The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1890-09-06
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE SOUTH FOR HOGS.


the South is cotton seed. As corn
country the South can never expect to
equal the great corn States of the North
west, although we can proftably raise
abundance of corn for feeding our horses
and making our bread. But when it
comes to raising hogs on scale ade-
quate to our needs and possibilities in
this direction, we must look elsewhere
for pork-making material than to the
corn-field. The plum thicket grass
pasture, peach and apple orchards, pea
field and sweet potato patch, have all
been noticed; and while each and all of
them are most excellent in them
selves for feeding and fattening hogs,
still cotton seed is destined to soon as
sumo the place of prime importance as
the feed of the Southern hog, just as
corn is the great standard Il might say
exclusively food of the Western hog. The
flesh of the hog fed exclusively on In
dian corn has been denominated ''con-
centrated maize," and it is not so good
and wholesome as that of the hog that
has a variety of foods.
The great popularity of what is called
'Old Virginia ham" and bacon is we'll
known. Its excellence is in part due to
the method of curing. but much is also
due to the variety of food given the
hogs, and the abundant exercise and
the free range allowed them.
But to cotton seed. Edward Atkin-
son predicts that the time will come
when the seed from bale Of cotton will
be worth as much as the lint While
such a statement now seems astound-
ing, when a bale of cotton is worth,
say, forty-five dollars and the seed from
it about three or four dollars; yet it
only remains for some ingenious in
ventor to make a cotton harvester that
will pick cotton in order to bring about
fulfllment of this prediction. Such
q cotton harvester. it is confidently as
serted, has been devised. II it has, it
will not be long in proving its merits.
If it has not yet come, it will come be-
fore many years. When the minds OF the
inventors of this great American Ma
tion set to work on problem OF this
sort, it will be accomplished before their
efforts cease. We may be confident, there
fore, that the successful cotton harvest
err is an assured fact, if not now actual
ly accomplished, soon to be. This ma
chine will, of course, greatly increase
the amount of cotton raised, and CORE
spondingly decrease its price. While
the price of the lint will be decreased.
it is not probable that the price of seed
will. 1t is more likely that the seed
will appreciate in value, for the reason
that SO much more use will be found for
them than formerly, and than even at
this time.
In one respect cotton seed is like India
rubber. 1t is constantly finding new
fields Of usefulness. Prior to the dis
covery of Goodyear's process of harden
ing India rubber that article had COM
paratively few uses. Since the inven-
ton of vulcanized caoutchouc or hard
cned rubber, its uses have become
legion.
A similar history attends the seed of
the cotton plant In former years it
was regarded as little less than nui-
lance. 1t was thrown out in great heaps
TO rot and waste. FINALLY its fertilizing
properties began to be recognized; in a
,mall degree, however, for the seed was
,otted before being applied to the land,
thus wasting large amount Of its fer
;ility before being used. BY and by it
vas discovered that cattle and hogs
loved the seed, but hogs died from eat
ng it. Cattle were fed on it, but it was
discovered that the milk had an un-
pleasant taste and the butter was white
and puffy. Up to the close of the war,
cotton seed had hardly quotable value.
Finally some genius, do not know who,
unfortunately, discovered that the kerr
mel OF the cotton seed was rich in a val
liable oil, similar to linseed oil, and
useful for a great many purposes.
Science was not long in discovering the
wonderful amount Of potash contained
in the ash of the hull. and the great
feeding and fertilizing value of the O, l.
cake foreground into meaD after the oil
was extracted. The much-neglected
cotton-seed began to be regarded By the
farmer as of some value after all; but il
is questionable If the price he has been
receiving at the oil-mills has paid him
as we'll as the use to which he could
have put his seed on the farm.
At present the seed product of the
cotton-crop of the South is valued chiefly
for the cotton-oil, the cotton meal fol
feeding cattle and manuring land, and
the hull ash for manure.
AS most valuable hog ration. obttor
meal has measurably been overlooked
yet for this purpose it is equally valua-
bic as for cattle feed.
But 1t remained for farmer Of She
goober State, Mr.. q. ]. Green, Of Toe
COO, Ca, to make the discovery thai
roasted cotton seed is one of the very
best and cheapest hog feeds Southern
farmer can get Like many valuable
discoveries, it was the result of acct
dent. Mr.. Green had building
burned down some years ago. in which