The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-11-28
COTTON SEED MEAL.
AS n Food for caetle 1T has no Equal.

ofth practical as we'll as scientific fea-
lures connected with the hulls and meal
as q stock food. The practice is not q
new one, except in the sense that the
whole cotton seed oil industry is recent,
and hence none of its outgrowths can
have been long established. Probably
the first attempts atnystematically feeding
an exclusive ration of hulls and meal on
a large scale have been made within four
OF FIVE years. These cases have been
local. confined to the vicinities Of the oil
manufacturing ceDters like New Orleans,
Memphis, Houston, Little Rock, Raleigh
and Atlanta, and hence have not attract.
ed general attention.
Up to the present time nothing like an
economical utilization Of the cotton seed
hulls has been attempted, the common
practice having been to burn them under
the mill boilers ,ns cheap means of dis
posal, and even the valuable ashes thus
produced have been largely exported to
other parts ofthe country. Asan absorb
ent for bedding stock they are found to
undergo rapid decay, giving off percepti.
BILE quantities of ammonia, and hence are
not regarded with favor by those who
have tried them IN this way.
The process of separating the kernels
of the cotton seed from the hulls, in the
oil mills, consists essentially in crushing
and cutting the seeds and dividing the
two portions by a system ofscreens and
shakers. At first sight it would seem to
be physical impossibility for an animal
to consume any sppreciable quantity of
the hulls thus produced. They consist
of fragments of seed coats one six tenth
to one fourth inch in diameter, of dark
brown color, very tough and teathery
aud entangled in mass of cotton fbers,
which still adhere to the outside of the
hulls and which the ginning process fails
TO entirely remove. 1t is apparently the
most dry and tasteless form of animal
food which could be found. It is mat.
Ter of difficulty to reduce it to anything
like a.suitable form for analysis. In the
mortar it forns an elastic felt, while it
is scarcely amendable to any grinding
process. Taken into the mouth it is
harsh and dry. AIastication promotes
an abundant secretion of saliva as would
be only natural with any similar materi-
al. 1t has very little taste and that
apparently due to the small particles of
the kernel remaining with the hulls.
they possess apparently few
inviting features as food. In spite of
this, it is said that animals which have
never seen the bulls or meal before, soon
acquire an eager appetite for them, and
after a few days prefer such diet to one
composed of hay and corn. Probably
this is due to the meal rather than the
hulls which, as already noted, are we'll
nigh tasteless.
From the large amount Of fibre on the
hulls the danger of balling up or produc.
ing stoppages of the bowels might be
anticipated. But we have been unable
to learn Of single such case, nor is there
even q tendency toward constipation.
On the contrary, the effect upon the bow
els is oosening, which, with an excess Of
meal, may developinto securing" This
is the well known result of excessive
feeding Of cotton seed mealin connection
with other materials. The hulls and
meal seem particularly adapted therefore
to being fed together, the effects Of each
counteracting the other.
All ages and conditions ofcattle have
been fed for beef. Naturally the same
general principles which apply in other
methods Of feeding hold good here.
Poor, scrubby animals, too young or too
old, and in bad condition, are unpro6ta.
BILE under any system. Two and half
to four years is the best age, according to
some authorities; in Houston, Texas,
steers from four to six years old were most
profitable. Steers are preferred to heif-
ers. The best season is winter; summer
feeding has been found Improbable.
The feeding should last three or four
months, and the animals disposed Of as
soon as they have reached stand.still in
the increase ofweight. Ithas been noted
that, if carried beyond this point, hull.
feed cattle are liable to degenerate, espe-
cially on the approach of warm weather.
An average steer should receive at the
beginning three or four pounds of meal
daily, gradually increasing to six pounds.
After six weeks the feed may be increased
to eight or ten pounds. During the
whole time as many hulls should be given
as the animal will eat, but no more.
Stress is laid upon these two points, viz:
The feeding should be done with regular
ity and system, and no excess of food
should be allowed to accumulate in the
troughs, since the bulls, especially when
wet by the "slobbering" of the cattle,
quickly becomes sour and offensive.
The ration mentioned above is that
fed at Memphis, and costs nine to nine
and one half cents daily per animal. At
Raleigh, N. G., for steers of750 pounds
weight, the ration was four or five pounds
of meal and twenty pounds Of hulls, and
costs seven cents daily per animal. At
Houston, Texas, seven pounds of meal
and twenty pounds of hulls were fed daily
at a cost of six to nine cents. Beef,
produced in this way, is said to be of
unusually fine quality. At least it has
no Objectionable features The lean
portion is bright in color; the fat white
and brittle. The butchers complain that
animals fattened in this way have an
excess of kidney fat. It is also claimed
l.