The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1900-12-29
FLAXSEED AND IT'S OIL
PUT THROUGH VARIOUS PRO cEssEs
eEFoRE REACHING MARKET.

lmportnnce OF the Linseed Oi Industry
Large Interests Affected ~ ihe High
Priees-rhe Uses q the Product Many
and TafIed.
The recent advance ia the price OF
llnseed on has attracted much atten-
ton il the commercial world 70 the
condition Of this years crop Of fax
seed. from which this important oil is
made. Tie uses Of hnseed oil are
many and varied. but ollclotls and limo.
leum men are perhaps chiefly affected
By the present high values. Several
Of the larger ollcloth factories Of tie
country. II Is reported from Chicago.
are either shut down on able to 90 1T
tie business as a result OF the market
conditions. Trade in the United States
Is said to require something Ike forty
million gallons Of linseed oil annually
Estimates Of the years crop Of fax
seed have been steadily reduced Of
late. The crop year is supposed to be-
gin In September. but it Is as yet prac-
tleally impossible to gauge the yield
for this year accurately. The first es-
Inmates OF the total product were about
twenty-five million bushels Now the
figures are about eighteen million
bushels
To the average man the mention Of
aaxseed brings recollections Of young.
er days, Of poultiees aud faxseed tea.
Of pneumonia and the drug store,
where the slippery seed Is carefully
weighed out in minute quantities. The
commercial uses Of laxseed. the vast
amount used IN making linseed oil, the
methods OF handling great quantities
ia bulk. just as wheat is handled. are
matters outside the range Of the aver
age mans knowledge.
Each bushel Of aaxseed yselds lit
tie over two gallons Of oil The pulp or
cake remaining after the extraction Of
the oil has a value as fodder. and is
an important by-product. While cot
tonseed meal and rice meal are used
TO some extent as substitutes for oil
meal. yet there has never been found
satisfactory substitute for linseed
OH. The painter. the white lead max
er. the oilcloth manufacturer, must
have linseed oil. and SO the farmer IN
the Far Northwest tends carefully bis
faxseod crop and the mills crush the
slippery seed III order that their wants
may be supplied The eentralizing
tendency Of modern business was new
er better illustrated than in the case
Of the linseed oil Industry IN fact,
the history Of this industry shows a
competitive period, period OF combin-
alton. when competition began to be
too severe. and finally period Of cen
tralization. through which the busi-
ness is now passing
The fiaxseed crop Of the country
varies from ten TO twenty millions Of
bushels. nearly three-Quarters being
raised IN Minnesota and the Dakotas.
Chicago and Duluth are the great fax
markets Of the country, and the trad
ing ln futures Of fiaxseed Is one Of the
most hazardous speculations known.
The range Of prices is extremely wide,
from seventy-hve cents to two dollars
bushel. and a fuctuation Of tentor
fifteen cents IS al ordinary occurrence.
The small size Of the crop as com
pared with wheat or corn tends to en-
courage corners. aud many fortunes
have been made and lost in the uncer-
tain market AT present the price Il
high, owing to bad weather in the
Northwest. which has damaged a large
portion OF the crop and has delayed
ihrashlng In the process OF extract
ing the oil from the seed Il Is crushed
by rollers. going through set after set
until it appears. as fine. meal. Then
it Is steam heated In tanks, 10 soften
It and free the oil. AS It comes from
the tanks. a sticky, sweet smelling
mass, it is shaped by a small press into
blocks. ana these blocks are put under
powerful hydraulic presses. The oil
begins to flow in the cutters as soon as
the power ,is put on, but it is an houi
before the press is opened and the oil
meal taken out. The OH passes through
various rehning processes which pre-
pare il Tor market The cake iseithel
shipped unbroken for export or L
ground into oilmeal FOR the home mar
ket Germany Is a large importer Of
onmeal New York Tribune.