essed oil is as
clear and sweet as that from almonds, and probably the Behens oil,
used in varnish, is no other. It is called by the Arabs "Siriteh," and
the seed, "bennie " seed, in Africa. _S. orientals_ is grown in the
West Indies under the name of "wangle." It is said to have been first
brought to Jamaica by the Jews as an article of food. 1,050 bags of
gingelly teel, or sesame seed, were imported into Liverpool, in 1849,
from the East, South America, and Africa, for expressing oil, and
3,700 bags in 1850. There are two kinds of seed, light and dark, and
it is about the same size as mustard seed, only not round.

A hectare of land in Algeria yields 1,475 kilogrammes of seed, which
estimated at 50 cents the kilogramme, amounts to 737 francs, whilst
the cost of production is only 259 francs, leaving a profit of 478
francs (nearly L20). The oil obtained from this seed is inferior to
good olive oil, but is better adapted for the manufacture of soap.

This plant is not unlike hemp, but the stalk is cleaner and
semi-transparent. The flower also is so gaudy, that a field in blossom
looks like a bed of florist's flowers, and its aromatic fragrance does
not aid to dispel such delusion. It flourishes most upon land which is
light and fertile. The fragrance of the oil is perceptibly weaker when
obtained from seed produced on wet, tenacious soils. A gallon of seed
seems to be the usual quantity sown upon an acre. In Bengal, _S.
orientale_ is sown during February, and the crop harvested at the end
of May; but _S. indicum_ is sown on high, dry soil, in the early part
of the rains of June, and the harvest occurs in September. About
Poonah it is sown in June and harvested in November. In Nepaul two
crops are obtained annually; one is sown as a first crop in April and
May, and reaped in October and November; the other as an autumn crop,
after the upland rise in August and September, and reaped in November
and December.

In Mysore, after being cut it is stacked for a week, then exposed to
the sun for three days, but gathered into heaps at night; and between
every two days of such drying, it is kept a day in the heap. By this
process, the pods burst and shed their seeds without thrashing.

The seeds contain an abundance of oil, which might be substituted for
olive oil; it is procured from them in great quantities, in Egypt,
India, Kashmir, China, and Japan, where it is used both for cooking
and burning. It will keep for many years