16 BULLETIN 439^ V. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



industry many new trade uses for the oil have been found, and on 

 account of its lower cost it has become an important competitor of 

 other vegetable oils. 



One of the principal uses of the oil in Asiatic countries, chiefly 

 China, is for food, it being consumed largely in the crude state by the 

 poorer classes, but among the rich it is boiled and allowed to stand 

 until clarified. The oil is also utilized in the Orient in the manu- 

 facture of foodstuffs, paints, waterproof goods, soap, varnish, and 

 printing ink, and for lubricating and lighting. 



Soy-bean oil was at first used in Europe and America in its crude 

 state principally in the manufacture of soft soaps. It is now claimed 

 that some soap manufacturers have a secret process by which the oil 

 can be utilized in the manufacture of the best grades of hard soap' 

 To some extent it is being refined and placed on the European 

 markets as an edible table oil. The refined oil is also used in the 

 manufacture of butter substitutes, and in the Mediterranean coun- 

 tries to blend for salad oil. In the search by manufacturers for new 

 oils to replace linseed oil for paint purposes partly or wholly, soy- 

 bean oil was found the most suitable. In Europe and the United 

 States, paint grinders are using large quantities of soy-bean oil suc- 

 cessfully in the manufacture of certain types of paint. Other trade 

 uses of this oil are the manufacture of linoleum and of a rubber sub- 

 stitute, for which a factory has been established in Germany. 



As the process of refining soy-bean oil is improved and perfected 

 there seems to be scarcely any use in which oil has a part in the 

 manufacture of foodstuffs to which it wiU not be an important 

 adjunct. 



Soy-bean oil has been studied with other oils in a series of experi- 

 ments carried on by the Office of Home Economics and found to 

 compare favorably with the more common culinary table oils with 

 respect to the thoroughness with which it is assimilated. 



ANALYSES OF IMPORTANT VARIETIES OF SOY BEANS. 



Chemical analyses indicate that considerable variation in compo- 

 sition exists among varieties of soy beans. In determining the range 

 in the oH and protein contents of over 500 varieties grown in the 

 variety tests at Arhngton Farm, Va., the percentage of oil was 

 found to range from 11.8 to 22.5 and of protein from 31 to 46.9. 

 The composition of the principal varieties grown in the United States 

 shows a very wide range in the percentage of oil (11.8 to 20.3) and 

 also of protein (34.1 to 46.9) when grown in any one locality. At 

 the present time the Mammoth YeUow variety is most generally 

 grown throughout the South and is the one used in the production 

 of oil. The yellow-seeded varieties, which are most suitable for the 

 production of oil and meal, contain the highest percentage of oil. 



