22 



History in the United States. 



Oleomargarine was first made in the United States experi- 

 mentally about the year. 1870, in the laboratory of Prof. 

 Chas. P. Chandler, at the School of Mines, Columbia 

 College, New York City. 



About the year 1873 a man by the name of Paraf started 

 a company in New York, called the Oleomargarine Manu- 

 facturing Company. The process he used was like Mege's, 

 but the material produced was a granular fat, with none of 

 the odor or taste of butter ; hence little was sold. 



About the same time or a little later, the United States 

 Dairy Company opened a factory in Brooklyn, N. Y., and 

 Dr. Henry A. Mott, Jr., the chemist of the company, studied 

 the Mege process and began a series of experiments to pre- 

 vent the crystallization. He succeeded in manufacturing an 

 article that closely resembled butter and the result of his 

 experiments has been adopted by all the manufacturers. 

 Prior to his discoveries the oleomargarine had a granular 

 consistence, and not the smooth, even texture of butter. 



After 1876 and 1877 many factories were established in 

 dill'erent sections of the country, most of them employing 

 Mott's process. About this time the Commercial Manufact- 

 uring Company began operations on a large scale in New 

 York and at one time made 50,000 pounds of the substance 

 daily, Avhich it is stated found a ready sale at a price ranging 

 from 15 to 22 cents per pound, according to the season and to 

 the form in which it was put up. To make about 50,000 

 pounds of the substance a day it was necessary to treat 122,000 

 pounds of fat a night. This amount of fat would yield 

 41,882 pounds of oleomargarine, which, with 20 per cent 

 added for milk and salt taken up, would make 50,258.5 

 pounds of the so-called butter at a cost of $7,272.95, or at 

 a rate of 14.4 cents per pound. This factory was closed 

 soon after the enactment of the prohibitory law in New 

 York. 



The annual report of the New York Produce Exchange 

 for 1889-90 states that the average price of oleomargarine at 

 New York in 1886 was 6^g to 6^ cents per i)Ound ; in 1887, 

 6| to Q\ cents per pound; in 1888, 7| to 7|| cents per 



