The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-23
The Wonders of Cotton.

"Will wonders never ceasen' 1t would
seem not, SO far as relates to the cotton
plant Its first appearance before the civ
ilized world was a wonder, mentioned by
the old historian as plant found in India
that yielded wool like a sheep!" And
now, says the Youths Companion, no
vegetable growth has shown up SO many
extraordinary wonders within so short a
space of time as has the growth we call cot
ton. 1t marks an age of most extraordi-
nary progress. The history Of the seed it,
self, as developed within the past few years,
sounds almost as fairy tale. For seventy
years the seed was .despised as a nuisance
and burned and dumped as garbage. Then,
only few years back, it was discovered 20
be the very food for which the soil was
hungering, and reluctantly admitted to tn Q
rank of utilities, and began to be treated
with respect.
Cotton seed was next found to be nutri-
tious food for beasts; and then this formerly
despised product was discovered to hold 35
gallons Of pure oil to the ton, worth in its
crude state, $14 a ton, amounted to
$40, 900, 900 for the whole crop of seed. The
refined oil is now worth 81 a gallon.
Then, what was the oil good for? Almost
everything in which pure oil was needed,
including cheap and wholesome food tor
man. 1t was found to be much more than
a substitute for olive oil, that material that
has almost fed large portions of the world
since far back in the misty ages of long,
long ago.
But new wonder was yet to come. Ex-
perience showed that the ton of cotton seed
was better fertilizer and better stock
food after it had been robbed of its IS gal
Ions of oil than it was before; that the hulls
of the seed made the best of fuel for feeding
the oil mill engine; that the ashes of the
bulls had the greatest commercial value as
potash, and that the refuse" of the whole
made the best and purest soap-stock, to
carry to the toilet the perfumes of the best
manufacturers.
And newer development has again been
made, which is robbing the steam engine of
its fuel-those cotton seed bulls have popped
to the surface as one of the best foods
known, under proper preparation.
The history of cotton seed has, perhaps,
scarcely been paralleled by that of petro-
leum which, in its crude state, i'll looking
and bad-smelling, has proved mine of
wealth in the wonderful substances that
have been produced from 1t.
And now comes in the stalk of the plant
to figure as a new wondsr-it is to figure, in
point of value, we'll up to the lint, as ma
terial out of which to make all our finest
papers. And the following by the we'll
known writer, D. D. F. Moore, founder of
Moore's Rural NetO YORKER, tells of still
another developing wonder: According
to French invention recently patented,
artificial leather is made of a cotton fabric,
the warp threads of which are very slightly
twisted. the welt threads being finer than
usual. This fabric is serrated on both
sides and immersed in preparation CON
sisting Of a decoction of linseed, glue, lin
seed oil and coloring matter. When the
fabric is impregnated with this prepare
ton. it is stretched upou polished zinc
plate, laid upon steam-heated hot plate,
the drying being continued until the aque-
ous portion is entirely eyaporated. 1t is
claimed that this artificial leather is an ex-
cellent imitation OF the real thing, and is
even more endurable when manufactured
into boots or shoes.