Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-02-09


The more closely we look ut the history
of manufactures. the more evident it be-
comes that success in this age is depend
ent upon the utilization. of what was once
considered waste material. Take. for eN-
ample, one of the supplementary in
dustries which has grown out of the cot
ton manipulation. IN the good old
times" SO often sighed for bv those who
know the least about them, the cotton
planter raised his crops solely with view
ts their WELD in fibre. 1t never occurred,
to them that the seed might be profitabiy
utilized, vet see what time has effected.
To-day there are O. mills engaged in the
conversion of cotton seed into oil, and the
once waste product has become mcr-
chan,able commodity Even within a
wear or two. the price has advanced from
So to Sl2 per ton. Last year. these mills
crushed 10000 tons of seed, or about one
sixteenth of the whole crop. aud produced
- 500, 900 worth of oil. Cotton seed oil
manufacture seems to offer Il fair field for
profitable investment, and the industry is
capable of great expansion. OF the S.ooo.-
600 tons of seed produced last year but
10000 were made into oil leaving 800
600 tons 10 be thrown away. Had
this waste product been worked up into
FOIL ii would have furnished 9S 900. 600
gallons worth in its refined state. ST. .7oo.-
600 There is no commodity which admits
OF greater economy in manipulation than
cotton seed. If it be properly treated
there need be but little waste a. every
part is capable of being turned to some
account. The seed is more valuable for
food or for iertilizing purposes after com
ing from the oil mill than it was in
its natural state. \ ton of meal is worth
SIS. or a third more than a ton of seed.
The pulls may be used for fuel and the
ashes bring 80. Il ton for IA fertilizer. But
to appreciate The economy in this business
we must understand how the operations
are conducted. One way is this The
seed is first thoroughly screened to remove
all dirt and foreign matter. II is then put in
a gin having fine teeth TO remove the fiizz.
The naked seed is now crushed between
rollers whose speed differs and which
break the hull and allow the kernel to
drop out. The kernels are separated from
the hulls by boiling. and the former are
heated IN cast iron cylinders containing
revolving blades which reduce the mass
To "A coarse meal. The oil is next extract
ed from the meal by hydraulic pressure
and is then repressed through hair cloth
and coarse bags
The products of these operations are,
first. fuzZ. which amounts to about twelve
pounds TO a ton of seed and may be used
iu paper manufacture second hulls.
which are suitable for fuel and fertilizers;
third. oil. and fourth. cake which is an
excellent food for cattle. A ton of seed,
we are told Yields from tventy-eipht to
thirty-eight gallons of oil. In refining
this oil there is left another product, a
heavy residuum which is bought by soap
makers. II will thus be seen that the
manufacture of cotton seed oil is not mere
~ a business which has to do with waste
products, but with the waste products of
a waste product.
There are shorter methods than the one
above described sometimes employed in
extracting the oil. such as crushing between
rolls to remove the hulls, pressing direct
Y and removing the fuzz by boiling the
hulls in potash: but these methods are not
productive of the hest results, as they do
not utilize every part of :he seed Recog-
nizing the important niche which this in
dustry is destined to occupy in the world
OF trade. Many large oil mills have been
erected in the South within recent years.
and much capital has been invested in such
erprises.-Am,rican Cnltirotor