Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-10-01
THE ADVANTAGES WHICH ACCRUE
TO THE FARMER.
Some Of the Profit He Realizes by the
Establishment of Cotton Seed Oil Mills.

No manufacturing industry stands
so close to the farmer as the cotton
seed oil mills. The interest OF the two
are mutual and inseparable. A very
large part Of the products Of the OIL
mills Is now returned to the farm and
practically all Of it in some form can
be utilized.
The mill provides a profitable market
for the surplus seed, and returns the
product to the farmer, with greatly
enhanced value in a finished condition.
While the larger part Of the business
between the mill and the farmer Is
conducted on basis Of barter and ex-
change, it does not actually diner
much in results from the toll system of
the corn mill.
The oil mill purchases the seed IN
the open market, and sells Its products
in the same way, but ultimately, all
to the farms from which the seed were
shipped While this Is now the result
in many cases, it is not as common or
general as the practice should be. Ev-
cry pound Of these two products pro-
duced in the South should be returned
to the land, either as fertilizer ap-
piled direct, or stock feed, the latter
much to be preferred, as their value
in that way Is immensely increased.
established at Columbia, s. G. The
historian of the time only considered it
of sufficient importance to congratu-
late the "public-spirited" citizen who
had enterprise enough to establish the
business, but did make the further
comment that the owner expressed
from cotton seed a very fair grade OF
edible OIL" No further reference Is
made to this beginning Of the busi-
ness, and it can only be inferred that
the improper handling Of the product,
or the prejudices Of the people against
this edible OIL" prevented it from be-
ing successful. In 1860 Aldigee
found thousands Of tons Of
seed dumped on the commons, and
placed under guard to prevent the
regarded as poisonous to cattle.
From such conditions has grown
magnificent industry that has added
millions to the value Of Southern
farms, increased the traffic Of the rail-
roads, established an immense foreign
trade with this country, earned fair
returns for its promoters, while giving
employment to thousands Of men at
remunerative wages, many Of whom
otherwise would be idle at the season
when their work Is required at the
mills.
Tr. all Of this development the great
est benefits have been derived by the
farmers. The mills have taken the seed
which prior to their establishment,
were either lost entirely or wastefully
products, easily and economically
handled, resulting in the cheaper pro-
duction Of crops, and increased yields
per acre.
Raising and fattening cattle has been
one Of the interesting features Of this
development. The fattening of cattle
in the South for market, outside, per-
haps, of the Texas ranges, was un-
known before the extensive use Of cot
ton seed hulls and meal. At present,
almost every neighborhood Is raising
a few head of cattle for the butcher
on this feed, and in many sections,
numbers Of cattle are being fattened
in this way. AS this business increases
1t will be followed by the erection of
packing houses in the South with all
the advantages of such industries.
Any landowner can make fattening
cattle profitable. 1t has been chemi-
cally demonstrated, sustained by prac-
tical tests that the droppings from cat
tie fed on cotton seed meal Is equai IN
feeding value to the meal itself appned
directly to the land. No other feed
has any such comparative value.
When this is considered, the immense
advantages derived by the farmers
from the establishment Of cotton seed
oil mills Is realized even If no other
benefits accrue, but when the abund-
ance and cheapness OF hulls Is conslo-
cred, and their value to the farmer
and feeder recognized, some idea IS
given of the splendid work and advan-
tages the other mills have accom-
plished towards the development OF
Southern agriculture.
In almost any season, regardless or
the price Of seed and products, tne
mills Of the Southern Cotton Oll MIL
Company Of the Carolinas and Georgia
will give back to the farmers all Of the
meal and hulls produced from the seed
in exchange for the seed, reserving
only the oil, and small amount of short
lint to cover transportation charges,
cost Of working, interest on investment
and profits. No more liberal division
of the profits between manufacturers
and consumer has ever been accom-
plished. It makes the business CO.
operative, returning to the farmer all
that is of any value to him, In great
ly improved condition, and consequent,
" greatly increased in value, and
leaving with the mill only that part
of the seed universally regarded as.,ae as oe-
trimental in its natural condltlon,
either as a feed or fertilizer, from
which the mill must realize all of Its
expenses, including cost Of working.
The oil Is converted at the ref1ner1es
in Savannah into pure and Wnole-
some substitutes for lard, known as
"Palmatina" and "Snowdrift," and Is
given back to the consumers table as
a delicacy at low price, or as a pure
cooking oil, as Wesson Cooking Oli:
The refuse or waste from the rehned
oil Is made into a soap, and sold back
at cost that places it in the reach or
the poorest. The lint is made INTO
quilts, pillows and mattresses and sold
at a price that makes 1t possible for
the bedrooms of the humblest cottage
to be comfortably furnished.
In buying or raising cattle to be rat
tened on hulls and meal, every .frort
should be made to secure good beer-
producing breeds. A prominent and
successful packer Is authority for the
statement that the improved breeds
will sell on foot for three times as
much as the common stock.
The consumption of beef in the South
far exceeds any previous period. IT
Southern farmers will use all the hulls
and meal made by the oil mills, with
out drawing on the West. At present
only about one-fourth of the cotton
seed meal is consumed where it is pro-
duced for feeding and fertilizing crops.
the balance finding market either in
Europe or in the Eastern or Western
States.
The cotton oil industry has been de-
veloped when it was most needed by
the people of the South, especially by
the Southern Cotton Oil Company
which has mills throughout the South
and general headquarters at Columbia.
s. c.. Goldsboro, N. c.. Charlotte. n.
C.. Atlanta, Ga, and Savannah and
Augusta, Ga It's only danger IS in
being over-done. 1t should get to
such proportions as to have the crush
ing capacity run ahead Of the produc-