Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-03-24
A LARD SUBSTITUTE.
Cottonseed Oil Knocking Out Grease
for Culinary Purposes.
THE TRUST A VICTIM OF ITS GREED.
Bottling and Labelling 1t Increases the
Value 100 Per Cent.
THE HULLS A GOOD FOOD FOR CATTLE

During the discussion relative to the
merits and demerits of proposed legislation
on the subject of compound lard, it has
seemed strange to great many people that
consumers did not cut the gordian knot by
using one OF the components, cottonseed oil
direct, thus getting cheap and healthy
substitute for lard, and one that cannot
be adulterated beyond ordinary detection.
Mr.. w. I. Carroll, who furnished THE DIS
PATCH some years ago an interesting account
of his impressions of and treatment by United
States Consuls in Europe, can tell much that
is interesting regarding cottonseed OIL He
spent the greater part of 1S79-S0 in Southern
Europe pushing cottonseed oil on the attention
of the people there, on its own merits and not
masquerading as olive oil, and states that dur
ing four months while he was in Marseilles the
receipts of cottonseed oil were 35 900 barrels a
month. ships coming from the United States
astonishment when their attention was
directed to the fact that the oil was
not the product of the olive tree:
oil produced in the United states was ex-
ported. The people who professed astonish-
ment at and adherence of the cheat. dealt
through brokers. The oil was refined, the BIZ
products, stearine, soap-stock, etc. taken out
and the Rmainder largely came back to the
United States as olive oil at about eight times
the price it commands at present, as pure cot
difference between the cooking oil and that re-
fined to its utmost is that used as olive oil is
refined to an extent that makes it fluid in any
matter. The loss in refining is 5 to Is per cent.
In 1880 the Italian Government became
alarmed at the encroachment of the American
product and put a protective tariff of about 80
per cent on cottonseed oil ad valorem, present
price of the article as basis. 1t was 35 cents
gallon, and the oil sells for As cents. 1t was
necessity if olive culture were to continue.
The competition has been severe on real olive
nil m mn 1Iu Gipna
great trust has been staggering.
WORK OF THE TRUST.
Last season the trust bought every barrel of
crude that it could collar from outside
crushers, taking the entire product of the
Southern Cotton Oil Company at 80 cents gal
Ion, and after securing the bulk of the product
advanced prices to point that let in competing
oils. The result of the high price was the craze
for the construction of oil mills, some 40 being
put up. The consequence is a complete glut at
present, and since October there has been no
money made in the business and owing to the
cheapness of the oil it is coming into pretty
general use for cooking purposes. There is no
oil with which it can be adulterated that is
cheap enough to pay, except petroleum, and
adulteraters cannot disguise the taste Of Pc
troleum.
The pure oil is cheaper than lard. as it goes
further in cooking and only costs ~ cents a
pound. 1t is estimated to be on an average
one-Jhird cheaper. and is certainly healthier;
no scrofula results from It's use. Oysters
cooked in oil are said to be a luxury that can
only be appreciated by testing.
In Southern Europe no one thinks of using
butter or lard in cooking. They have no
refrigerators, and butter and lard are conse-
queltly at a discount, except among
the wealthy, and cottonseed oil on account Of
its excellence and cheapness, and the fact that
it can be kept an indefinite length of time
without becoming rancid. excludes butter and
animal fats pretty generally. Mr.. Carroll states
that at first he could not conceal his aversion
to beefsteak fried in oil. but he had to eat it
or 60 without meat, he learned to like 1t. and
found it agreed with his stomach.
All may not know that sardines equal to the
best known are now largely put up on the coast
of Maine, and they are not put into olive oil.
and people who object to cottOnSeed oil at 45
cents a gallon use it with relish when put
into bottles and labeled solve OIL" at 81 81 per
gallon. but then they get a pretty label with
their purchase.
SOME LOSS IN REFINING.
The loss III refining the crude oil is from to
25 per cent. From Is to 20 per cent of the pro-
duct is stearine, which under the name of
vegetable butter, took the place of lard quite
extensively some years ago when the latter
was high priced. The SOAP stock is a low |
grade of oil that is used by makers of fine
soaps. The hulls of the seed are used for fuel.
and yield large amount of potash which |
brings good price. 1t is also now used in the |
making of paper. The meal is a good fertilizer, |
and also good food for cattle increasing the |
flow of milk and putting fat on rapidly. 1t is |
too rich for horses.
There is high and strong barrier of preju- |
dice to overcome in the Introduction Of the oil |
and its substitution for lard. A gentleman |
who has been engaged in soliciting orders states |
that he can easily induce men who run bakeries |
to use it, and they generally at first take gal
Ion with which to experiment. The next order, |
he says is for five gallons, and then they order
by the barrel. His experience with women, how
ever, is such that now when he finds a bakery
run by one he makes but little effort to sell the
oil. though many of those who turn their noses
up at it use compound lard, which is largely
composed of cottonseed OIL with possibly the |
fat of hogs that died of over-crowding
or disease. The carcasses also may
have been putrid before the lard
was rendered, as chemistry is competent to
make the most repulsive substances sweet and
not to be detected by the finest nose. Here is
/ chance to beat the adulterator-use product
with which he cannot tamper and the coun-
serfeit lard industry will get death blow.
1t would seem that cotton may still be called
king. 1t clothes us and is likely to lie found
to as many purposes as the Chinese
ind bamboo.