THE MANUFACTURE OF FOODS 369 



412. Cotton Seed Oil. Since COTTON SEED OIL has been 

 mentioned so frequently in the foregoing discussion, it is 

 proper that it should be discussed here, although it is a vege- 

 table and not an animal product. The seed of the cotton 

 plant is rich in fat. For each bale of cotton weighing 500 Ibs., 

 about 1000 Ib. of seed are produced. About 6,000,000 tons 

 of cotton seed are produced annually in the United States, 

 two-thirds of which is worked to produce oil. This gives an 

 annual production of about 125,000,000 gals, of oil, more than 

 1 gal. per capita. After the cotton lint has been removed 

 from the seeds, the hulls are taken off and the pulp pressed 

 to liberate the oil. The oil is further refined and finds 

 use in butter and lard substitutes, as a salad oil, in packing 

 sardines, and in soap making. The pulp from which about 

 85 per cent, of the oil has been expressed is then broken into 

 small pieces and used as stock feed. The use of this vegetable 

 oil takes the place of much animal fat. Its nutritive value is 

 equal to that of the animal fats. 



THE CEREAL FOODS 



413. The Cereals That are Used for Food. Wheat, corn, 

 oats, rye, rice, barley, and buckwheat are commonly used as 

 foods. The cereals contain large amounts of starch and 

 smaller amounts of fat and protein. They are the chief 

 sources of the starchy foods, and for great numbers of the 

 human race they furnish the chief source of protein. The use 

 of the cereals as food will doubtless increase in importance as 

 meats become less abundant and higher in price. 



414. Wheat. This is the cereal that is most extensively 

 used as human food. It grows in many parts of the world. 

 In North America, wheat is known as WINTER or SPRING 

 WHEAT according to whether it is sowed in the fall and allowed 

 to lie in the field through the winter or whether it is sowed 

 in the spring of the year in which it is to be harvested. Winter 

 wheat can not be grown ill the northern climates because of 



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