COTTONSEED-FLOUR

‘The ground whole cottonseed has in recent years attracted attention as a potential human food, plentiful and of exceptional richne . Tts milled and bolted flour contains an average of about 50% a imilable protein and 10 to 11% fat. It may be acceptably prepared in numerous ways—among others it blends well with wheat or other flour in bread-making—especially in steamed bread, gingerbread, etc. Its use cannot, however, be recommended at the present time because of the oceasionally toxic effect of its ‘‘go ypol’’ content—an effect which has been noted in the feeding of animals even when the diet has been carefully ‘‘halanced.’? It is probable that the near future will disclose means to eradicate the go ypol or to ro nr aa i a nullify its toxicity.: | Heating is the j ae a method generally a advocated, but this: y = has not yet been | \ proved consistently Cotton blo oms and seed-bolls (before and after opening) caicanily aaa. hat Boe ee tee Lot ee Be -: sat 7 pie -: Cie o%% eRe Osan eae 3 ie ee and (or, preferably, their ashes) as fertilizer; and the oil cake, or meal, as fertilizer and cattle-food. The refined oil serves as an excellent and inexpensive substitute for olive oil in cooking. It is also largely used in the manufacture of imitation butter, as a salad oul, and for packing sardines and other products. It 1s readily absorbed by the human system. ‘‘Summer yellow’? is the oil without the removal of the stearin; ‘“winter yellow’? is after its removal—which is accomplished by a refrigerating proee . Either kind can be reduced to a pale yellow by heating with fuller’s earth. ‘*Choice’’ oil is of a light lemon color and mild and neutral in flavor. ‘‘Prime’’ oil is sughtly darker and is sweet in flavor but without any seedy taste. The stearin used in the manufacture of cooking compounds is obtained by separation from the refined oil after the bleaching step. The lower grades of oil and the residue separated in refining are employed for various mechanical purposes and in soap manufacture.: The annual average value of the oi] obtained from the American cotton crop runs into several hundreds of millions of dollars, yet le than three generations ago the bulk of the seed was treated as a waste article and considered troublesome because of the difficulty of disposing of it. The real importance of the present extensive industry commenced with the still more recent date of 1855, when improved methods of decorticating the seed were invented.