The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-12-25
the virgin sou was ftrst broken with the
old wooden plow.

the virgin sou was first broken with the
old wooden plow.
This demonstration has led TO Important
results. After the cotton seed. the cotton
seed hulls were selected for scientific In
vestigapion. The hulls of a cotton crop
constitute about hair the weight OF the
ginned seed. These hulls are hard. dry
and apparently useless, lind they are COW
cred with fuzzy lint that further Diet acts
from their appearance, In fact. untal very
recently they had no practical value ana
they were dlepose cd of in various ways by
different planters. TIL. majority returned
them to the soil to help fertilize 1t, but
analysis showed that their constituent ele-
ments did not enrich the land 10 any gre1
extent.
But as substitutes for hay the cotton seed
hulls are OF ncalculable value Heretofore
the huls have been used by good man
OF the cotton seed mills for fuel, and as
fuel they are worth about so cents to W
cents per ton; but rs animal food they are
worth far more. Experiments were hrsi
made n few years ago in the Viclnities o
tho oil manufacturing ocnters. such as
Memphis, New Orleans. Houston, Little
Rock. Raleigh and AtlatIta. 1t was 10 nd
that whsn mixed with condensed Tools the
huVs were readily eaten by the animals,
ana that they were OF great value In help
Ing to digest and asslmilate bran. CRACKED
corn and meal. Moreover, 1t was proved by
a succession of feeding tests that 10 per
cent OF the protein OF the huils wa
digest bic, 38 per cert Of the fiber, 10 per
ceni OF the nitrogen extract and u per
cert OF the fat, The hulls are light and
bulky but otherwise they make good
substitute for hay in the South, where
ha,4a nj
small and inferior The hulis are balei or
pressed into sacks, and In this cond ton
they keep for long time. When packed
away In bmR. like hay, they ferment aud
heat.
Now that the cotton seeds and hulls have
been profltably disposed Of the stems OF
the plants have attracted attention, and
already they have been successfully util-
izeaL AS by product OF the cotton crop
the stems promise to prove as important
as tho hulls. The plants OF the cotton crop
have long ranked In the South as u coarse
animal food about equal 10 the same guam
tity OF rye, wheat or oat straw. After the
crop was harvested the am mails were gem
era ly turned loose on the land and hey
would eat the stlbbie In places aid grind
fome OF IL into the soil. These stems woall
..,n o. ~, oatja -, ~ 49,, A.,
ss ~ ~, 80, ,,',n,,.h,sa -'''N' wy
M 49, W -, - ,,.,' ~ ~,
fiber for eottoo hnggIns attracted atteation
some years uBo, pul 1t was on'y reoehtly
that process wa patented Tor TINS par
pose Tue stems are very rough ana coarse,
ana aeiedNlsts louna some dihicuity 10
making machinery that would work UP
the material satisfactorily. The fiber was
found TO be COOL when once stripped and
sorted out. SAMPLES OF the bagglag male
from tho stems have been tested In thu
South and 1t is procouncel by experts 70
be- hrst-class ln every way. The ell of
the fiber Ia large. and when satisf cto
machinery s produced, q considerable bag
gng INDUSTRY WIN be built up near the
cotton fields Five tons of good stalk will
Yield about 1900 pounds of frst-class lb r
.hta