16 BULLETIN 350, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The color reactions obtained by the use of the various reagents 
show some differences, yet they bear a certain fixed relationship, 
differing usually only in intensity. From the color reactions pro- 
duced it can not be stated that the quality of one oil is superior to 
that of any other, but a close relationship is clearly obvious. The 
test with fuming nitric acid and water, as prescribed in the United 
States Pharmacopoeia x for the expressed almond oil, depends upon 
the formation of a polymerized solid compound with the olein of the 
oil. This test emphasized most strongly the similarity of cherry- 
kernel oil to official almond oil and also to the other related oils. 
Inasmuch as almond kernels and peach and apricot kernels yield 
fixed oils of commercial value, attention is called to the close resem- 
blance of cherry oil to these oils. Careful inspection of the chemical 
End physical properties has shown that, although it is not identical 
with either almond, peach, or apricot oil, it is not fundamentally 
different from any of these. The variations observed may not be 
due wholly to difference in composition, since often fixed oils from 
the same source possess varying properties. The condition of the 
material from which the oil is extracted and also the seasonal factors 
are influential in affecting the ultimate quality of an oil. 
Because of this close relationship, cherry- kernel oil should there- 
fore be adapted to the same uses for which the other oils are 
employed. 
AVAILABLE QUANTITY OF THE FIXED OIL. 
Of first importance in connection with the possible commercial 
utilization of waste cherry pits is the available quantity of the mate- 
rial. A conservative estimate of a normal year's output from the 
red sour cherries is 1,600 tons. By actual experiment it was found 
that 28 per cent of the pits consists of kernels. On this basis there 
would be available annually 448 tons of kernels. By the use of mod- 
ern h}^draulic presses this quantity of kernels should yield 134 tons 
of fixed oil, or 268,000 pounds. In addition to this, there is also an 
annual accumulation of about 650 tons of pits from the imported 
cherries. Only 9 per cent of these pits Avas found to consist of 
kernels. The quantity of kernels available from this source, there- 
fore, would be 58.5 tons. On extraction with ether these kernels 
yielded 50 per cent of oil. Subjected to hydraulic pressure about 45 
per cent would be obtainable, which would give approximately 26 
tons, or 52,000 pounds of oil. Therefore, the total quantity of fixed 
oil available from the annual accumulation of cherry pits, both 
domestic and imported, would be 160 tons, or 320,000 pounds. 
1 The Pharmacopoeia of the United States . . . Eighth decennial revision, p. 307. Phil- 
adelphia, 1907. 
