The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-03-22
PLANT
OIL ON
MARKET
Sunfower, Soy Bean, Poppy
Seed and Sesame Will
Become More Common

Washington, March %. The de-
mand for the oils suitable for salad
dressings and general food purposes
has increased so rapidly in recent
years that, according to an article in
the 1915 Yearbook of the United
States Department of Agriculture. the
consumption is now many times great
er than the production OF olive oil,
| which formerly was the chief product
used for this purpose. In the United
States cottonseed. cocoanut. and pea
nut oils are being used extensively.
Corn is beginning to appear in the re-
tail market and 1t is probable that
sooner or later numerous other oils
in more or less general use in foreign
countries. such as thS sunfiower, the
soy bean. poppy 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 right
ly, as very important foodstuffs. The
food oils are we'll assimilated, the
question of which one is to be pre-
ferred for domestic use being largely
matter of individual taste and rela-
tive price.
Although large quantities OF olive
oil are imported into the United States,
the American product is of high quail
ty and commands a good price. The
demand for picked olives. however.
is so great that it pays better in gen.
eral to use the fruit in this way in
stead of crushing it for oil. Further
more. the American olives are not so
varieties grown in southern Europe
contain between 40 to SO per cent of
oil and in this country usually less
than 80 per cent is obtained.
On the other hand the United States
produces by far the greater part or
the cottonseed oil the world consumes.
This product Is in nearly every re-
spect a satisfactory substitute for olive
oil. At the present time the United
States produces about 100000 barrels
Of this oil and exports about 7OO.OOO
barrels. The process of mannfactur-
ing the finer grades OF cottonseed oil
is described in detail in the article al
ready mentioned 1t is noteworthy that
this, process in much more complicated
than the one employed for the manu-
facture of olive oil. The finest grades
of the latter are those which are ex-
pressed from the fruit with the least
possible subsequent treatment. On the
other hand. for cottonseed oil to be
made suitable for human food. 1t must
be refined and. in addition. 1t is often
desirable to bleach and deodorize 1t.
The yield of oil is usually less than
II per cent of the weight of seed hand
led and. in consequence, there is
large residue of cake and hulis. This
material is valuable asfeed or fertilizer
and can often be DISPOSED of to the
local farmers. For this reason crude
cottonseed oil mills are often located
in small towns throughout the cotton
growing sections The crude oil -
shipped from these mills to southern
refineries or the packing houses OF the
fhNGN
adjustments. the Cloudy, dark req,
crude product. which not. infrequently
is strong and rancid tasting, IS trans
formed into a clear. light yellow.
bland. and almost tasteless oil. which
is very desirable for those VINO DO not
care for a marked flavor in their salad
dressings or for the lard taste in their
Another oil now rapidly coming into
prominence is made from the peanut.
This industry is especially promlslng
for those districts Of the south IN
which the boil weevil has made the
raising of cotton uncertain. This pest
in some sections has decreased the
production of cotton to such an extent
that the local oil mills have been com
PEELED to seek some material other tnan
cotton seed for their operations. me
peanut not only furnishes this materlal,
but its hay and press cake make higniy
desirable cattle feeds.
Although it's manufacture is compar-
atively new in this country, peanut oil
has long been consumed in large guam
titles elsewhere. In Europe the finest
grades of this product are USED eX-
iclusively for edible purposes. and the
tremendous production in France-that
in Marseilles alone being about l5,oc0.-
600 gallons annually-is practlcally al
consumed abroad. Very little; IL any. or
the highest grade peanut oils are ex-
ported from Europe to the United
States.
Hitherto the American product has
suffered from lack of uniformity ana
from the use of all kinds OF stock. The
best oil is what is known as cold-
drawn This oil comes. from the mill
sweet and brilliant and ready for table
use. 1t has a pleasant nutty taste and
needs no refining, provided. OF course,
the original material was clean ana
free from rancid nuts. On the other
hand, peanut oils made from inferior
material can be refined and the dis
agreeable odor and flavor removed,
but such oils lack the character
istic taste Of the higher grade product.
( At the present time high-grade pea
nut oil is not well known in the United
States, though the use OF the better
sorts on the market is growing. Many
persons have become accustomed to
peanut oil and like IT, as mlgnt De eX
pected. for it is a very palatable food
oil when of good quality. The slow
recognition of the merits of such
product is not surprising, because It
frequently takes long time for an UNI
familiar food to become established in
POPULAR favor. For instance, 1t was
some years before grapefruit, the con-
sumption of which is now enormous
came into general use.
Quite recently corn oil has attracted
some attention. This is derived from
the small germ portion of our common
Indian corn. In the preparation of corn
starch and, brewers grits, and some
times in. the case of other-corn products,
the germ is more or less completely
separated from the rest of the grain. It
is only in such cases that 1t is possible
to make corn oil on a commercial scale,
for otherwise the cost of extracting it
would be too great. AS yet, corn oil Is
not q common household product, but
it is now being placed upon the mar
ket in small retail packages. Methods
for making il sweet and attractive have
been perfected and the manufacturers
OF edible fats are using increasing
amounts in making lard substitutes.