The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-05-06

and It's employment as ap edible fat there,
as well as in this country, We're results OF
the high standard OF quality established |
by few of the earlier rcfiners, which has |
been maintained by some OF their success |
sots. but not, by any means. all OF them, |
There rs undcniahle cause for complaint |
concerning the unsettled condition of the |
oil shipped from many mills. All oil SHOULD
be thoroughly settled before barrcling, al |
| though this is OF greater consequence In
| refined than In crudo, Much %! he former
| is bsrrelcd too soon after refining, and
when Il arrives at the scaboHri Il "
| cloudy to degree that hurts 'ts sale. No
| matter what the quality Of the oil would
| be, whether of or prime, the more thor
| oughv ii is filtered and the longer It Is
! allowed TO settle. so that II shall " nice
| and preht on samIlng, the better II is
| for the mill. ms II helps the receivers 10
| make better sales ,han where the oil turns
out cloudy. The size OF mill or \ re-
| feerv need have no bearing upon the
quality of its products. bu, II s an un-
| deniabie fact that the smsllu. concerns
| are. as the rule, showing less care In the
| average quality OF their output than a,e
! the larger ones. II a higher average were
| maintained by the former. and more uhi-
! formiiy could he depended upon. ~ would
| frequently enable the commission house. or
the exporters of oil to make up 4 iargo cot
| ont OF a number of small cnnsignmcuts
| from d.flirent sources, witch IN all respects
| would be as merchaDtable as though IL had
| been single shipment.
| This leads up TO the very important SUBJ
| feet of coopcrage.
There are frequent opportunities for ind
| ing fault with packages both as to coop
erage. painting, tares, and even shipping
| weights. Most of the refincries are now
| giving fair cooperagc, though not painting
barrels quite in accordance with The re-
uuirements of trade. Tho smaller mills
| frequently shin gross weight without Civ
ing any tarc. and also ship in Indifferent
| and second hand packages. This partiru-
| larly applies to crude oil. The rule IN the
New York Produce Exchange, now allowing
une pound soakage to the mill or shipper.
is probably not sufficient. aud should be
about two pounds.
Barrels should BIZ thoroughly coopcred be-
fore filling, and also after the barrels have
been nlled they should again be coope"cd
before loading on to the cars. II also makes
a much better looking package IL the ,ol At
is light blue, with a white head as he
lulli OF the oil that is shipped is in plrk-
ages of this color. 1t also, at times
ablcs luyers TO take UP several lots of
oil and ship ii under one mark. The gem
er2l belief is that an eight hoop barrel is a
nj oh better one thar. sis hoop, and The
condition of the package shipped with eight
hoops would be much better on arrival at
its destination than IL would BE- otherwise.
II is a great deal more convenient TO
exporters who buy oil In the seuboarl mar
kets 10 have IL come IN without any brand
on the barrel. as IL saves expense " PAIN
i.r on the old brand and rcbraniiug. Ii is
also better to Just ship the oil unde-
very small shipping mark-the smaller the
letter There is. know, n strong temp;a-
ton TO the mill owner or the refincr 10
make Lis brand conspicuous as possible
but the way the business is now conducted
there is nothing gained by this. whether the
oil is sold at the mill or is consigned,
the same brand. 1t probably would be out
OF place for me to say that the pages OF a
widely circulated trade journal ailord a
better place for advaniageously displaying
4 good brand than do the heads of any
number Of barrels. so | wont even suggest
that idea.
So far as my familiarity with the rub
ioct extends. there is seldom any complaint
concerning cake. The English markets,
which prefer softer cake than is accepted
elsewhere. some times complain of hard
ness but on the whole tins product Is
generally marketed in a condition that is
satisfactory 10 ali buyers. The Germans
have manifested preference for Texas
cake. hccauae Il is richer in nitrogen, but
! haven't heard anybody iueEcst that this
was due to failure on the part of the TeNas
mill superintendent to get everything cut
OF the seed that would come out.
Complaints concerning the quality OF
meal are more common and are well found
those which come from ,Sarse grinding
and also from the presence of hulls and
dirt. In other words they ARE enly such
as could readily be remedIed by the oXer-
csc Of proper care.
Ii is satisfactory to note that American
cotton cake continues 10 hold It's oNn in
foreign markets as the superior of foreign
made cake, and that preference takes the
form difference OF S7.5e to $40 per ten
advance over what the latter will bring.
The text upon which was asked to speak
was The Handling aud care of oil Mil
Products and Their Commercial Value. -
Now. If the gentlemen who framed this in
tended the words commercial value" TO
mean that ] was to tell you Whl' cotton
oil is worth ! shall have to end my dis
course before | reach that point. There
are number Of very shrowd and intelll-
gent operators. some of whom reside In
the Lone Star State. who have been II, ing
to settle that question. and they haven,
yet stepped paying their losses But when
1t comes 10 comparison OF their co'lnior-
clal value between tho products If your oil
mill and those of other mills. can safely
saw that that value Is what you make IT,,
Eternal vigilance Is the cost Of good rro-
ducts. and II you VIII not be- unminlful
OF the requirements Of the commercial in
terest. which can tell you what is wanted
even II they can not tell you how to make
IT, YOU will at least bring the value to as
high level ~ is permitted by the reient-
less competition 10 "nlcn cotton seed pro-
ducts are exposed That competition now
includes the prolific American hog and the
less prolific hut by no means barren hmerl-
can. Australian and Argentine COW. as
producers of fat: the flax fields of our own
country the Argentine Republic Russia
and India as producers Of seed which are
constantly yielding cheaper cake. and
our own corn fields. which not only
compete in The fat produced by
the stock food which they fur
nish. but also in the corn oil and corn cake
that are rapidly assuming grea, CONNER
cial IMPORTANCE
Gentlemen. thank you for the courtesy
Won have extended 10 me personally. no
less than to the journal | represent, and
the great commercial interests for which
1t is It's privilege and pleasure at all times
To speak
After some discussion upon tho subject
of weights and shortages the meeting ad-
iourned at 2'30 p. m
AFTERNOON SESSION.