The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1894-04-25

But the Dirt is Now Utilized-Its
Many Uses.
/" ONE of the most marvellous
~ and thrilling romances are
y such as pertain to actual bus
mess life, and recount the
achievements of wonderful men, even
along purely financial lines. For in
stance, the pen of a master might be
worthily employed in writing the ro-
nance Of the cotton seed. There is a
rebellion in the family of King Cot
ton. A few years ago he held undis-
puted sway and his youngest son, Cot
ton Seed, was considered very insig-
niicant and comparatively worthless
member of the family, his only merit
being his ability to propagate the
royal stock. Now it is'quite different,
as the youngster has developed unsus-
pected good qualities, and is making
rapid progress toward displacing his
father in the affections of the people.
Five years ago, when the Southern
planter gathered his cotton and sold
it, he paid very little attention to the
seed. He saved enough of it to raise
his next years crop, and, if convent
ent, kept few bushels more to feed
the milk COWS around his farm. Some
times he carted off few wagon loads
to dump on an old field as a fertilizer,
and often he refused to haul it away
from the gin at all. The amount that
rotted around such places was i'm
mense. When any was sold, 1T com
monty brought five cents bushel, pro-
vided the farmer was not ashamed of
taking anything for such a commo-
dity. Even three years ago, in many
sections of the South, eight cents for
a bushel of cotton seed was considered
a good price. This year the price was
often as high as twenty-five cents and
occasionally reached thirty-two. When
cotton itself sells at six cents or seven
cents per pound and seed at the prices
mentioned the farmers begin to feel as
if they would like their cotton to be
all seed. As it is, the seed not un-
frequently constitutes one-fourth or
even one-third the value of the whole
crop. So important matter has 1t
become that to-day one single com
pany-the American Cotton Oil Com
pany-has $40,000,00 invested in
handling cotton seed products.
The seeds themselves are of an ir-
regular oval shape, measuring perhaps
a quarter of an inch in their greatest
diameter. They are unprepossessing-
looking little bodies, and are covered
with short white, hairy-looking fibres.
These last are cotton staples that the
gin has not picked quite clean. A
Northern man might have difficulty IN
guessing what the seeds are. Bite one
of them in two and you find a white,
pulpy substance, tasteless and nearly
odorless. How so many products and
such different ones can be gotten out OF
such a seemingly simple body is a mys-
| terry. Perhaps nowhere else do we md
SO fully illustrated the principle of util-
izing waste products. Not a single
particle of seed goes to waste. When
a ton comes to the mill, the thirty-five
gallons of oil extracted from it weigh
about 272 pounds and sell for about
twenty-seven cents gallon. There
are $50 pounds of hulls, worth 81 a
ton; 750 pounds of wool, at $50 a
ton; twenty pounds of linters cotton,
at three cents pound, and about los
pounds Of dirt, for which there can
hardly be said to be any real market
Cotton seed men are said to lie awake
at night trying to devise some plan to
utilize this dirt, but up to date it con-
tinues one item that has proven too
much for their ingenuity. If the
| reader will do an addition sum of
these figures he will see that every
pound in the ton is accounted for; if
he will figure a little further he will
find that between Sl9 and $40 is real
lied on each ton handled. When the
raw materials costs $50, he can judge
whether or not it is likely that just at
the present juncture the mills are
making much money.
The uses TO which cotton seed prod
ucts are put are almost innumerable.
The oil itself is used in making soap,
other oils, lard, butterine and count
less other things. We ship immense
quantities TO Europe especially Rot
terdam-an bring it back again
slightly refined under the name of
olive oil and linseed oil. The Armours
and other pork men use large amounts
in putting up lard. Cottoline is the
name of new product now coming
into use as a competitor of lard. Many
housekeepers use the oil itself instead
of lard and claim to like 1t, The meal
remaining after the oil has been eX-
tracted is fed to cattle, and is said to
produce excellent results. The hulls
are also fed TO cattle. Twenty pounds
of hulls and ten of meal make full
daily feed for beef steers, and the
cattle are ready for market in ninety
DAYS. The hulls, furthermore, are
now being used in manufacturing pa
per. Emil Bohn, of BRENNAN, Texas,
has invented a process for SO using
them, and his ideas may cause com
plete revolution in the paper trade
The oil in its crude state is a clear,
reddish-brown liquid that looks not
unlike a substance frequently carried
by men in TASKS in their hip pockets,
1t has peculiar oily taste and a very
independent, self-assertive kind OF
odor. If one may judge from the
odor, cotton seed oil is capable of TAX
ing care of itself. Most mills produce
the oil only in its crude state, sending
II elsaWhere to be refined. There is q