The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-08-07
RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF
 THE OIL MILL INDUSTRY
BY HARvIE JORDAN.
From the Atlanta Journal.

Q F1AhN From the Atlanta Journal.
 There is no other single industry in the south which is developing more rapidly than that of the oil milling business. From an infant industry of 30 years ago, It has grown until now hundreds of mil lions of dollars are invested in cotton seed oil mill plants all over the south At lantic and gulf states. The rapid devel- opment of this business is largely due to the fact that it is a paying industry to those who have invested their millions in it. From a few small plants which were erected in the 70s and operated as independent concerns the business has grown until now we have the cotton seed oil trust with its millions of capital con- trolling and operating large numbers of mills under the management just the same as the "steel' trust. meat trust and similar trusts have been buying up large numbers of the small mills during the last few years, the small local inde- pendent mills continue to be built and the promoters of all these small or large industries continue to make money. The business Is a fascinating one because the dividends are usually satisfactory and the investors are contented and happy. Dur ing the past seasons, the oil mills netted possibly the largest dividends ever be- fore realized In the business. The reason for this was based upon the fact that the margin of difference between the pur- chase price of the raw seed and the sale of the manufactured products was sufh- ciently wide to realize to the manufactur- CTS an unusually large profit, running on an average from $6 to s10 net profit per ton The price of seed was low and the price of oil, meal and hulls high. Tho cost of manufacture remaining the same as in past years,
 As promised to our correspondent from Camak in the Inquiry Department of the last issue we will now undertake to cover this question fully, that the farmers who have seed to sell may be fully posted on the situation and know the true value of their seed and how to meet the prices of the oil mill people who come into the mar ket for their seed. If a farmer knows nothing of these things, 1t Is impossible for him to arrive at any proper conclu- sion regarding the value of his seed to the mill and to himself.
 The price of cotton seed set by the mills is largely based upon the market price and demand for oil. In order to determine the value of a ton of cotton seed to an oil mill therefore we must know what the by-products of a ton of seed are and the total value of the same. Deducting from that the price paid for the ton of seed and the cost of manu- lecture we can easily arrive at the profit or loss to the mill in working a ton of seed The by-products of a ton of cot ton seeds are as follows Forty gallons of oil. TOO pounds of meal and 100 pounds of hulls, linters, etc.
 In the Atlanta Journal of August we find the local market for these by-pro- ducts, f. O. b. cars at the mill, adver- tised as follows: oil s5 cents per gallon, meal SPA per ton and nulls, loose, $6 per ton. Applying these prices to the diff ferent yields of a ton of seed we have the following:
 40 gallons oil at 35c ..................S14O0 O0 70 pounds meal at S1 S1.20............... S.70 1000 pounds hulls at BOG .............. 300
 Iotal value .....................S2 .S25. 70
 The price offered for seed is S14 per ton or 21 cents per bushel. This would leave a margin of difference of $11. per ton between the cost of the seed and the selling price of the manufactured pro- ducts.
 Out of this difference of s11.7O the mills must pay the freight on the seed from shipping point to mill and the cost of manufacture, and whatever balance is left will go to the net profit of the mill on the business. The average rate of freight on ton of seed from shipping point to mill Is estimated at s1.5o. and the average cost of manufacture is s4 per ton. Of course where seed are delivered to the mill from wagons the freight Is saved. We have here the total cost of manufacture including freight, amounts to s5.50 per ton. These are outside fig ures, some mills working the seed for less than $4 per ton.
 Now deduct the $5.5o cost of freight