Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1885-10-10

Philadelphia Record.
Cot.on-seed oil may be described IN
general terms as . universal carbonace-
ous substitute and fatty adulterant. 1t
serves on occasions as butter, lard, lnDrl-
eating oil, soap grease, pomade, ointment
or iIluminant. With it the baker mixes
his pastry, the artist his paints, and the
plazler his putty. Miners in the west
use it for lighting almost to the exciu-
sion of all other oils. As food 1t IL re-
commended by the purveyor OF the
British army, in arecent report to PI-
lament, as containing ninety-hve per
cent. of nutriment. TIE French, as well
tas all the other Latin races of Southern
Europe, use it largely with cereals as q
substitute for meats. In the Russian
army il forms q portion Of the regular
ration, and even in far Siberia it appears
as part of every hunters supplies. Its
use as food in Germany and in England
is rapidly extending, and every succeed
ing year brings greater demand Tor
the oil from every quarter where 1t has
been introduced.
The American public, whose sqneam.
ish taste finds nothing offensive in
"high" game or beef and pork tainted by
disease, has hardly begun to recognize
cotton seed oil as in itself pure and
wholesome article of food. 1t is steadily
bought as an adulterant Of lard or butter
inc. 1t mas1uerades on our tables as
pure olive oil. Bakers who use it gener-
ally conceal the fact, althoug h three
pounds of the oil will supply the place
offour pounds of lard, and produce bet
ter results at considerably less cost. Our
people are willing to use the high grade
fancy soaps made from cotton-seed Oh,
but they will not, save in rare instances,
install it in their kitchens a. . part of
the daily food supply. This prejudice,
it may be observed, is gradually becom-
ing dislodged from the public mind. The
market for the oil is steadily widening,
and as its good qualities become better
known the supply, which is necessarily
limited, must fall below the demand, and
the mills of the south, which now COM
plain of overproduction, will then find
constant and remunerative occupation.
Throughout the south, wherever cot
ton is raised, there has been displayed
within the past few years an almost
feverish haste to build mills for manu-
featuring oil from the seed. Statistics
gathered by the Nonuf aeturerS Record
show that the numb of these mills has
increased from forty in the year 1880 to
one hundred and forty-six in 1885. The
capital of the forty mills in 1880 was &c.
354 SEQ; that of the one hundred and
forty.six mills in 1856 is SIC, 1872 $50. One
com pany at Little Rock, Arkansas, has
invested $500, 800, and another at New
Orleans has a paid-up capital of half q
million. There are many plants ranging
in value from 100000 to $500, 600. The
average capital of the one hundred and
forty-six mills is $74, 947. In Florida,
Georgia and the Carolinas, there were
no cot.on-seed mills in 1880 now there
are thirty-ive. During the same inter
val, twenty-tnree new mills have been
built in Texas, with 81, 926, 600 capital.
There are now q more than sufficient
number of these establishments to crush
al the seed that can be obtained, and
and competition have
greatly reduced prices. But the bust
ness is still very profitable.