500 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



COTTONSEED OIL. 



Dr O C (rodsmark of Chattanooga, Tennessee, 

 contributes the article below to the Cottonseed 

 Oil Magazine : — 



Being in frequent receipt of letters of inquiry 

 from physicians and those most interested in 

 healthful living, as to just how the better grades 

 of shortening are now made from the cotton- 

 seed, we gladly make the following short state- 

 ment as to its manufacture, and care before 

 shipment : 



Probably no one food product is elicting 

 more serious consideration, or is standing the 

 strong limelight investigation of leading phy- 

 sicians and chemists better, than is the highly 

 refined cottonseed product. 



It is now well established that the better grades 

 of cottonseed oil, besides being a regular food 

 fat, and having excellent shortening qualities 

 possesses all the advantages and imparts to the 

 depleted system all the real benefits that have 

 ever been gained by the much-advertised cod- 

 liver oil, with none of its detrimental effects 

 upon the organs of digestion. 



When first taken from the gin, the seed is 

 freed from all dust and every particle of dirt 

 that it is possible to remove. This is done by 

 machines especially prepared for the purpose. 

 It is then put through the ' scalping ' process, 

 by which every remaining particle of lint and 

 fibre is taken away. It is then passed through 

 the hullers, which remove the outside skin, or 

 hulls, leaving only the clean sweetmeats, free 

 from every source of contamination. These 

 meats are then passed through the rolls, and 

 heated so as to express the rich nutty oil that 

 has become a staple food fat in health institu- 

 tions and among vegetarians generally. 



Before reaching our table this oil is filtered 

 and refiltered through fuller's earth, a substance 

 found in nature. This to a great extent re- 

 moves the white flaky stearin, or palmitin, that 

 gives the oil its white appearance and makes it 

 thicken more readily in cold weather. After 

 thorough Alteration the oil is heated to a point 

 not less than 300 degrees ¥ t \ or 100 degrees 

 hotter than boiling water. While at this tem- 

 perature, live, superheated steam is passed 

 through it, thoroughly cleansing it, so that no 

 germs of decay or disease can exist in the oil. 

 It is then drawn off into immense covered vats, 

 where no particle of dust can come to it, and 

 there it is allowed to ripen, or mellow up. 



There is a tendency for the slight remaining 

 palmitin to settle to the bottom of these im- 

 mense tanks, consequently the first few hun- 

 dred gallons drawn off has a whiter appearance, 

 and is more inclined to become thick and hard 

 in cool weather, than that drawn later from the 

 same tank. 



While this palmitin is not unhealthful, and 

 many cooks think it gives a better, richer body 

 of fat to the oil for cooking purposes, yet we 

 prefer to see the oil clear, having a slightly 

 yellow-green shade similar to that of pure olive 

 oil made from the green olives. 



All cottonseed oil will become white and solid 

 in cold weather, unless treated with chemicals 

 to prevent its so doing, and we would warn any 

 one against the use of such an oil. 



In ooraparing this with other kinds of cooking 

 oil now on the market, Prof. Moore, of the 

 Arkansas University, gives its percentage of 

 digestibility as follows : pure cottonseed oil, 

 93 37 ; olive oil, 88*81; corn oil, 86-47; peanut 

 oil (or butter) 85-87 ; lard, 73"88 ; beef suet, 

 73'66 ; thus placing cottonseed oil in advance of 

 any other known cooking or salad oil. Dr 

 George Brown, ex-president of the Anti-Tuber- 

 culosis League of America, says of this oil: 1 Put 

 it on your tables and in your drug stores, and 

 give it to your children to eat, and you will raise 

 fleshy children and children that will bo 

 absolutely free from tubercular and scrofulous 

 diseases.' 



Dr Harvey W Wiley, Chief of the Bureau of 

 Chemistry, United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, says: 'It is a wholesome, palatable, 

 nutritious cooking, salad and table oil. One 

 unit will furnish two and one-half times as 

 much heat and energy as the same amount 

 of grain.' 



When we contrast the absolute cleanliness 

 and painstaking care exercised in the manu- 

 facture of this oil with the entire disregard of 

 sanitary principle as manifested in tho great 

 slaughter-houses of our land, we revolt at the 

 thought of eating the 'compounds ; and solid 

 shortenings that flood our markets today. 



The oil when drawn from the tanks, is shipped 

 direct to the consumer in new tin cans hermeti- 

 cally sealed, or is placed in new barrels that 

 have been carefully lined with paraffin, so that 

 no taste or odour reaches the oil. 



It depends entirely upon its purity for its 

 keeping qualities, and will withstand any climate 

 if it is kept perfectly clean. A few drops of 

 water will, however, spoil a barrel of the purest 

 oil. The can to which it is to be drawn should 

 never be rinsed out, for a few drops of water 

 settling to the bottom of the can will ferment 

 and ruin the whole amount. 



There is today no other shortening or salad oil 

 known equal to the better grades of cottonseed 

 oil. Olive oil itself is not so easily assimilated 

 and taken up by the organs of digestion a3is the 

 oil of which we speak. These statements apply, 

 however, only to the better grades, and not to 

 the cheaper brands of oil to be found and 

 advertised almost everywhere. — Indian Trade 

 Journal, Sept. 15. 



VEGETABLE WAX PRODUCTION. 



A new industry is developing in Northern 

 Mexico which promises to be profitable whilst 

 requiring little capital to work it. Some time 

 ago samples of wax extracted from the Cande- 

 lilla plant were submitted to a London firm, who 

 at once declared their willingness to buy a large 

 quantity of the produce. It was said that this 

 vegetable wax was chemically indistinguishable 

 from beeswax. Two companies were formed and 

 patents were obtained relating to the extraction 

 of the wax from the plant. The plants which 

 grow wild in profusion are cut down, thrown 

 into vats to simmer, and the wax is easily 

 separated. This raw product has a purity of 

 90 per cent., and the cut down plants grow again 

 within a year or 18 months.— Times South Amer- 

 ican Supplement, Oct. 25. 



