The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-03-22
VEGETABLE OILS.
Demand for Food Purposes Has Increased
Rapidly.

year book OF the u. y. department OF az
) riculture, the consumption is now many
times greater than the production o.
olive oil, which formerly was the chic
product used for this purpose. In the
United States cottonseed, cocoanut anC
peanut oils are being used extensively
Corn oil is beginning to appear in the re
tail market and it is probable that soon
er or later numerous other oils in more
or less general use in foreign countries
such as the sunfower, the soy bean, pop.
ply seed and sesame will become more
common in this country.
Food oils, like other culinary and table
fats, are valuable sources of energy to
the body, and it is for this reason that
we regard fats, and rightly as very inn
portant foodstuffs. The food oils are
well assimilated, the question Of which
one is to be preferred for domestic use
being largely matter of individual taste
and relative price.
Although large quantities of olive oil
are imported into the United States. the
American product is of high quality and
commands a good price. The demand for
! picked olives. however, is so great that
/ it pays better. in general to use the fruit
| in this way instead of crushing it for
| oil. Furthermore, the American olives
are not so rich in oil as the Italian
Many of the varieties grown in southern
! Europe contain between 40 and 80 per
cent of oil and in this country usually
less than 30 per cent il obtained
On the other hand, the United States
produces by far the greater part OF the
cottonseed oil the world consumes. This
product is in nearly every respect a sat
isfactory substitute for olive oil. At
the present time the United States pro-
duces about 100000 barrels OF this oil
and exports about 100000 barrels. The
process Of manufacturing the finer grades
of cottonsccd oil is described in detail in
the article already mentioned II is
noteworthy that this process Is much
more complicated than the one employed
for the manufacture OF olive oil. The
finest grades OF the latter are those which
are expressed from the fruit with the
least possible subsequent treatment. On
the other hand, for eottonseed oil TO be
made suitable for human food il must
be refined and, in addition. It is often
desirable to bleach and deodorizc it.
The yield OF OIL is usually less than II
per cent OF the weight OF seed handled
and, in consequence, there is large resi-
due Of cake and huIls. This material is
vaiua Bile as feed or fertilizer and can
often be disposed of to the local farm
ers. For this reason crude cottonseed oil
mills are often located in small towns
throughout the cotton growing sections. |
The crude oil is shipped from these mills |
to southern refineries or the packing
houses of the North. After treatment in |
these establishments. the cloudy, dark |
red, crude product, which not infrequent. |
" is strong and rancid tasting, Is trans |
formed into a clear, light yellow. bland |
and almost tasteless oil, which Is very |
desirable for those who do not care for a |
marked flavor in their salad dressings or |
for the lard taste in their pastry.
Another oil now rapidly coming into
prominence is made from the peanut.
This industry is especially promising for
those districts of the South in which the
boil weevil has made the raising of cot
ton uncertain. This pest in some sec
tions has decreased the production of cot
ton to such an extent that the local oil
mills have been compelled to seek some
other than cotton seed for their
opera tons The peanut not only fur
nishes this material. but its hay and
press cake make highly desirable cattle
leeds.
Although its manufacture is compare
lively new in this country, peanut oil has
ong been consumed in large quantities
elsewhere In Europe the finest grades
If this product are used exclusively for
,dible purposes, and the tremendous pro-
luction in France-that in Marseilles
Ilone being about l5,500,000 gallons an
lually-is practically all consumed
broad. Very little, if any, of the high
.st grade peanut oils are exported from
europe to the United States.
Hitherto the American product has
uttered from a lack of uniformity and
rom the use of all kinds of stock. The
,est oil is what is known as cold-drawn.
This oil comes from the mill sweet and
'rilliant and ready for table use 1t has
pleasant nutty taste and needs no re-
ming, provided. of course, the original
Material was clean and free from rancid
uts. On the other hand, peanut oils
made from inferior material can be re-
ned and the disagreeable odor and fla.
or removed, but such oils lack the char
cteristic taste of the higher grade prod
ct.
At the present time high-grsde peanut
il is not well known in the United
tates, though the use of the better sorts
n the market is growing. Many per
ons have become accustomed TO peanut
il and like it, as might be expected, for
is a very palatable food oil when of
God quality. The slow recognition Of
he merits Of such a product is not sur.
rising. because it frequently takes a
,ne time for an unfamiliar food 10 be-
,me established in popular favor. For
lstance. il was some years before grape.
nit. the consumption Of which is now
lormous. came into general use.
Quite recently corn oil has attracted
,me attention. This is derived from
,e small germ portion of our common
,dian corn. In the preparation of corn
arch and brewers grits, and sometimes
the case Of other corn products. the
,rm is more or less completely separat-
from the rest Of the grain. II is only
such cases that il Is possible 10 make
I'm oil on commercial scale, for other
ise the cost of extracting il would be