Iu Europe, the plant does not succeed well so far north as S. France ; it is grown on a very small scale in N. Italy (near Bologna and Lucca), Sicily, Malta and Gozo, and to some extent in portions of Greece and Turkey ; Gallipoli exported 945 quarters, value 4080/., iu 1871; and the two Greek provinces of Calamata and Messenia produced 68,000 Ib., 535/., in 1880. In most parts of Asia, it is a familiar crop. The Turkish dominions produce very large quantities of the seed, as may be judged from the fact that, in 1878, the port of Adana shipped 9,736,787 kilo., value 92,795l.; Aleppo, 1227 tons, value 22,086/., to France, 108 tons, 19441., to Turkey, 59 tons, 10621., to Italy, and 4 tons, 72/., to Egypt, total, 1398 tons, 25,164/. ; Bagdad, 1380 cwt., 843/., to Europe ; and in 1879, Jaffa exported 13,750 tons, value 24,4441., to Europe. The Jaffa produce goes almost entirely to Marseilles, where it is highly esteemed as affording the finest culinary oil. The Persian exports in 1879 were 10,500 rupees' worth of seed from Bushire, and 6500 rupees' worth of oil from Lingah. There are few districts in India that do not cultivate the plant ; but the culture might be immeasurably exteuded, and the seed (or oil) be remuneratively exported to Europe. The Madras presidency is said to have 870,000 acres under this crop, chiefly in the Godavery district. The white seeds produced in Sind are said to yield the finest Indian oil. The exports of seed from India were 1,039,687 cwt. in 1879. Ceylon grows large quantities of gingelly-seed. Eastwards and northwards, the culture extends throughout the Corea, Siam, China, Formosa, and Japan. Bangkok exported 50,000 cwt. in 1868. and 77,000 cwt., 183,009/., in 1870 ; the exports in 1875 from Siam were 13,193 piculs (of 1331 Ib.), value 21,003/. Formosa exported 46,000 piculs of seed in 1869, but only 3700 cwt. in 1871. Kiungohow exported 12,295 piculs, value 12,832/., in 1877, 13,0111 piculs, 13,979/., in 1878, and 21,8641 23,127/., in 1879. Chefoo exported 329,745 lb., value 1368/., of gingelly- and mustard-seeda in 1878. The total exports and re-exports from Hankow in 1878 were 3521 piculs of seed, and 3201 piculs of oil; the exports of oil alone in 1879 were 201 piculs, value 333/. Much oil is produced in the district of Ichang. Shanghae, in 1879, im ported 70941 piculs of native gingelly-seed, 13751 being for local consumption ; the exports were 3821 piculs to foreign countries, 150 to Hong Kong, and 16451 to Chinese ports. Taiwan exported 19631 piculs of seed in foreign bottoms in 1879. Among African countries, Egypt stands first, affording the chief supplies for the European markets, especially Marseilles, where the expres sion of the oil is extensively carried on. From Egypt, the culture has spread to Morocco; from Tangier, 92 cwt. of the seed, value 1151., were shipped to Great Britain in 1878. In E. Africa, the plant grows everywhere on the coast, and extends far into the interior, Mozambique and Zanzibar furnishing considerable quantities of the seed. The mode of extraction practised here is to pound the dry seed in a mortar, adding a little hot water when the oil begins to appear, and then squeezing the mass with huge pestles ; the supernatant oiI is ladled out as it exudes. On the W. coast of Africa, gingelly-culture is becoming popular. Senegal exported 600 cwt. of the seed in 1870. Lagos (where it is called " beni-seed") shipped 729 tons in the same year ; but since that date, there is a remarkable failing off-46 tons in 1875, 284 in 1877, and 43 in 1878. All over Angola it should become an important product, as the plant will grow near the coast, in soil too arid for the ground-nut. On the American continent, the plant ranges from the United States, through Central America, into British Guiana, and other portions of S. America, besides being grown in the W. Indies. In the United States, it flourishes in poor, dry, sandy soils, scarcely fit for any other crop, and receives no manure. The seed is sown in drills, 3-4 ft. apart ; the plants are thinned to 12 in. or more in the drill, and kept clear of weeds. Sowing takes place as soon as the frosts are over ; in the Gulf States, it lasts from 1st April till June. In the autumn, the leaves fall off before the pods expand, and are left to manure the land. The stems are then cut, bound in sheaves, and stacked in the field to dry for a few days, taking no harm from rain. When the pods are quite dry, they are simply shaken over a large sheet spread on the ground. The yield of seed is estimated
at 20 bush. to the acre, but much is probably wasted. In Georgia, the return of oil is found to be 91 gal. from 3 bush. of seed.
In France, where this oil is very largely prepared, it is usual to subject the Levant seed, which is considered the best, to three processes of expression. After the first simple expression, affording superfine (surfine) oil, the cakes are softened with cold water, and again pressed (pression a froid or froissage), and finally they are treated with steam and hot water for a third pressing (pression a chaud or rubat). The average product from 100 lb. of seed is 30 lb. of oil by the 1st pressure, 10 Ib. by the 2nd, and 10 lb. by the 3rd. Calcutta seed gives only 47 lb.: 36 lb. by the pression h froid, and 11 lb. by the pression a chaud. Bombay seed affords also 37 lb. : 25 lb. superfine, 11 lb. by the pression h froid, and 11 lb. by the preasion a chaud. This last is contrary to the experience of Dantzig seed-crushers, as mentioned previously. The commercial oil has a sp. gr. of 0.923 at 15° (59° F.), and some extracted by ether, 0.919 at 23° (74° F.). This latter solidified at 5° (41° F.), becoming turbid at several degrees above this point ; yet the congealing-point of the ordinary oil is placed at 0° (32° F.) by Prof. A. B. Prescott, and at —5° (23° F.) by Dr. Pohl. It commences visible ebullition at 100° (212° F.). At ordinary temperatures, it is more fluid than ground-nut-oil, and is less liable to change under the influence of the air; indeed, when well pre pared, it is said to keep for years without manifesting any rancidity. The oil is essentially composed of oleine, which is sometimes present to the extent of 76 per cent., but it is not invariable in commercial samples. Among the other fatty acids, are stearic, palmitic, and myristic. The oil is frequently adulterated with ground-nut-oil. It is said that 10 per cent. of giugelly-oil in admixture with other oils may be detected by shaking 1 grm. of the oil with 1 grm. of a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids previously cooled, when a fine green colour is produced which no other oil exhibits. The local uses of gingelly-oil are for cooking, medicine, anointing the body and hair, absorbing the fugitive odours of plants, and illumination. In Europe, the superfine quality largely replaces olive-oil for domestic purposes, and the other grades are employed by soap-makers.
(FR., Huile de Cameline).—The plant known in England as "gold of pleasure" (Camelina satica sativum]) is cultivated to a considerable extent on the Con tinent. for the sake of its oleaginous seeds. 1 t thrives on light, shallow, dry soils, and the crop scarcely fails on land of the poorest description. It is very hardy, enduring both drought and wet ; and, grown as a rotation crop, is said to allow the ground to recover itself, doing well after corn crops. In S. Europe, it matures so rapidly that two crops are taken off in a season ; in the colder portions of the Continent, as N. France, Germany, Holland, and Belgium, though not giving a double harvest, it may be sown in June-July, when other crops have failed, or, if sown early, can be removed in time for root-crops and grasses. The spring sowing usually takes place in March April ; the autumn, in August. The quantity of seed required is about 14 lb. an acre ; it is sown either broadcast, or in shallow drills 10-12 in. apart. It is ready for the sickle about 3 mouths after appearing above ground ; the seed is ripe when the pods change from a green to a golden colour, and care must he taken to cut the crop before the seed is too ripe, or much will be lost. The stems when reaped are hound in sheaves, stacked, and threshed like other grain. Over 30 bush. of seed, yielding 540 lb. of oil, have been obtained from an acre. The oil is extracted by pressure, much in the same manner as other seed-oils. It has a clear golden-yellow colour, and peculiar, mild odour and flavour ; its sp. gr. is 0925 at 15° (59° F.); it congeals at —19° (-2° F.), forms a soft soap, and dries rapidly in the air. When fresh, it burns well, without smoke. It is much used in the localities of production as a lamp-oil ; also for dressing woollen goods, making soft-soap, and in painting. The chaff from the seeds is eaten by horses, but the oil-cake is too acrid for cattle-food when used alone. The stems yield a fibre (see p. 934).