The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1888-03-13
RALEIGH, N. G., MARCH ID, 1888.

average, yield of oil is, however, much
less than this on account of the diff
Guilty OF thoroughly pressing the cake.
1t is impossible to extract the full
amount Of oil actudy contained in
the meats.
AS soon as the SEEDS are received in
the mill they ARE first sent through
the duster. This may be either a
shaking screen or asrevolving cylin-
drical screen. This process removes
all the fine dust and particles of ex
traneous matter. A. conveyor takes
the busted seed to-a species of gin,
known as the " Inter" This RECEIVERS
about twenty pounds of lint from a
ton of seed. This lint is used chiefly
in the manufacture of cotton batting.
The seed thus Tinted passes into the
hullers, which are rapidly revolving
cylinders covered with small knives.
The seeds are cut up small, hulls and
meats. The meats and hulls are then
separated on shaking screens, aided by
a strong blast of ar. Without the
hulling operation it would be almost
impossible to extract the oil from the
seed; for if an attempt were made to
press the entire seed the lint on the
hulls would absorb The whole or a
greater part of the oil The meats,
being freed from the hulls, are passed
through series of heavy rollers, which
thoroughly crush the seed into thin
flakes and break up the oil cells. The
crushed or hulled seeds are fed into
heaters which are steam -jacketed ket-
ties, provided with suitable stirring
apparatus to keep the meal from be-
ing scorched. The cooking will aver
age fifteen to twenty minutes, during
which time the jackets are supplied
with live steam at pressure varying
widely in different mills The cooked
meal rs flied into Bugs, which are
pressed into powerful hydraulic presses
under pressure of from 5000 to
1000 pounds per square inch. The
residue, after the oil is pressed out, is
known as "cake." 1t is quite hard,
and for use either as food or a fer
tilizer it must first be thoroughly
ground, making what is known in
commerce as "cotton seed meal !"
| This meal is most valuable as food for
cattle on account of the large amount
| of albuminoid matter it contains, also
from the percentage of oil remaining
in the meal. It has been known for
many years that cotton seed meal or
cake is far richer than and much
superior to linseed oil cake, both for
feeding purposes and as a fertilizer.
The Massachusetts, State Agricultural
report of l872-'73 placed the food
value of the cotton seed product per
ton at one and one-half times that of
the inseed product.
Crude oil will vary in color, as we
have said before, according to the
color of the dots or oil cells contained
in the seed; it ranges from light yel-
low through the different shades of
red to black, and the flavor varies
also. To prepare the crude oil for use
it must be deprived of it's coloring
matter and of the gum and vegetable
particles remaining from the seed.
This is accomplished in large kettles
of from 100 to 200 barrels capacity,
provided with suitable means for agi-
tation. The oil is then allowed to
stand and settle and the refined oil
becomes thoroughly clarified and
ready for use. The settings, or
"foots," are made into soaps. Such
soaps possess all the delicate emollient
properties characteristic of vegetable
oil soaps, and are most healthful for
the skin. Properly refined oil has a
light yellow color, and it's flavor is
sweet and slightly nutty. 1t is noted
for it's keeping qualities, being in this
respect far superior to olive oil. 1t is
well known that most of the so-called
olive oil now sold in this country con-
tains greater or less proportion of
cotton seed-oil which we sell to olive
oil dealers of Italy and France at
about SO cents per gallon and buy
back from them under foreign brand
at from So to $4 per gallon. AS the
merit of pure cotton-seed oil becomes
better known and existing prejudices
against it are swept away, the mar
ket value of the oil will naturally
increase from year to year. The
average price paid to the planters
for cotton seed during the last season