Show 1 l elisi EW iSi 1 I 1 agriculture S n IN INDUSTRY ji by florence C weed V g iw this is ts one of a series of articles sh showing 0 W ng how bow farm products are finding an aa imp important 0 market in ia industry CASTOR BEANS to make american industry less dependent upon foreign products castor bean growing is being revived to supply a fast drying oil for paints and enamels it is found to be a good substitute for tung oil a product of china which has been extensively used in the paint industry since the japanese invasion this foreign oil is both costly and difficult to get and the domestic supply is not being produced in large quantities castor bean growing is not new to this country for it thrived in in a half dozen states around 1850 when 23 oil mills were operating most of them located around st louis after the civil war production increased until kansas glutted the market with a boom crop of bushels in 1879 prices fell and interest in the castor bean declined last year test plots were grown in 33 states from coast to coast in the south and as far north as new york new seed was imported from java brazil and india by the national farm chemurgic council in an effort to find a new market for the farmer it included shatter resistant varieties which do not require a prohibitive amount of hand labor since they are less likely to eject their seeds as they start to ripen and can be harvested in two or three operations one of the first commercial uses of castor oil is in lacquer for lining cans in which food is preserved by treating it with sulphuric acid an oil is obtained which is u used sed for softening textiles it is also used in in the manufacture of soap aniline inks ink s and non brittle brittie tire cement |