2 BULLETIN 769, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
A comparison of the data in Tables 1 to 7 indicates that, as a 
people, we are rapidly increasing our use of vegetable oils. This is due 
partly to the recent advances in our processes of making hardened 
fats from oil by hydrogenation (page 10), and partly to the increased 
consumption of oleomargarine and vegetable margarine. Not only have 
our domsetic requirements for fats and oils increased, but during the 
past four years the allies, especially England, were to a large extent cut 
off from their usual sources of supply, the colonies in Africa and Asia. 
Fortunately we did not reach the position in which Germany 
found herself at the outbreak of the Great War — almost entirely 
dependent upon foreign countries for vegetable oils. For many years 
Germany had been mobilizing her resources, while preparing indus- 
trially and agriculturally for war. She had, however, permitted a 
very serious lapse in her scheme for making herself self-sustaining, in 
failing to provide for an adequate supply of fats and oils for food and 
technical needs. The advice of some of the foremost German scien- 
tists that those crops which would yield enough oil to supply the 
country's needs be developed was disregarded, and potatoes, grains, 
and sugar beets were planted, to the exclusion of the oil-producing 
crops. From the beginning of the war, therefore, Germany was 
forced to depend almost entirely on other nations for the important 
vegetable fats and oils. Although possessing numerous oil mills, 
the materials which they pressed necessarily came from the overseas 
colonies, or from foreign countries. 
In addition to the oils obtained from her own mills, Germany, before 
the war, imported a great deal from France, England, and the United 
States. So when the war cut off these supplies, the Germans were 
forced to fall back upon animal fats and oils. These might have 
proved sufficient to furnish the oil necessary for the proper nour- 
ishment of the people and for the production of glycerin for the 
armies, had it not been for the unfortunate lack of feed for the 
maintenance of the herds of swine, cattle, and sheep. To supplement 
the potatoes, hay, and grain fed to the stock, the accustomed concen- 
trates derived from the oil mills were needed. Since the supply of 
raw materials for these mills was not forthcoming, it became neces- 
sary to slaughter large numbers of hogs and other animals because of 
the lack of concentrates to feed them. For a time this compensated, 
to a certain extent, for the lack of vegetable oils previously imported, 
but soon Germany found herself very seriously embarrassed by a 
shortage of fats and oils. This situation makes it quite evident that 
a well-rounded agriculture should include oil-producing crops. 
DOMESTIC PRODUCTION AND IMPORTATION. 
In normal times the United States produces nearly 4,000,000,000 
pounds of fats and oils, exclusive of butter fat, imports over 
300,000,000, exports about 1,000,000,000, and consumes nearly 
3,500,000,000 pounds. Including the fat in the butter and cheese made 
