National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-02-11
THE COTTON SEED.
AN UNsUsPECTED INDUSTRY.
What the South Learned in Its Poycrty--Tho OIL
Obtained OF Great Value as Fertilizer
Other Uses TO Which the Cot.
ton.Sred Is Put.

All right, here goes-The Romance OF Cotton
sued In the lavish and careless days Of slavery
cotton was raised for its lint alone This was
swept OF the snowy surface of the field and the
rest was wasted Under the pressure Of poverty
the South learned that IL was just rs foolish TO
raise sheep for the fleece to raise a cotton. stalk
for lint and that the heavy seed from which the
fibre Powered was just as valuable as the mutton
from which the wool grew. The story Of the slow
but sure way In which the despised seed grew into
appreciation is an interesting one involving enor
nous figures and illustrating the progress that is
being made in the South
MAKING CRUDE OIL FROM SEED.
A year or two apo wrote n letter concerning
certain mills that had been established for the
purpose Of pressing the oil out Of cottonseod The
process was then rough ono aud the oil pro.
duced Of inferior grade. The bulk Of seed from
which the oil had been taken was made into
cakes and sold for stock food or fertilizer There
were then about sixteen sccd-on mills in the
South. CottOn-sccd was worth SO a ton, and the
oil thirty cents n gallon. There are now sixty
seven seed-oi mills aud the price Of couon.seed
has been doubled being now about sl2 ton.
This increase of 81 per ton for coton.seed adds
about 80 to every bale of cotton raised
by farmers who sell their seed, as each
bale represents half ton of seed. The
mills take thirty FIVE gallons of oil from every ton
aud sell It ut forty cents gallon. They thus take
Hi Of wealth from each ton OF seed and the dry
bulk len is better food or fertilizer than II was be-
fore the oil was taken out The sixty.sov mills
worked up 10000 tons last year, stripping out
f25OOOOO worth OF oil that had previously been
wasted, and paying the farmers nearly 81, 100000
more for the seed than the same seed would have
brought three years ago. This business is increas.
ing very rapidly, new mills being built every year.
REFINING THR CRUDE OIL.
But another step has been taken in the handling
OF cotton, and mills have been established for the
-. ia.
ercasing It's value. Oil that has been refined is
worth from sixty-ive cents TO 81 gallon while
crude oil Is worth only fifty, so that the refining
process adds about 30 per cent and makes the oil
Of one ton OF seed worth about So or one. fourth
the value Of the cotton that the seed produced
There are nine OF these refneries now In operation
One Of them, in Montgomery, refnes one hundred
barrels or FIVE thousand gallons day, thus add.
ing $50 every day to the value of the product II
handles The other mills average perhaps fifty
barrels day each, making five hundred bar
rcls day for the total, thus creating a
value Of over $4,000 every twenty-four
hours and adding II TO heretofore despised pro-
duct. This business is increasing rapidly. The
profits are large and next year will see the refn-
ing capacity doubled perhaps. The mills now
running sell all they make. and could sell ten
lines as much. England and France would take the
product Of one hundred refneries at present
prices. Indeed, most Of the mills sell their yearly
product by contract. late suit developed that
M English company had deposited $4,000 in
Memphis as bonus TO secure the output of one
'oil refinery for one season.
A SUBSTITUTE FOR LARD.
In the meantime the refners are creating new
ma Tket and better demand for their oil. II is
used largely an illuminating oil, being the best
for headlights and refectors. 1t is used as an
aduteration of linseed OIL and is pronounced by
painters preferable to linseed itself 1t is used
almost entirely for hacking fish, and especially
sardines, In America, and 1t is used as a substitute
for lard in cooking 1t is made into what is
called cotton butter and in this shape is rapidly
bupplanting lard Two pieces of steak fried one
with oil and the other with lard cannot be told
apart. For bread ii is perfect substitute for lard
and for batter breads 1t is much better. In egg
bread It fills the place of eggs. In fact, in the
kitchen It is cleanler healthier, and better than
lard If the testimony of housekeepcrs can be taken
il is much cheaper. A pound ofcotton butter will
do the cooking of pound and half of lard and
costs only thirteen cents while lard Is
worth sixteen TO twenty cents. When n pan
of steak has been cooked with OIL the oil not
absorbed in the steak can be poured back into the
can and used again, being just clear and pure as
before IL was put over the fire. lift was used en-
tirely in the place of lard should have to write
the epitaph, Died Of Frying Pan" over de-
parted Southern vigor less frequently than before.
This oil has been tried in making the lightest and
MI J. K. Boston, who is interested in the sale of
cotton butter, why it was it being half costly,
quite good, and cleanlier than lard, II did not
kupplant 1t at once and entirely
Simply because there is a prejudice against
changing q custom which our fathers and mothers
used. II is just the same prejudice that caused
people to carry pumpkin at one end of stick
and balance 1t with rock at the other for year,
and years before they discovered that they could
put one pumpkin against another. However, II Il
being introduced more rapidly than we had dared
10 hope"
eff you can sell all you refine" asked Mr.
Boston the other day, ITO Europe, why do yoI
labor to create u demand in American"
"simply because If open II new market we
make larger demand and better prices We have
lust shipped one thousand barrels from the Mont
gomery refinery at sxty-tive cents gallon. A
thirteen cents a pound for cotton butter every
gallon Of oil will yield 81, For many reasons ",
prefefa home market, and then we believe we do
agood thing in substituting this perfectly clean
pure vegetable oil for lard in the kitchens OF on
homes. As for the demand, tell you that II ever,
ton of cotton seed in the South was pressed mex
year could sell the entire oil output before The
18th of November. ] could actually have II sole
before II was made"
AN ENORMOUS wAsTAGE,
Now let me show what wastnge there Is Thu
cotton crop Of last year produced over 3000O0t
tons of seed-t averaging about half ton of seet
To every bale Of cotton. OF this amount only $50,
600 tons, or about one-siNteenth, was worked up
With the other 100000 there was buried an,
wasted gs 900 900 gallons of oil, worth In its crud
Ilate (iO centsl $50 200 OOO or in its refined stat
l65 cents) s62,7OO00O. l speak advisedly when
say wasted, for ii was literally wasted. The vas
amount Of seed not put through the mills was useC
for fee for stock fertilizers. But tits demonstra
bic that the seed is better for either foodOr ferill
SSfs after the oil has been taken out than before
Tho oil mikes II too rich for food and retard is
decomposition and assimilation as Fertilizer A
ton Of the meal the bulk left after the oil Is taken
out, 10 worth Sls or nearly twice as much as ton
of seed. Indeed Mr.. Boston tells me he exchange,
on his farm two tons Of seed for one ton OF meal
The hull Of the seed Is used for fuel at the mills
and the ushes from these hulls Is worth S25 a tor
for ferlillzlng uses. If the whole crop of cotton
seed was worked through the oil-mills therefore
IL would add over S60O000OO 10 the cotton
crop and not deprive the land of one pound O
fertilizer or the cattle and sheep Of one pound G
food Indeed, II would only assist the land an
the stock In diPcsling the food and make II nor
agreeable to them, aud vet we work up only one
sixteenth of the seed. one difficulty OF course
the lack Of capital with which to build mill
This is being rapidly eliminated Each year see
new mills added, and the future will show eve
brisker growth. ] hear that MIR, H. l. Kimball
going to establish u refinery In Atlanta, AM
that the former owner Of Caiaosa Spring
win establish one in Dalton. No legiti
III ate enterprise in the South need ever lack 70
capital grsin Another difficulty, and quite a SO
Iious one IL that the mills cannot buy enough See
to keep them busy The year through. The iarmen
having been accustomed for years to throw thei
seed back on the ground or waste II altogether
still pursue that ppn. OF course mills Established