The age-herald., 1900-08-05

THREE PE6ULIRR COTTON MILLS.
BY ". P. T.. FINCH. s6ssessssSssSSsSssSSss sssessssesssssessS

passed along to the machine for removing the hulls. These hulls are either stored , in bulk to be sold as food for cattle, or ' baled for shipment, or mixed elsewhere in the will with cottonseed meal, thus form ing admirable cattle food. After the hulls
 have been removed the kernels are passed
 through the heavy chilled rolls for the pur- pose of crushing the oil cells, and then the mass is placed in the heaters where it Is stirred and cooked by steam. The cooked
 material Is then formed into cakes, and the
 oil Is forced from them in powerful hy-
 draulic presses
 The cake that is left after the extraction
 of the oil is then ground becoming an
 tee of commerce known as eottonseed
 meal. This meal is excellent food for cat
 tie; but the Edgefeld plant, in following
 out Its general design of converting all
 products into their ultimate form of use fulness prefers either to mix the meal with the hulls, thus forming animal food of high value, or else to carry the meal to the fer tilizer mill. where it is manipulated into i brands of fertilizers suited to various soils 1 and crops.
 l Having followed the seed to It's ultimate l forms the lint next needs attention. In | the Edgefeld plant all the processes be-
 tween ginning and spinning are eliminated,
 the loose lint being in condition to be carried automatically to the lappers in the cotton mill This cotton mill contains 5000 spindes ard 150 looms, with room for twice these numbers. It aims to make goods
 that can be marketed in near Edgefeld.
 It Is not seeking trade in China It's hulls 1 and meal, its fertilizers and its sheetings | stamped with the figure of the tree that is l an emblem of the state, are each and all sold a home. If it's oil were turned Into I refined lard or oleomargarine or olive oil | on the spot, every product of the seed cot l ton would be marketed and consumed at l home. This Is not, however an essential I feature of the plan.
 l Let us see now how the account of | bale weighing 300 pounds stands at Edge l field. At 8 cents it would bring $40 to which should be added about $s on ac- count of the seed. making a total of $4S,
 sum by the way nearly double the
 amount that could have been gained from
 a sale of an equal amount of raw material
 one year before. But in the Edgefeld fac-
 tory 1,500 pounds of seed cotton become: 3,200 yards of sheeting at 2A cents....$ SS. co 20 gallons of crude oil at 30 cents..... GOO 800 pounds of feed or fertilizer ........ 760 | The result Is equivalent to 20-cent cotton. and all the gain is saved to Edgefield peo- 1 pie, or very nearly all of 1t. The Edgefeld l plant is In successful operation. It is not l mere theory of a dreamer, but it shows daily what can be done in any town in the cotton belt by carrying cotton to or to- wards ultimate products It is a brave ex- | ample on correct lines. It points the way. | It is an approach to that complete evolu- | ton when single southern mill will turn l cloth into clothing, seed into food for mankind or cattle or the soil. and the ball.
 ance of the plant into paper. Edgefeld Is Continued on Page SD -