Packages.

—Stearine is always packed in slack packages, the regular package being 34 inches high, 90 inches in circumference at the bilge and 23⁵⁄₈ inches across the head with eight patented hoops. Oleo oil is always put into a special tierce which is 34 inches high, 81 inches in circumference at bilge and 21 inches across heads, with six iron hoops.

Oil House Yields.

—The yields of oleo oil and stearine from stock are regulated largely by the prices of the different articles, as, for instance, when oil is low and stearine is high it is advisable to press the stock at a lower temperature, making all the stearine possible. Reverse the conditions and it is advisable to press the stock at a high temperature, making all the oil possible, hence the general yield of oil in stearine is largely regulated by the price of the two.

Grading Fats.

—As the different kinds of fat have more or less different flavors, it is wise to make careful selections in order to get the best results, it being impossible to make a grade of all No. 1 oil, 10 or 15 per cent of the total being No. 2. The balance of the product, eliminating the 10 or 15 per cent should be strictly No. 1 oil, but if the whole output is made into one grade, it would not be acceptable as No. 1. Hence it will be seen that it is the better part of wisdom to make two and sometimes three grades of this product, as indicated above.

Of all the oleo oil made in this country, 75 to 90 per cent is shipped to Holland, where it is made into butterine and distributed throughout the continent and England. The requirements of these consumers seem to have changed within the last few years, and the melters of oleo oil strive to get the oils in the condition to best suit the Hollanders’ demands. What they seem to require is, first of all, a very neutral oil, or in other words an oil with as little flavor and smell as possible, whereas only a few years ago just the opposite was the case, and the whole endeavor at that time was to get an oil with as much flavor as could be made. In grading the fats a neutral or No. 1 oil is obtained from the following parts:

For a No. 2, or second grade, which, though it may realize nearly as high a price as the first oil, is an oil of high flavor, the following parts are used: