, 1909-08-25

States OF America, cotton seed used to be re-
garded Of SO little use and such a nuisance,
that ginneTies were built near to-, and even
over, streams, III order that the seed could
be washed away, as the accommodating heaps
OF decOmpOsln3 and rotten seed on the
land had proved a serious menace TO
health. Times have now altered, ana the
seed is worth practically one-titth Of the
value Of the cotton crop At first, the seed
was allowed to partially decay, and was then
returned to the land to supply plant food
for future crops. Now, after tho seed has
been subjected 60 varied treatments, aud
valuable oil, etc, extracted, the residue Is
made into cattle food, and after it HIS been
fed there IS stll available threa-fourths of
the original fertllizng value in the manure
from the animals.
A ton Of 2.050ib. Of seed-cotton USUALLY
averages G65i5 OF lint and l,335tb. OF seed
Is b. Of Int or short fibre still remains on
the seed after ginning From the seed can
be manufactured or prepared 1870 II Of meal
and 1876 tb Of oil SCI fb. consist Of hulls
(aIso used for feediug6 and the balance Of
80 ib. IS waste mtterlaI, such rs dust, sand,
ete
BY the practice Of feeding cotton seed Or
its equivalent IN meal, the feeding value IS
got out Of it, and it can afterwards be re-
turned to the soil in the form Of manure,
which IS rapidly available us plant food for
the forthcoming crop. 1t is stated that
100 Ii. Of ground cotton seed equals in
feeding value 1l6 fb. of maize, and 100 Ii.
Of cotton seed meal equals 175 tb. OF maize.
There is still much to learn as to the best
way to combine cotton seed meal with other
foods IN order to secure tue very highest
.l,., ~, ,4-,ll o@ a s an tI
range Of possibility that human food also
viii be produced from it, as cotton seed
meal contains all the elements necessary for
wholesome, nutritious food.
Failure to return the cotton seed to the
soil in some form or other leads to depletion
and poor crops. From a fortilizing stand
point, the oil contained in cottoa seed is
more Objectionable than serviceable. For
fooding to live stock it is uufayourable to
digestion, and the oil is of no use to the
sell, nor IS it Il source Of food for the plant.
Consequently, it is to the farmer boneht to
have tbs OIL extracted from his seed, 50 that
the latter may become of more value to him
as d feed or a f@ertiIizer. In artiti .i3l
manures, nitrogen Is the most costly Gle
ment Of plant food that is purchased, and
for this reason Its production by means of
homemade manures must be very carefully
taken into consideration The decay Of
cotton seed mad in the ground is rapid
although its eff are lasting Nitrate OF
soda is more rapidly available as plant food,
bat soon becomes exhausted.
A ton OF COTTON seed yields something Ike
40 gallons Of crude oil, therefore the oil
obtained from many tons Of seed can be
transported long distances to a central
refinery in a small bulk space, thus showing
the advantage Of having small oil mills sit
uatod in the centre of each cotton produc-
ing district. Two products are obtained
from the crude oil, the crude oil proper aud
the settings the first is barrelled for ship
mont and the latter is used as soap stock.
Refined oil is largely Used in the munufaa-
tnre Of butter compounds, and the higher
grades are used for oil for cooking, salad
dressing, etc. Cottolene, a substitute for
lard, is also manufactured from refined oil,
after bleaching, and is q very popular pro
duet.-Uj6.