The Chemistry of Cookery

pretences. As every bale of cotton yields half a ton of seed, and every ton of seed may be made to yield 28 lbs. to 32 lbs. of crude oil, the available quantity is very great. At present only a small quantity is made, the surplus seed being used as manure. Its fertilising value would not be diminished by removing the oil, which is only a hydro-carbon, _i.e._ material supplied by air and water. All the fertilising constituents of the seed are left behind in the oil-cake from which the oil has been pressed. Hitherto cotton-seed oil has fallen among thieves. It is used as an adulterant of olive oil; sardines and pilchards are packed in it. The sardine trade has declined lately, some say from deficient supplies of the fish. I suspect that there has been a decline in the demand due to the substitution of this oil for that of the olive. Many people who formerly enjoyed sardines no longer care for them, and they do not know why. The substitution of cotton-seed oil explains this in most cases. It is not rancid, has no decided flavour, but still is unpleasant when eaten raw, as with salads or sardines. It has a flat, cold character, and an after taste that is faintly suggestive of castor oil; but faint as it is, it interferes with the demand for a purely luxurious article of food. This delicate defect is quite inappreciable in the results of its use as a frying medium. The very best lard or ordinary kitchen butter, eaten cold, has more of objectionable flavour than refined cotton-seed oil. I have not tasted poppy-seed oil, but am told that it is similar to that from the cotton-seed. As regards the quantities available, some idea may be formed by plucking a ripe head from a garden poppy and shaking out the little round seeds through the windows on the top. Those who have not tried this will be astonished at the numbers produced by each flower. As poppies are largely cultivated for the production of opium, and the yield of