Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-07-14
COTTON SEED AND ITS USES.

When stranger comes to New Orleans
during the cotton picking season, he will no.
tice here and there on the streets and levees
among the drays loaded with cotton bales, a
dray with high sidings, somewhat like those
used by charcoal haulers. They are cotton
seed wagons. The seed when hauled to the
mills. is covered with a short lint which the
cotton gin cannot take off, as the saws are not
close enough together. The seed is first put in
screen of cylindrical form, and the dust sift.
ed out then it is winnowed or famed against
screen, so that dirfhnd heavy substances
fall from it. The close.set gins are then used
to scrape the lint from the seed. The seed
then goes into cylinder containing twenty
four cylindrical knives, and as the cylinder
revolves the seed is cut up very fine, after
which the hulls are separated from the meal.
The meal is pressed between rollers, and put
in woolen bags, which are placed between
horsehair mats having leather backs Auted
inside, so that the oil can escape easily when
the meal is put in the press.
The meal is subjected to hydraulic pres
sure of 1876 tons. The bags are left in the
press seventeen minutes. The oil runs off,
and the meal is pressed into solid cake-oil
cake, of which shall speak further on. The
oil is pumped into another room, and either
barreled in crude state or refined. In ref
ming the deposit falls to the bottom, and the
refined oil amounts to about 81 per cent. Of
the crude.
The first product derived from this process
is the lint which amounts to about per cent
of crop-that is, the country gin takes SO
per cent. of the crop, and the seed retains 5
per cent. which the mills secure. The cotton
is very white and clean, but very short,
and the best of it sells at eight cents per
pound. 1t is used TO make cotton batting
The crop of the oil mills amounted to 5000
bales last year.
Second-The hulls constitute about one.half
of the seed. They are used for fuel to run
the mills and thus the mills do not need to
buy any coal. The ashes make valuable
fertilizer and they are also leached for the
purpose Of obtaining lye to make soap.
Third-The oil amounts to about l5,000,.
900 gallons in the United States, and about
100000 gallons are yearly exported to Eu-
rope, where it is used to adulterate olive oil.
Three gallons Of cotton seed oil and one of
olive oil make four gallons of the average
olive oil, and the cotton oil can hardly be
detected.
The question naturally arises. If we have
to eat olive oil which is made from cotton
seed, would it not be we'll for home manu-
facturers to prepare it, and not allow the con-
sumner to pay two freights across the Atlantic
Fourth-The oil cake is of rich yellow
color, and is used principally to feed stock,
for which purpose It is ground and fed like
corn meal. It is shipped in sacks, each
weighing 200 lbs.
Fifth-The deposit left when the oil is re-
fined is used to make soap, and also for
making dyes. Thus nothing is lost and the
cotton plant takes its place as the most won.
derful production of our country. There are
in the country now 6fty.six seed.cotton oil
mills, of which Louisiana has nine. Six Of
them are in New Orleans, Mississippi has
nine, Tennessee and Texas each eight, Ar.
kansas four, Missouri and Alabama each
two, and Georgia one. The amount Of seed
used is about 4l0,000 tons last year, which
cost them more than 100000.
Last year on account of the cotton.seed
war; the price went up to Sl7 per ton, but
now an association has been formed and the
price is regulated by the law of supply and
demand. The industry is growing, but it is
said that the Standard Oil Company has its
hand in it, and if such is the fact the cotton
planters and mill owners will find trouble ere
long