The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-12-09
COTTON SEED.
Tho "oil Trust Company" aud What it is
Doing.

COTTON SEED.
Tho "Oil Trust Company" and What it is
Doing.
Some years ago there appeared in the
Atlanta Constitution all article called
"Romance of the Cotton Seed
That was the first chapter of what is
proving 10 be very interesting story,
and is developing rapidly. Let us recall
the points.
For hundred years Southern farmers
destroyed their cotton seed. They were
considered a nuisance, and were burned
or thrown in piles 10 rot. On the coast
they were dumped into the ocean. FL
nally it was discovered that cotton seed
was the best of fertilizers for the cotton
patch. Then it was discovered that it
made capital stock food, and the
despised seed thus became valuable,
restoring richness to the soil and putting
wool and meat on our focks and herds
Ten years ago it was discovered that
each ton of cotton seed contained thirty.
FIVE or forty gallons of oil, which could
be pressed out at small expense aud
would command forty cents gallon as
crude oil. It was found that ton of
seed was more valuable rs fertilizer,
assilnilating quicker with the soil, and as
stock food heing less rich and rancid
after the oil was taken out than before;
so that every ton of seed, formerly
thrown away, was now worth ten dollars
as fertilizer or stock food, and held ten
dollars worth of oil which, being pressed
out, increased the value of the seed.
Then the mill men took another step
forward. They found that the crude oil
worth thirty cents a gallon was worth
one dollar gallon when it was refined.
They therefore added refners to their
mills, and the thirty five gallons of oil
taken out of each ton of seed became
worth S35. This year 100000 tons of
seed have been treated. For these seed
the farmers received S5,000,000 from the
mills. The mills received S5,000,000 for
the cruid oil taken from the seed, which
being refined paid them Sl5,000,000.
The 100000 tons of cotton seed were then
sold back to the farms for S3,000,000, it
taking three tons of seed to make one ton
OF cotton meal, which sells for SIS. The
hulls of the seed were sold as fuel for the
furnaces, and the ashes sold for potash.
These figures represent only one sixth of
the annual crop of cotton seed.
A GIGANTIC MONOPOLY STEPS IN.
Right here gigantic monopoly takes
up the thread of the story.
Last year was a bad year for cotton
seed oil mills. The season produced
what were known as "acid seed" They
did not yield oil freely, and the oil was
not of good quality. Many of the mills
got into trouble, although their profits
had been enormous. The owners Of sew
eral found themselves in New York look
ing for capital to pull them through, or
to buy new and improved machinery.
New York capitalists were quick to
take advantage of this. The inevitable
principle of the spool" was applied.
The mills were punched in company.
This company went to work Immediately
to get other mills in. Some came in for
stock. Others were bought for cash.
The company now has l26 Of the 1852
mills in the country, and is making
desperate efforts to get the few indepen-
dent mills yet resisting. One of its plans
is to go into the territory of an indepen.
dent mill aud put up the price of ueed
until it is starved into submission.
A liberal estimate of the cost of the
126 mills owned by the company is
Sc, 900, 900. The capital stock of the
company is S35, 100000. The stock was
worth yesterday sixty cents in the New
York stock exchange, where it is listed
with railroad and other securities 80
that the 100000 worth of cotton seed
oil mill property is actually selling to the
public at SCI 100000. 1t is claimed that
the stock will 60 to par There is little
hope that the few mills outstanding can
long resist the monopoly When they
succumb a few directors in New York
will dictate the prices for cotton seed,
manage the whole business, and control
the cotton seed oil market of the world.
Already the price of seed has been forced
down from S12 to So ton. The smaller
mills are being abandoned and the larger
mills increased. Expenses are thus
minimized. At a word from the direc.
tors every mill can be stopped and the
supply Of oil kept just behind the de-
mand.
The future of the American Oil Trust
Company" is expansive. Only one sixth
of the crop is now being used. To s1m
marize it: the mills pay farmer S24 for
three tons of seed, that yields them $50
worth of crude oil and one ion of meal,
which they sell back to the farmer for
SIS. The $50 worth of oil is refined up
to value Of 800. The hulls are sold as
potash after being used as fuel, and the
refuse is sold for soap stock. When
mills are built to cover the entire cotton
producing section and to handle the full
crop of seed, the income of "The Oil
Trust Company" will largely exceed
$780, 100000 per annum. Verify this is
the day Of monopoly. The rights of the
individual are ground in The hoppers of