The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-08-07
THE ( IoTTON SEED PROBLEM.
Farmers Advised to Demand
Fair Exchange for Their Cotton


Seed.
To tie Edior Of the NeWS a,M Cou-
rier: The farmers of this State are
more interested in the cotton seed
question than they are in the Tillman
and McLaurin wrangc as TO the purity
OF their Democracy and the degcncrarv
of then manhood. These two men,
Important as they seem to be, will soou
pass and be forgotten, bat cotton seed
is here so stay and play an mportan,
part In the business problems of the
farmers.
The purchase of most of the large
oil mills in this and adjoining States
by the Virginia Car olina Chemical
Company may not tend TO monopoly
OF the the business, but it has q sort of
leaning in that direction. Even before
this corporation came into existence
there were certain combinations
amongst mill men that cndcavorcd TO
fix the price of seed. 1t stands to rca
son that The Virginia. Carolina Chemi.
cal Company will keep up the same
plan. That leaves the farmer in the
condition that lc has TO sell at the
iIANh 'alIC vi llol'l HIS SCctl.
Seed is worth as much for manure
when not crushed IS when crushed
AT the Mississippi experiment stalon
actual experience and chemical analy-
sis demonstrate that the raw seed fed
! properly IS worth equally as much as
! the meal and hulls. The farmers bv
keeping and properly using their seed
| get full value.
Mills generally charge toll for grind
! ing products of the farm. They charge
onc-tcnth or one-twclith for g,inding
wheat and corn. Even the roller flour
mills, that exchange llour and bran for
wheat, place the exchange on the basis
OF one tenth for toll. In grinding scr-
ghum and making syrup the toll is one
fourth or perhaps onc-lhird in some
cases.
! How is it with crushing cotton seed?
Let us takel recent quotations of the
| products a ton of sound cotton seed
will make about 750 pounds of meal,
$50 pounds of hulls, % pounds of dirt
and lintcrs, and 275 pounds of OIL AT
present prices the product of one ton
of seed will be as follows
| 'oO POUNDS OF mca! 80. o. So 81
800 pounds of hulls 2 3S
% pounds of lintors. %
2'5 pounds of oi! (37 gallons). IA 80
lolal. l.......'...... .................. S2G 50
Now, onc-third of that amount, or
&S.93, would be large compensation
for the oil mill, which would leave
SlI.S1 for the farmers ton of seed.
That is equal to about 27 cents a
bushcl.
The mill men will say that is too
much to pay for seed. But consider
how it works When the farmer BUYS
i'll the shape of fertilizer he will pay
the manufacturer $15.93 for the ammo
MA in one ton of seed. Besides ti,is
he will pay about $4 to So for the pot
ash and phosphoric acid IN ton.
When the farmer sells his seed to the
mill at $40 to SD Il ton and buys from
the fertilizer manufacturer the plant
food in ton he VIII pay at least $40
FOR it. No farmer can afford to trade
that way.
What can he do about II? In the
first place, he is not obliged to sell his
seed. The oil III it does not iniurc il
rs a fertilizer or feed. Properly and
carefully applied, mnc bushels of seed
Is worth more to the farmer than 100
pounds of meal. II requires that
amount to make 100 pounds of meal.
The II rmcdy is to demand fair ex-
change II hulls and meal Let the