The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-12-06
THE BIG COTTON CROP.
Visible Supply Is Enormous When Weather
and Price Are Considered.
NEW USES THAT ARE MADE OF COTTON
srbc accrtiacnte system OF Deliver
ing Cotton ON COntracts--HoW -
Is Managed In New York.
New orleans Times Democrat.

The visible OF American 10 now 4,Ssz' ooo
bales. as against 4l26,S76 last week a"a
1885, S4 at the corresponding date III 1901
These are truly big figures, and go TO slo"
preuty conclusively that the south mas
made a mighty EFFORT TO guard against the
possibility of a cotton famine Tor gpoa
while TO come. ,,,
The faet that the market has actus.iS
improved in the face OF gigantic NOW
nenL, is pretty strong proof tnat the esaue
has come to attach merely secoHue''
Importance to the lnQEnat'ide Oh Iiic oiVp
IL Us quite possible, however, tu"' oue
real weight Will only be reit IN the SPIN
when une WEAKNESS oil uhe hsceasi w, "
hoYders may force an extensive nuuidatoa
of actual cotton. The situation IS luE.
what IL has been for a month past-eiop
versus price and consumption. -
AS the end of the old year is ulhMins
nigh. Inc auesthn OF the time is beginning
10 center about the eject wMieh tne pi 80,
ent level OF price may have upon 'ns
planting for another year. Cn .he o"e
side it is claimed that the SouIh mas Dss1 1
| VI acticaly broken by Accent coIIou, an
| That a great decrease in the area Is uouAu
to come. under the stress OF necessity.
| Tue advocates OF this view point 10 aetuli
| re a,lltss of low prices in 1872 and IN 1880
and to the very small crops which lSSut
ed. ON the other hand 1t Is clailnea tiiae
| TIE cost OF production has been Iauic"4y
| changed since the years i'll question: anu
| thai line South u.s. in fact, in the throes oil
an industrial revolution which is EXHAUST
| ing Tor the moment, but win be salutaly
in tine end. In support OF this uheoF!', II
| is pointed out that there was no feiuttiou
| of the acreage last year, although Vhe JUN
| o. thu, crop was sold on the basis OF . 80
| for niiddljng 1t is thought by people Oh
| eais school that this secret is found IN the
| great change of method, by which paris
| O. the cotton plant that used TO De thro"n
| away are now converted into afucies VI
| commerce. 80 that the combined value oil
cotton and its byproducts to the acre ~
| fully as great as IL was in the days wheh
| people used to buy for investment wheI-
ever the price touched cents, on une
theory that 1t was below the cost OIL pio-
| dnction. In this connection we reproduce
letter from Edgefield, $. c.. TO the NeW
| York Sun which Is a very good illustration
| OF the adage that truth Is often stranger
than fiction+
seven years ago the Edgefeld Manufac-
turing company established In mouest
| way public ginnery. ferAnzer iac-
tory and an oil mill, all in one buiuIhs'
In this way it utilized the seed when
constitutes in weight two-thirds OF the
| crop Recently it has put up another
| building alongside the original factory.
| and in this new building 1t has placed
/ sundles and looms. Thus. among the COT
/ lOH IGluS III Ulie ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS '''NA
| the tour primary processes-a Slh, an on
mill. fertilizer plant and cotton inlli
I The oil is not turned into olive oil on the
snot, or into butter, nor do the splndlS
! tuan out fine yarns, but the Edgeheid plant
! will do as a beginning OF an industriai
| revolution
'.The unique feature of the Edgefed
| plalat consists in the fact that seed cot
| ton. instead OF lint cotton, Is considered
in it raw material. Lint cotton is really
a manufactured article The raw ma
| terial has been through a mill-a ginnery.
1 If is pressed and baled Edgeheld deals
| wtith the product of the fertile fields an
| about IT. taking the raw material direct
/ ly from the farmers built-up wagon The
seed cotton Is purchased directly from
! the farmers as they bring it in. 1t comes
! directly from the fields. IL may have
/ heen in the bolls a few hours before. 1t
| is automatically unloaded, going directly
1 TO thu gins The seeds are Az omatically
carried either to the large seed storage
I house cr to the oil mill. If 10 the latter
! they are at once freed from all dirt and
! other foreign matter and are reglnned IN
( order to secure the short lint left by the
/ first ginning The seeds are then passed
along to the machine for removing the
hulIs These hulls are either stored in
! bulk TO be sold as food for cattle or baled
/ for shipment or mixed elsewhere in the
/ mill with cotton seed meal, thus forming
admirable cattle food After the hulls
/ have been removed the kernels are passed
| through the heavy chilled rollers for the
| purpose of crushing the oil cells, and then
the mass is placed in the heaters, where
! il is stirred and cooked by steam. The
! cooked material is then formed into cakes,
I and she oil is forced from them in power
! tul hydraulic presses.
The cake that Is left AFTER THE eNtlac-
! ton OF the Oil Is then ground, beccGnlng
an article of commerce known as cotton
mai al a,tl I'll nod
for the feeding OF cattle or for fertilizhIg
purposes. II is excellent Just us II comes
| from the grinder for either purpose; but
the Edgened plant. in following out its
general design OF converting all products
into their ultimate form OF usefuln<. pre-
fcrs either TO mix the meal - hulls
iisms forming an excellent article for feed
| ing ptillas, tu fla9e TO carry the meal
to the fertilizer mill, where 1T is manpu-
lated INTO var Gus brands of fertilizers
| Suitable to various soils or crops.
| Having followed the seed to It's ultimate
forms. it is time W return 10 the lint as II
| came ffnm the gins, Usually Mt thi5 point
| II rs packed MO bales ~ he hauled over
poor roads and stripped an a nsshipped ami
| recon pressed and rubbed and covered with
dirt and filled with rains and torn and
damaged before lts arrival at the cotton
mi l. Witch may be in Japan or in the
/ heart OF Russia. Wherever II is the fibre
is crushed ami matted 10 such an extent
| that several IflecesSsS 81 Deatlng ana zoos
/ ening become necessary before Ii is ready
! fer the spindles. In The Edgefieii plant
all az the processes between ginning and
clcth making are eliminated. the loose lint
betng IN condition 10 80 automatically to
the Iappers in The cotp1n MILL Mt only
are Il 10 nlddlmen In The handling OF the
caitcn eltinabh but so are middle ma
caanes. Tho cotton mgl of the Elgefleli
plont coatalns 5000 sp!ndlea and $50 looms,
sy.oh roam fer twice these numbers. The
ontdne plant IS now IN full operation lis
chief desire Is 10 produce goods that can
| b marketed at home. Us hIls and meal
mixed or single. its fertilizers sud ITS
Palmetto sheetings. stamped with tn.
i-a. tnat Is the emblem OF the State, are
all sod at homo. n its all were turned
! ,rRo refined lard AMI other nreaucts al
| the SPOT. instead OF at Chicago every part
of the crcp grown az home would be con
tmned at ii5ine. The ,nansgers OF the min
w,ll douhtlees reach u,ts stage al no dis,
tant date.
| "The seed cottqn carried 10 the Edge
| n "a miN IS no longer scent cotton. The
bale OF cotton is warth at Elgeapld ~
cents !, pound or about s9e 20. The sesd.
1000 prainjs. is worth Sc ton or 81 max.
| Ing s25. 30 the utmcst sum the rYtton Is
| v.nsilh In the rvlmnAuuifv u-hoy ,,,,.t.~.el