The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-11-20

rdGIOn OF Gne staple Tor the market
Another operation was necessary,
which was called bowling the cotton
By this means it was cleared of all dirt
and knots. This was done by a simple
instrument called a "bow," made of
wood, and was first introduced in Geor-
gia from India. The degree of perfec
tion is more noteworthy when we con,
slider the rude machines for spinning
and weaving then in use. Every house
hold had it's spinning wheel, and the
women considered it a part of their do
mestic duty to spend a. portion of each
day at the wheel. Weavers were found
in every village and country household
Time has brought many wonderful
changes in this line. The spinning
wheel is known no more, and the head
weaver is only a thing of history. The
mind of invention and the hand of
modernization and energy have erected
large factories, where the cotton is sent
directly by the planter, in its crude
state, and when next seen it has been
worked into various articles for domes
tic use. During this period the only
thought of the planter was to raise cot
ton for the lint.
IG was by the merest accident that
the usefulness of the oil of the cotton
seed was discovered. In the year 1888
it was represented in England that oil
might be procured from cotton seed.
A cask of seed was taken from the
West Indies to London and presented
to the Society of Art. The seed was
taken to mill where the oil was ex
tracted. Specimens of this oil were
preserved as a curiosity by the society.
The remainder was used in various eX
periments, and the following fer of a
premium appeared in the transactions
of the society during the year 1888
This was a society for the encourage
ment of arts, manufacture and COM
merce. The society was informed that
a considerable quantity of oil could be
obtained from the seed of the cotton,
remaining pith afforded a strong and
hearty food for cattle, and likewise,
that the apparatus for the operation
could be applied to the machinery for
grinding sugar cane, and worked i'll the
rainy season at a very moderate ex-
pense. "ReSOIUed, for the foregoing
reasons, that the procuring of oil from
the cotton seed is proper object of a
premium, considering it essential for
the encouragement of planters to ex
tend the cultivation Of cotton and to
increase the manufactures of that ar
ticle in this country. The Society
adopted the following resolutions:
ITO the planter in any of the British
Islands of the West Indies who shall
extract oil from the seed of the cotton
and make from the remaining seed
hard and dry cakes as food for cattle.
Certificates for not less than one ton of
oil to be expressed and five hundred
weight of the cakes obtained together,
on or before the first Tuesday in No,
vember, 1875, gold medal. For the
next greatest quantity, not less than a
half of the quantity, Of oil and cakes,
half ton of oil and 200 weight in cakes,
the silver medal"
From 1888 to 1889 it does not appear
that any notice was paid to the object
sought to be attained by the above reso
luton. Nor that the manufacture OF
the oil was ever commenced, nor any
experiments made, except in the above
instance. The first attemptever made
made in the United States to extract
oil from the cotton seed was at NagcheZ
Mississippi, in 1884, and resulted in 6
heavy financial loss. In 1847 a second
attempt was made, at New Orleans,
with the same result. In 1851 Mr.. Fisk,
an Eastern capitalist, went to L0uiei
ana and made>an attempt to utilize this
oil. With the assistance of chemist
he succeeded in clarifying the oil so as
to make iO a successful lubricatOr. His
experiment was followed by a still
more successful one, made at Provi
dence, r and would have obtained
great perfection had not the civil wal
kept down this industry in the South
Prior to 1855 the seed was piled up and
allowed to rot in quantities ranging
from ten to fifty tons, aod was often
burned as fuel on the plantation, and
used as feed for stock. The gin own
ers on cotton plantations were obliged,
under penalty of the law, in many
of the States, to have the seed hauled
away from the gin and dumped in va
can't lots. Since that time things have