The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1882-02-28

ton Of neea ~ sold, and the OIL man - So
eSS.75 on the ton he bought. This trans.
action Is very beautiful in the abstract,
and thrice crowns King Cotton who has
invaded the Olive groves of Italy, the
land Of Goshen, and even the sacred pre-
cincts of Porkopolis with his edible
products.
Truly has it been said by the farmer,
81 pay for all" It seems to MS that In
the cotton seed transaction he pays about
500 per cent. to get back his ton of cot
ton seed, but he has the consolation of
of having put over 600 per cent. into the
pockets Of the oil-mill men, and benefited
mankind accordingly.
The planter who sells cotton seed and
buys back the meal discovers the true in
wardness of the transaction in much less
time that it has taken US to write this ar
ticle. The consequence is that not one
ton of meal out of 500 ever finds its way
back to the plantation from which it was
sold. The result is seen in worn out old
fields in the uplands, and a steady falling
off in production in the river lands, and
unless there is a change in this reckless
depletion of the soil our cotton will de-
generate to the Bumble-bee !" variety,
which grows on the yellow clay hills Of
Georgia, and the next generation will GO
West to look for new land.
Cotton-seed literature is very interest
ing, and there is a great deal of it printed
for free reading by this generation. The
Oil-mill companies are able to pay for any
number of romances on this subject. We
see some agricultural journals with stand
ing articles, lauding cotton-seed meal as 3
fuel and fertilizer, and showing the great
advantage (?) which inures to the farmer
by selling the seed and buying back the
meal These articles are advertisements,
paid for by the oil-mill companies, but
are printed in such q way as to impress
the farmer with the idea that they ema-
nate from the editor, and are endorsed by
him In some cases even editorials are
written urging exchange of seed for meal
at present rates. The charitable will sup
pose that this advice is given through
ignorance.
But we are told that cotton seed are
unfit for stock feed on account of the oil
and hulls," but that the meal is better
than corn meal for this purpose. 1t must
be very ignorant man who has lived in
the cotton belt any part of his life and
failed to find out that cotton seed are
good Winter food for cattle and sheep.
For years we have fed cotton seed, both
raw and cooked, to milch COWS, work
oxen and other dry cattle, with the best
results. We have seen many focks of
sheep wintered on cotton seed, and have
known hogs to do we'll on the seed when
rotted.
The following table will show the COM
parative feeding value of raw cotton seed
and cotton-seed meal:
Digestible Organic Carlo
matter. Albuminoids. Hydrates Fats
e eoT SSt sssa issa g. 81 rs rs e.
A given weight of cotton seed is worth
as much for feeding mich cows and fat
tening stock as the same weight of cot
ton-seed meal The oil is rich in animal
fats and is palatable both to man and
beast.
Every dairyman in New Orleans buys
cotton-seed hulls from the oil-mills, with
which he feeds his mich cows, and has
done so for years. Cows are disposed to
be dainty in their tastes, and are very
good judges of what is proper food.
We have often seen eowe refuse slOps
that had been prepared for them, but have
never seen one turn up her nose at cotton
seed. 1t is evident then that for feeding
purposes cotton seed is about equal to
cotton-seed meal, and when seed are 90
per ton and meal $50, it costs FIVE times
more to feed with meal than with seed to
obtain like results.
1t is claimed that manure from stock
fed on the meal is superior to that of
stock fed on the raw seed. We are not
prepared to accept this statement, as the
hull, which is rich in potash, is an inn
portant element in the soil.
The oil mills are coming fortunes. The
price of cotton seed has risen steadily
from o to SO on the plantation. The
amount of sales is increasing yearly, the
farmer gets poorer and the miller gets
richer. The miller says he "only wants
the oil in the seeds" Then why not re-
turn the bulls and meal to the farmer
The miller in time would grow rich on
this arrangement, and although it would
be no special benefit to the farmer to
have the oil expressed from his seed for
the benefit of mankind, it would be In
fnitely better than the outrageous extor-
ton that is now practiced on him by the
oil-mill companies.
There is no other agricultural product
in the world beside cotton seed that is
sold for so much less than its value. One
hundred pounds of cotton seed are of
equal value to 100 pounds of corn, and
every farmer should demonstrate this
truth on his own farm. The oil mills do
not, and will not, give fair price or rea-
sonable exchange for cotton seed, there
fore we advise that you keep your seed
at home. For the present, feed all you
can and save The manure. Haul off the
surplus seed and dump them on the
ground, wet thoroughly and throw up in
covelike piles like potato hunks, and
cover over with foot Of earth to absorb
the gases which it will generate when
heated. 1t will answer every purpose of
cotton-seed meal as a fertilizer, and will
be ready to put on the young corn by the
last of March. The cotton seed crop of
the South would yield annually oil to the
value of more than $5O,OOO,0OO. This
valuable producJ should uvt be lvst to tho
world, but the farmer who sweats to pre-
duce it should share the profits.
Next week we will continue this subject
and endeaVor to elucidate the cotton-seed
problem.
One of the legends upon the wall of
the room in which the Wisconsin Dairy
xoo~ Aaa1nsn3:o- LII