14 BULLETIN 904, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
film. Its use in paint, therefore, has been limited to the cheap 
grades of barn paints, when combined with other and better drying 
‘oils. This use is also rapidly declinmg and will no doubt be entirely 
discontinued if the price of the oil remains high. 
When corn oil was first produced in marketable quantities it was 
used exclusively for technical purposes. Gradually, however, as 
refining methods were improved and the demand for edible oils 
increased, the oil was diverted to edible purposes until at present 
probably 75 per cent of the total output is utilized in that way. It 
is in demand for practically all purposes for which cottonseed oil is 
used, and the producers, brokers, and refiners are confident that in 
time all the corn oil of good quality will be used for edible purposes. 
The shortage and the high price of olive oil during recent years 
have served to stimulate the use of other vegetable oils for salad-oil 
purposes, and corn oil is being sold in Increasing quantities to meet 
this demand. In line with this development its use in cookery has 
also been increased. The sale of refined corn oil for household 
purposes is at present limited almost entirely to a few firms. 
Corn oil can be heated to a relatively high temperature without 
smoking or developing an odor and does not darken as readily as 
some other edible oils. In this connection it may be mentioned 
that there is a conviction that in cookery it is more economical to 
use liquid fats than solid fats, because there is less waste. It is 
easier to measure the necessary quantity when the material pours 
than when it is solid; consequently excess fat is more easily avoided. 
There seems to be some difference of opinion among bakers regard- 
ing the adaptability of corn oil for shortening in crackers and bakery 
goods. The refined oil is used to some extent for this purpose and 
is said to give results similar to those obtained with cottonseed oil. 
Some bakers are inclined to believe that its use is limited because 
of its yellow color, such color beg undesirable in the manufacture 
of white goods like soda crackers. For sweet goods the oil is usually 
used blended with other vegetable oils. In bread it is also used by 
some bakers when mixed with lard. 
The general impression gained from interviews with large bakers 
is that the future of refined corn oil in the baking industries is assured. 
The principal reason why it is not used more generally at present 
is because it is not obtainable at all times in sufficient quantities. 
' The bulk of the refined oil is marketed as package goods for the 
retail trade; therefore for the bakers only such quantities are avail- 
able as are not needed to satisfy the retail demands. A consider- 
able increase in the production of the refined oil could no doubt 
easily be absorbed in this field provided the price compared favor- — 
ably with that of other oils suitable for the same purpose. 
