plant i! now cultivated commercially in Okla homa, Illinois Missouri and Kansas Oklahoma producing probably owe half the total product. The produc of the beans in the United State has fallen off very much in recen years and we are becoming more anC more dependent on the supply iron India.
 "The plant prefers a rich, wei drained, sandy or clay loam and vii not do well on either stiff clay O a light sand. In this respect l may be said to do well in so1f suited to corn and wheat. If virgin soil i not employed, one must apply eithe manure or commercial fertilizers t keep up the supply of available nitro gen, potash and phosphoric acid.
 Planting
 "The seeds are planted either il rows four or five feet apart and onl, IS inches apart in the row. Whel the plants are about six to eigh inches high they are thinned to stand of one plant per hill It ma. be found desirable to pour water nearly boiling hot over the seeds an' allow them to stand without heat ing for "A hours. This treatmen seems to insure a more uniform an prompt germination. The. plants ar cultivated level to keep down tn weeds, as is corn, until they ar about two feet high, from whic time they should be able to take car of themselves. From four to si seeds are planted in a hill to alloy for all accidents. At the greate distance -four by five feet) about on and one-half quarts of seed are re quired or an acre; at the lesser dist ance (four by one and one-half) abou four quarts are required
 Harvesting
 of the beans are planted from tn middle of April to the first of May (this, bear in mind, is presumabl for Oklahoma conditions), "one ma expect to see the first ripe fruit in July; and from this date to tn first frost the pods will continue t ripen and the harvest must be con tinued. The pods are so constructe as to throw the seeds to a consider able distance when the wall of tn pod breaks, and hence the necessit of collecting the entire fruit cluste \ ss soon as it turns dark browl These clusters are cut off with sharp instrument and hauled ava in a tight wagon box. They ar then spread on a tight floor in tn barn and left to dry and crack opeI When all the seeds are out of tn