Within a few days there is a crop of
larvae which, to quote the "Chemische Zentralblatt," yields forty-five
grams per kilogram of a yellow oil. This product, we should hope, is
used for axle-grease and nitroglycerin, although properly purified it
would be as nutritious as any other--to one who has no imagination.
Driven to such straits Germany would have given a good deal for one of
those tropical islands that we are so careless about.
It might have been supposed that since the United States possessed the
best land in the world for the production of cottonseed, coconuts,
peanuts, and corn that it would have led all other countries in the
utilization of vegetable oils for food. That this country has not so
used its advantage is due to the fact that the new products have not
merely had to overcome popular conservatism, ignorance and
prejudice--hard things to fight in any case--but have been deliberately
checked and hampered by the state and national governments in defense of
vested interests. The farmer vote is a power that no politician likes to
defy and the dairy business in every state was thoroughly organized.
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