SOUTHERN HORIZONS 



that hardens into a smooth, tough film when exposed 

 to the air. The more quickly it dries and the more dur- 

 able the film, the more valuable the oil to the coatings 

 manufacturers. All oils do not have drying properties. 

 In like manner, the soap industry must have an oil that 

 will saponify when treated with an alkali. While prac- 

 tically all fatty oils react in this manner, the resulting 

 soap will differ greatly in all of its useful properties, 

 depending upon the oil or fat employed. As food, the 

 American public demands a bland oil, virtually taste- 

 less, certainly one without any strong, distinctive flavor 

 or odor. 



Because of their particular characteristics, certain oils 

 have become dominant in each field. These industries 

 thus evade competitive bidding against each other for 

 their supplies. Linseed, for example, is the great paint 

 and varnish oil. It is not the best drying oil tung, 

 oiticica, and dehydrated castor oil, a newcomer born 

 in the chemical laboratories, are all better but linseed 

 is a good drying oil, available in the enormous quan- 

 tities that the coating industries require. Indeed it is 

 the only drying oil that we produce in great quantities 

 in the United States. Our domestic crop is some twelve 

 million bushels of flaxseed, against imports, chiefly from 

 the Argentine and Russia, of roughly sixteen million 

 bushels. 



Soap makers are not so fussy in their requirements. 

 Into their kettles they dump tallow; low-grade animal 



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