12 BULLETIN 904, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
of the large refiners has furnished a valuable outlet for the crude oil 
of producers who for one reason or another have not installed refining 
equipments. 
The starch and hominy plants which do not refine their oil or 
sell their entire output to other producers dispose of the crude oil 
mostly to brokers and soap makers. , 
HANDLING AND DISPOSING OF THE OIL CAKE. 
The oil cake from corn germs has a well-recognized feeding value. 
As previously stated, it contains from 5 to 7 per cent of fat when 
obtained in hominy mills and from 8 to 12 per cent when produced . 
in starch plants. When this cake is ground and mixed with feed 
products the fat content of the resulting mixture ranges from 3 to 
6 per cent. Practically all the oil cake is utilized for this purpose. 
The bran and husks and the poorer quality of meal must be disposed 
of as feed and is sold by the dry millers under the name of ‘‘hominy 
feed.’ The starch makers produce a feed which they usually call 
‘“‘oluten feed.’’ This gluten feed generally carries a guaranty of 
about 20 per cent of protein. All the feeds are marketed under a 
guaranty as to the content of fat. The feed stock from the hominy 
mills (see fig. 2) can be sold separately because it has sufficient fat, 
but when mixed with the bran and husks it becomes necessary to add 
the oil cake in order to bring the fat content up to the amount 
expected infeeds. It is generally stated that the value of a feed, in 
so far as it is reflected in the price, depends mostly on the protein 
content and not so much on the fat content. Thus, a feed with 6 per 
cent of fat would not bring an appreciably greater revenue than one 
containing only 5 per cent. Hence, an excessive amount of oil in 
the cake is carefully avoided. 
The question of color is important with regard to food: Although 
a dark color has no effect on the feeding value, it immediately affects 
the price, because buyers are accustomed to a light-colored feed. 
Excessive pressure in the expeller, which insures a maximum yield of 
oil, so darkens the cake that it is thought the reduced price obtain- 
able for the feed because of the darker color may perhaps offset the 
gain in the yield of oil. At one plant where hydraulic presses are in 
operation the oil cake is not mixed with the feed, but is sold separately 
as a dairy feed. | 
The question of extracting the oil from the cake by means of | 
solvents and thus removing all the oil has in recent years received 
considerable attention, owing largely to the high price of corn oil. 
It is understood that already such extracting systems are being 
operated by several large corn-oil producers. Just hew the removal 
of all or nearly all the fat from the germ would affect the feed problem 
