204 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



DEC. XH, lS4a. 



From the Albany Cultivator. 



LARD OIL. 

 We have received from various sources, inqui- 

 ries as to the nature and preparation of oil from 

 lard — a subject which is becoming a matter of 

 great interest to the country ; and we have em- 

 bodied below such information as can be obtained, 

 for those interested. 



Neither animal fat or vegetable oils, ore homo- 

 geneous, but are ciimposed of two substances, one 

 of which remains solid, while the other is fluid. 

 These two substances are termed Olein and Stea- 

 rint — the first being the fluid part, and the latter 

 the solid. 



The degree of hardness or fluidity of the origi- 

 nal fat or oil, such as tallow, lard, olive oil, &c., is 

 depending on the relative proportion of these two 

 substances ; (allow containing more stearine than 

 lard, and the latter more than the vegetablo oils. 

 Chevreul was the first to distinguish and separate 

 these two principles, a discovery which promises 

 to eflTect quite a change in some of our commer- 

 cial interests, and to influence in no slight degree 

 our agricultural ones. 



Lard melts at a temperature of about 82° ; its 

 specific gravity at 60° is 0.938. By long and pow- 

 erful pressure at 42° between folds of blotting pa- 

 per, it yields C2 parts in 100 of weight, of colorless 

 olein or oil, of the specific gravity of 091.5. Of 

 this 100 of boiling alcohol dissolves 123 parts. 

 The solid part of the lard left after the olein is ex- 

 tracted, is solid, granular, and fuses at about JOO'^. 

 This is the substance which when made into can- 

 dles, resembles spermaceti in hardness, and burns 

 with much clearness, while the oil so extracted is 

 the lard oil, which is rapidly coming into use for 

 lamps, machinery, woollen factories, &c. The 

 olein and stearine of olive oil can be separated in 

 the same manner as lard, by reducing the oil to a 

 low temperature, and submitting it to the same pro- 

 cess. The fact that the olein remains combined 

 with the alcohol in which lard, tallow, &c., has 

 been boiled, while the stearine separates on cool- 

 ing, constitutes the base of the processes for sepa- 

 rating and rendering marketable the two articles. 



The processes adopted by different manufactu- 

 rers vary very much, and this is the reason why 

 some samples are much more perfect than others. 

 That prepared according to the patent of J. H. 

 Smith, New York, is a good article, and we e.x- 

 tract so much of his account of his method, as will 

 give a general view of his process. It may not be 

 amiss to state, however, that the Philadelphia man- 

 ufacturers produce superior oil by a somewhat dif- 

 ferent mode ; and those of Cincinnati, by still anoth- 

 er system of treatment. After stating that the ves- 

 sel in which the lard is to be melted and boiled, 

 should be of a capacity of from ten to one hundred 

 barrels, and that the length of time required for the 

 separation depends much on the quality of the lard, 

 (that which is fresh not requiring more than four 

 or five hours, while that which is old may require 

 ten or twelve,) he goes on to say : 



'' My most important improvement in the within 

 described process, consists in the employment of 

 alcohol, which I mix with the lard in the kettle or 

 boiler at the commencement of the operation. When 

 the lard has become sufliciently fluid, I gradually 

 pour and stir into it about one gallon of alcohol to 

 every eighty gallons of lard, taking care to incor- 

 porate the two as intimately as possible ; and this 



has the eRect of causing a very perfect separation 

 of the Stearine and Eleaine from each other, by 

 the spontaneous granulation of the former, which 

 takes place when the boiled lard is allowed to cool 

 in a state of rest. I sometimes combine camphor 

 with the alcohol, dissolving about one-fourth of a 

 pound in each gallon of alcohol, which not only 

 gives an agreeable odor to the products, but ap- 

 pears to co-operate with the alcohol to effect the 

 object in view : the camphor, however, is not an 

 eissential ingredient, and may be omitted ; while 

 spirit of a lower proof than alcohol may be used, 

 but not with equal effector benefit. 



"After the boiling of the lard with the alcohol 

 h«s been continued for a sufficient length of time, 

 the fire is withdrawn or the supply of steam cut 

 off, and the mass is allowed to cool sufficiently to 

 bo ladled or drawn ofl^ into hogsheads or other suita- 

 ble coolers, when it is to be left at perfect rest to 

 cool down and acquire the ordinary temperature of 

 the atmosphere ; and as the cooling proceeds, the 

 granulation consequent upon the separation of the 

 Stearine from the Eleaine will take place and be- 

 come perfect. The material is then to be put into 

 bags and pressed moderately under a press of any 

 suitable kind, which will cause the Eleaine to flow 

 out in a state of great purity, there not being con- 

 tained within it any appreciable portion of Stea- 

 rine; and this pressure is to be continued until the 

 Stearine is as dry as it can be made in this way. 

 The masses of solid matter thus obtained," are to 

 be re-melted, and in this state are poured into box- 

 es or pans of the capacity often or twelve gallons, 

 and allowed to form lumps or blocks, which when 

 removed from these vessels, are piled or stacked in 

 a room for a week or ten days, more or less, the 

 room at a temperature of nearly 80°, which will 

 cause a sweating or oozing from the blocks, and 

 they will improve in quality. The blocks are then 

 to be rolled in cloths or put into bags, and these 

 placed between plates, are to be submitted to very 

 heavy pressure by means of an hydraulic press. 

 After this pressure, it is brought again into the 

 form of blocks, and these are to be cut up by 

 means of revolving or other knives or cutters, when 

 the pieces thus obtained are to be put into bnga 

 and subjected to the action of hot water or of steam, 

 in a press, until it becomes hard enough to be man- 

 ufactured into candles, or put up for other purpo- 

 ses to which it may be desired to apply it. And 

 the manner of subjecting it to the action of heated 

 water or steam is, to place the bags containing the 

 Stearine, in a box or chest into which heated water 

 or steam may be introduced, but not to such extent 

 as to fuse the Stearine. A follower is then to be 

 placed against the bags contained in the chest or 

 box, and moderate pressure made upon them, and 

 the material will now be found to have acquired 

 all the required hardness, and to possess a wax- 

 like consistency, such as would generally cause it 

 to be mistaken for wax." 



We consider the manufacture of oil from lard, 

 as one of the most important ones, particularly for 

 the agriculture of the great West, that has yet 

 been attempted ; and its influence is as yet but be- 

 ginning to be felt in the country generally. For 

 the use of the light houses on the lakes west of 

 Ontario, about 11,000 gallons are annually requir- 

 ed ; for steamboats, ships, machinery, &c. west of 

 the Alleghanies, about 30,000 gallons more, mak- 

 ing a total of some 40,000 gallons annually; and 

 this amoundt is rapidly increasing. 



We find in the Cincinnati Gazette, the follow- 



ing statement respecting one of the manufactories 

 of lard oil in that city, and it must be remembered 

 that this is only one of many establishments al- 

 ready in operation for this mamufacture. They 

 are springing up in Illinois, Indiana, Michigon,and 

 Ohio; and the increasing demand for latd ni the 

 Atlanic cities, proves that the manufacture is not 

 confined to the country west of the mountams. 



" R. W. Lee & Co. use every twentyfour hours, 

 sixteen barrels of lard at their establishmer.t. Jt 

 requires portions of two hogs to make a keg of 

 lard ; and portions of five hogs to make a barrel. 

 We killed, last year, about one hundred and eight 

 thousand of these animals in the city, and tlio cal- 

 culation is that about the same number are killed 

 out of it and brought tn the city, so that we may 

 put down the number in our market, at two hund- 

 red and sixteen thousand. From these data it will 

 be seen that one manufactory uses up the lard of 

 IGO hogs every twentyfour hours, or 1120 a week, 

 or 4800 a month , or 58,400 a year !* so that a few 

 manufactories of this kind would consume portions 

 of all the swine that the farmers in our section of 

 the country could raise." 



The farmers of the Mississippi valley can make 

 lard enough to supply the United States with oi! 

 and candles, we have no doubt, and probaLly fur 

 nish some for exportation, to be returned to us in 

 the form of olive oil, as, from the demand tor lard 

 for exportation in our chief cities, is nov^ Joubt 

 less the case. 



There is no question but that the oil made from 

 pure lard is fitter for every purpose to which olive 

 oil is applied, than that, and the difference in prict 

 makes the transmutation an object of soma conse- 

 quence. 



There is certainly no assignable limit to thi 

 quantity of pork and lard that the West can pro 

 duce, should the demand in any form warrant ih' 

 efforts of the farmers in that department of agri 

 culture; and of the quality of the oil when proper 

 ly prepared, there cannot be the least doubt. Th 

 Cleveland Herald, in announcing the establishmeii 

 ofa lard oil manufactory in that place, says :— 

 " Lard oil for machinery and wool is unrivallec 

 It can be made to remain fluid in the coldest wealh 

 er, and the oil can no more come back to lard, tlia 

 whiskey can be brought back to corn, when it i 

 properly manufactured. The stearine caudles ar 

 of various qualities, from common to those exceed 

 ing the best of eperm. They burn better, stand 

 greater temperature, last longer, and are, as we! 

 as the oil, afforded much cheaper than sperm." 



Corn oil might be made to a great extent in th 

 West, and considerable quantities have alread 

 been brought eastward. But the fact that it i 

 only produced in distilleries, and that its use mu6 

 be coupled with the extension of one of the greal 

 est evils that can afflict any country, will prevel 

 the manufacture to any extent. We have seei| 

 corn oil burned in lamps, and it proved of the bef 

 q'lality for that purpose ; and could its produ 

 be separated from that of alcohol, think it ■" 

 soon become one of profit to the western cot 

 As it is, oil from lird will be depended on ;o 

 ply the country west of the mountains, and 

 the quantity that has already been exported 





•We give the article as we find it, but do not see lio 

 the results stated follow from tlie datagiren. five li": 

 to a barrel, and sixteen barrels daily, ore SO hogs d.'iil 

 instead of IGU, ntid so throughout the reckoning. — Ed 

 Cult. 



