OLEOMARGARINE, from the Latin oleum, oil, and marga (the latter from the Greek margarete) a pearl; margarine being the solid derived from olive and other oils under pressure, and so-called from its pearl-like appearance. The name is applied to a prod uct of beef fat, and was given to it by act of the legislature of New York, with a view to prevent the sale of the article as dairy butter, by having it stamped or branded legibly with this name under penalty duly applied for neglect thereof. The material of which the article is manufactured is beef fat, excepting the suet and the fat of the kidneys, which parts are left in the carcass for the butcher. The caul and the enveloping fat of the intestines only are employed—except in cases of adulteration. The process of manufac ture is as follows: the beef carcass having been permitted to hang until the animal heat has entirely left it the fat is placed in tanks of cold water and thoroughly cleansed from all impurities, this process three times repeated. It is next conveyed to the cutting an instrument supplied with revolving knives, which cut it into small bits, when it is forced as a pulp through a screen or colander. This pulp is now placed in the melting-kettle, in which it is subjected to a heat of 112° to 118' F., being at the same time vigorously stirred by an agitator, or paddler, worked by machinery. From the melting-kettle the melted fat is run into a series of vats, the refuse or residuum passing through a valve in the bottom of the kettle, and into receptacles for tallow. From the vats the oil is transported in metal-lined coolers (wagons drawn by hand) to a room which is kept at a temperature of 85° to 87°, where it becomes a granulated mass. In this form it is served to the hydraulic presses by the following method: an upright shaft, having a revolving horizontal wheel at the top, stands at a convenient height from the ground for service. On the outer extremity of the spokes of this wheel are arranged boxes in which the material is placed, being first packed in cloths; it thus takes form, like that of a square loaf of bread, being then transferred to metal plates in the press, plate after plate being covered in layers until the press is full. The power is then applied, when the
pure oil runs off into a reservoir, and the residue (stearine) is left in thin white sheets resembling parafline. These are afterwards collected and packed in hogsheads, for dis posal to those who make use of the article. The solid elements of the fat have now been entirely eliminated in the stearine, the tallow, and the refuse—the latter being the wash of the coolers, which is obtained by thoroughly scalding the latter. This is after wards run through gutters into the tallow-room. Here it passes into a large tank, from which it is removed in barrels to an iron vat resembling a vertical boiler, where it is put under steam-pressure and the tallow obtained; the whole of which goes to the soap manufacturers and tallow-chandlers, the final refuse in the iron vat being expelled through a manhole, packed in casks, and disposed of for fertilizing purposes. From the press-room reservoir, the oil is pumped to the batter-room, where it is received in large churns worked by steam-power. In these, after being combined with a proportion of one-fifth milk, it goes through a churning process which occupies about forty minutes. From the churns the product is run into coolers containing broken ice, with which it is thoroughly mixed to solidify it, being afterwards separated from the ice on tables. The butter, bring of unequal consistency and temperature, is next passed through a machine called a crusher, out of which it comes a perfectly homogeneous mass. It now goes to the salting-table, where it is salted and worked, after which it is packed in boxes, firkins, and barrels, every package being branded " oleomargarine " according to law. This manufacture in New York amounts to about 350,000 lbs. per week; there are manufac tories in other cities as to which no statistics are available. In 1880 the article interfered so greatly with the sale of dairy butter, particularly in competition with the export trade in the latter, through false representation, as to arouse a powerful opposition to its manufacture and sale, both on the part of dairymen, and that of the New York produce exchange.