The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-01-15
MILLIONS IN OIL
ONCE VALUELESS
MADE ANNUALLY
Marvellous Growth Of Cotton
seed Industry AtteSted BY
Eleven Local Concerns With
$4,000, 900 Output.
BY E. p. MAcNIcoL.

NhhuNAlhl hlNNbNtlN was AliaAhNs
For weeks the corporations chief
chemist had been busy with An analysis
on the outcome of which depended mil
lions In future revenue
Carefully the chemist stirred the sub
stance he had heen slowly heating in
platinum crucible over the flame Of
a Bunseu hurner and, when the sub
Stanre--which had the appearance of
crushed oats but WASH t--had suftict-
entity cooked, transferred II TO II mhlia-
ture press, From II thick liquor was
run Off, This the chemist put through
various tests and analyses until at last,
the finished product was obtained. His
research had proven successful for the
shellglas5 test tube the chemist held
up to the light contained the genesis
of new Industry; a manufactured ar
tiole OF fabulous worth In its possi-
bilities, a commodity tnat was des-
tined to make Memphis a world leader
In another line-cotton oh.
Odor Is There.
1t is no longer essential, in this day
Of commercial and industrial expansion,
that one relies entirely on ocular OF
auricular evidence for proof Of arrival
In strange city, The sense of smell
Is proving quite sufficient Take Port
lahd, ore for instance The first
thing that greets the new arrival as
he steps from the train Is the scent
OF roses. 81, Louis has Z smell that IL
decidedly "hoppy' TO say the least. OF
did have until national prohibition
measures relegated beer to a memory
Louisville has its odor Of whisky mash
Kansas city its glue, Chicago its stock
yards and Pittsburgh its sulphuroul
coal fumes, Memphis, well, Memphis
is there. too, with its appetizng odor
OF cooking cotton oil,
Ever been around at butcherIng time
when they were rendering lard? Didn't
those "crackln's" smell good? Almost
made you hungry And to a great
many people that Is exactly the effect
OF the odor of cooking cotton oil Enter
the Bluff city from any direction and
you notice 1t,
1t is a safe prediction that not one
person IN 10 to whom the odor of cot.
ton oil has become familiar has any
conception Of the magnitude of this
industry that has made Memphis tht
largest producing center OF cotton OF
and cottonseed products In the world
But II IL an indisputable fact, and some
iuea OF ltS proportions may be gained
from statistics which show that the
lotal value of locally produced crude
ana refined cottonseed products reaches
nually.
Memphis has, almost entirely withir
its corporate confines, l2 cottonseed ci
| mlls, crushing annually 1860, 900 tons o
seed with marketable value, base,
om On S6n Ss6Mrrent prices, approxlmating SIS,
100000 foe the oil. .Afcne, 3eA-
Almost Miraculous.
A peep into modern oil mill IA a
educating as II is interesting Every
where is machinery, whrring, buzzine
sflndlng-a confusing myriad OF wheel
ana conveyors that take the seed a.
II left the gin and, through som,
hokus-pokus transformation, multipl,
It four times-produCe linters, which q
into the manufacture OF cotton battin,
and gun cotton; meal and hulls for tn,
feeding Of live stock. and oil for lar,
substitutes and salad dressing, not eX
cluding it as a synthetic olive oil.
" was only a few years ago tha
cottonseed was regarded generally n
waste material II was dumped Wher
ever ana whenever the most conven
lent and not infreduently became thu
target for attack as nuisance tha
should be abatcd, n menace to public
health. Az for having any nutritiv,
value, such a possibility was not wortl
moments serious consideration. A,
food 1t was fit only for hogs, ant
hogs, accordingly, got that portion tha
escaped the dump. Cottonseed, having
absolutely no commercial value, be
came, moro and more, worse than
drug on the market AS the yield o
cotton increased the problem OF dis
posing OF the seed increased in It's bur
densome perplexlties, Farmers took I,
using the seed for filling In bitches ant
low places and so much of the seed wa,
dumped into the rivers Of the state o
Mississippi that Legislative action wa!
necessary to stop the practice.
But the discovery that cottonseeC
really had food value for both humans
and animals soon put premium on tn,
commodity, monetary valuation tina
has increased by leaps and bounds II
the last five years
As late as 1914 cottonsecd brough
but $ll ton. Today, largely heCaus,
OF war demands, it IL worth around 81
before 1t ever reaches the refinery
Conpetltion for the seed Is very keen
and where the gins in Mississippi for
merly allowed the planter nothing fo
his seed, the planter now enjoys tn,
privilege Of having buyer actual,
bid for the stuff,
Worth Millions.
The oil refining industry Of Memphis
Centered in five concerns putting ou
compound lard, cooking oils, soap stocI
and other oils, brings each wear a re
turn OF $2i 500, ,000 This branch OF tn,
Cottonseed products industry, limited
only by the accessibility OF seed sup
ply and by cotton production, easil,
leads all the rest. The oil Is the prin
ciple bY-produCt sought, but hulls ant
meal two other by-products have al
most an equal commercial value Th'
extremely large crush Of cottonSeed b.
local mills produces an available sup
ply of hulls and meal that has in re
cent years hardly been sufficient II
quantity to supply the export trade. !
Iaut If hny tlg. Va,
consumed locally in the manufacture o
mixed feeds, an industry In itself o
tremendous proportions and possibil
tiles.
There is perhaps, no better index tC
the marvellous growth OF the cotton oi
industry than comparison betweer
the volume of business now with tina
tistics for 1900 show that the tota
"alue OF oil produced In the United
States for that year was $2l 900 900, o
sGal CaIy more than the present outpu
of local mills today.
In 1900 the production Of cottonseet
meal had a market value Of $4,000 00t
and hulls 100000 In other words
the total production in the Cottonseet
industry 20 years ago. throughout thu
entire country, for linters hullS, mea
and oil. was worth 100000. 600, or 81,
900 900 less than that of the combined
output today OF the local mlllS alone
Recent reports show that the industr,
today does a business worth more than
5000 O00 900 or practically eight. time,
what It totaled 20 years ago. And wher,
meal and huls In 1900 were used ex
tensively in the manufacture Of fertil
lzers. today finds their use limited al
most exclusively for mixed feed fo
cattle and live stock
Cotton oil producers insist that tn,
industry s yet really in It's infancy
They predict that beforea-anoth /,
years rolls around their business vii
show considerable expansion The NOR,
cotton that Is grown the more seed Il
produced and with problems for com
solution, the supply OF seed gives prom
ise of ever increasing yields
RRlMEc EREMHl QQllE