Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1881-07-21
Cotton Seed and its Uses.
Emcl, Soap, Olive Oil, Stock E'oAs
der, and the Other Products OF
tho wonderful Plant

Cotton seed. when hauled to tho mills, is
covered with short lint which the cotton gin
cannot take of; ns tho saws nre not closo
enough together. Tho seed is first rut in n
screen Of cylindrical form. and the dust sir,-
cd out, then it is winnowed or famed against
screen, so that dirt nnd heavy substances
fall from it. The close set gins are then used
to scrapo The lint from tho seed. The seed
then goes into cylinder containing twenty
four cylindrical knives, and MS this cylinder
revolves tho secd is cut up very fine after
which the hulls are separated from tho meal.
The mcnl is pressed between rollers and nut
| in woolcn bags. which are placed bo
tween horse hair mats having leather backs
fluted inside. so that tho oil can escnpc easily
when the meal is put in the press.
The meal is subjected to hydraulic pres.
sure sur OF 296 tons. The bags are left in press
II minutes The oil runs off and tho meal
is pressed into a solid cakc-oil cake. "f
which shall speak further on Tho oil is
pumped into room, called the oil room, and
either barrcled in crude state or refined
IL IS refined by treating it with caustiu soda.
In refining the deposit falls to tho bottom
and the refined ell amounts to about so per
cent. Of the crude.
The FIRST product derived from this process
Is the lint, which amounts to about S prr
cent St q crop--that is tho country rin
taaes 10 per cent OF the crop and tho seed
re, rs'a'hs . per cent. which the mills socuro.
snort and the best Of it sclls at eight oents
per pound. II is used to mako cotton batting.
The crop Of tho oil mills amounted to s 900
bnlcs last year.
Second-The hulls constitute about ono
half of tho seed. They aro used for fuel to
run tho MILL and thus the mills do not need
to buy any coal. The ashes make n valua-
bic tertilizcr and they aro also loaolfed for
the purpose of obtaining lyo to make som.
Ihird-Thc oil amounts to about Is, 900 900
gallons in the United States, and ab,ut TO-
ooo,ooo gallons arc yearly exported to En
ropo. whero it is used to adultorate olivo oil.
Three gallons Of cotton seed oil and one of
oliro oil makes four gallons Of tho average
olive oil. and tho cotton oil can hardly bo
detected.
Tho question naturally arises, if wo bayo
to eat olive oil which is mado from cotton
seed. would it not be Well for homo manufac,
turers to prepare it and not allow tho cons
sumer to pay two (reights across the Atlan-
tic.
Fourth--Tho oil cake is of rich yellow
color, and is used principally to foed stock,
for which use 1t is ground and fed liko corn
meal. 1t is shippcd in sucks, each weighing
Fifh-.Thc deposit left whom tie oil ia ro.
fncd is used to make sonpand also for making
dyes. Thus nothing is lost, and the cotton
plant takos its paoo as the most wonderful
production Of our country. There arc in tho
country now fifty six cotton seed oil mills, of
which louisville has nine. Six Of thea, are
in this pity. Mississippi has rinc, Tennos-
SEQ md Texas each eight. Arkansas four,
siissodri dnd Alnhnma each two. qnd Geor..
gih ono. aud this is in Augusta. Tho amount
OF sond uaod is about four hundred and ten
,aousand tons yearly.