The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-08-06
THE USE OF COTTON SEED OIL AS
How Il Came Into General Use and Why it
Gained in popularity...lt is Safe
and Wholesome.

From the earliest Bible times to the
present day nations OF the countries
surrounding the Mediterranean have
made the Oil of the olive one Of their
principal articles of diet. It is used in
all cooking opera tons and replaces the
butter and lard Of the nations in north
ern Europe. There is no question but
what a pure vegetable oil is a most
useful and healthy article Of diet. we
never read of dyspepsia and troubles
Of a similar nature among the people
Of the Levant, doubtless because the
fat taken as necessary part Of well
regulated diet is always taken as a
pure vegetable Oil. In our own coun-
try up to within the last few years
oil has been used but little as an ar
ticle of diet, except by Europeans Who
have made their homes in our midst.
We have clung to the traditions Of our
Saxon ancestors and used the hard fats
prepared from hogs and cattle. The
people Of this country are beginning to
realize their mistake. Throughout our
southern States we have trees, small
it is true, but great in numbers, which
produce fruit far more wonderful
than the olive, we refer to our cotton
plant It's fiber clothes the world, its
seed yields all oil which is unrivaled
in sweetness and purity by the finest
product Of the pressed olive.
Cotton seed Oil was refined in small
quantities prior to the Civil war. It
found its way to Europe and came back
in fancy bottles mixed with olive oil.
In the. early sos the production Of the
oil increased rapidly. Great quantities
finding. their way to Chicago IN znys-
teriously marked packages, the contents
of which properly blended with other
material, Travelled all ovel. the world in
the form Of lard.
About the year 1887 it was discoyered
that the amount of lard shipped from
Chicago greatly exceeded the weight
of all the hogs received and an inyes-
tigation was instituted by Congress
which brought forth ths. Information
that the product Of the cotton seed was
entirely unobjectionable as an article
Of diet and liable to be preferred by
many to that of the hog. For various
reasons our people have always been
prejudiced against the oil itself, though
eating large quantities Of it IN the
form of lard compound. This preju-
dice is no doubt largely due to the
faulty refining methods used by many
Of the manufacturers who turned out
an oil Of unpleasant flavor which gave
off very disagreeable odors in cooking.
Modern science has she6. it's rays on
this great product Of our section and
the Gil is nov produced in enormous
quantities, absolutely free from odor
and flavor and almost colorless. Shipped
in barrels it finds its way into the larg-
est bake shops Of the country, where
it takes the place of many. tons Of lard
and butter. Packed in nerrnitfcally
sealed cans it is invading kitchens Of
our best families. It is making friends
everywhere. The greatly extended use
of cotton seed oil in the household has
added greatly to the wealth Of our farm
ers by making a sure market for all
the seed which they can produce. This
rapid increase in the use OF the Oil has
only been made possible by improved
refining methods which were the re-
suits Of long, patient and expensive ex-
perimeuts by the leading company in
the business Such experiments could
only be made by the combined re-
sources centered in large corporation
which can command the needed brains
and materials and furnish the neces-
sary money outlay to conduct expen-
sive experiments on practical scale.
The farmer Of the south has no better
are daily striving to improve the prod
uct of his cotton seed and extend the
use Of cotton seed Oil as food product,
and the most successful of these cona-
panies in the manufacture Of these
products is the Southern Cotton 4 Oil
Company, whose works are at,SaYan-
nah, Ca, and who have headquarters
and general Offices in Columbia, S. c..
Savannah, Ca, Atlanta, Ga, and Char
lottei N. c., any Of which will gladly
furnish information.