Nov, I, 1886.3 



TUE TROPICAL AQmcvtwrn^f, 



3^5 



J'lL ■JJ[J-J i ^ ' »l ! "-lJi ! 



THE USES OF COTTON-SEED. 



From the Monograph on cotton cultivation in the 

 Punjab, recently issued, it appears that Si per cent 

 of the whole yield of the province is locally consumed. 

 Taking this as a basis for calculation we arrive at the 

 conclusion that the quantity of cotton exported only 

 averages 10 per cent of the total yield of the entire 

 peninsula, including British Burmah. Assuming 

 therefore that 84 per cent of the 8eed yielded is retained 

 for local consumption, and taking the calculation given 

 in the Monograph referred to above, that the proportion 

 of seed to cotton is two-thirds, we have for disposal 

 506,604 tons of cotton-seed. The quantity of seed 

 annually crushed in the United States averages about 

 420,000 tons, which yields a revenue of 8,000,000 dollars, 

 or 3 per cent of the cotton crop. Therefore 506,604 

 tons of seed would represent 9,Gi9,()00 dollars, or 

 reckoning at the rate of R2-8 to the dollar, we should 

 have a revenue from cotton-seed alone of R24,123,800 

 which at present entirely lost to the country. In making 

 these calculations, we have taken only 16 per cent of the 

 yield of the country, taking the yield and consumption 

 in the Punjab as a basis for the whole of India. It 

 may, however, be stated, without fear of being con- 

 tradicted, that this represents a very small propor- 

 tion ; as it is not to be supposed that 84 per cent 

 of the seed is actually retained for local consumption 

 and sowing. Our estimate may tiierefore be regarded 

 as very low. 



In no trade returns of India have we come across 

 cottOH-seed as forming au item of export or import, 

 nor have we seen any allusion to it as an article 

 of commerce. In the Punjab cotton Monograph referred 

 to in this paper, it i.s stated that the labourer 

 employed to separate the cotton from the seed, "is 

 commonly paid by receiving the cotton-seed which he 

 extracts:" and the only use to which the seed is put 

 would appear to he the feeding of goats and buffaloes, 

 and this, so far as we are aware, only to a limited 

 extent. "We have sometimes seen the seed used for 

 illumination purposes. Earthen pans, 4 to 6 inches 

 in diameter, are filled with the seed ; a little common 

 " sweet " oil is poured over it, and the whole ignited, 

 burns with a fitful sort of blaze for a couple of 

 hours or so. 



That cotton-seed opens a wide field for the develop- 

 ment of a profitable industry in India must be ad- 

 mitted. It is therefore to the owners of oil-presses 

 and capitalists in particular that wc address ourselves. 

 We see no nason why it should not prove as profit- 

 able in India as it has in America. The Govern- 

 ment of India have turned their attention to the 

 development of various industries in this country — 

 fibre, wheat, cotton, ensilage, &c. Ve hope they will 

 add another to the list — the extended use of cotton- 

 seed. — Indian Agriculturist. 



RHEA (FIBBE), " 



B* Samuel Jennings, f. l. s., 



Corresponding Member of the Agri-Horticultural 



Society of India. 



The publication of Mr. Cogswell's useful Review 

 of the History and Prospects of Rhea in a recent 

 number of the Journal of the Agri-Horticultural 

 Society of India, YoK VII, Part II, may be con- 

 sidered to mark the period at which this valuable 

 fibre ceased to be merely the admiration and the 

 despair of evperfs, and definitely passed within the 

 range of practical enterprise. Thirty years ago the 

 excellent qualities of the fibre obtained from the 

 stems of the Rhea plant, Boehmeria nivea, were 

 recognised by the Societj', and strenuous efforts were 

 made from time to time to encourage the efforts of 

 inventors, to provide some method of treatment 

 under which the fibre could be produced at a cost 

 that would bring it into general u?e, but no com- 

 pletely satisfactory results were obtained, and all 

 that Mr. Cog.swell could ?ay was that he had hope 

 that the problem would .soon be solved. Agriculturists 

 were naturally r'4uctant to risk their capital iu a 



new cultivation, with but slender prospects of an 

 adequate return, and consequently but little has been 

 done to encourage the cultivation of Rhea except 

 upon an experimental scale. 



Since the middle of the year 1884, however, a 

 considerable advance has been made in our knowledge 

 of the best methods of preparing this fibre for the 

 manufacturer, and it may now be definitely stated 

 that all difficulties have been surmounted, and 

 wherever Rhea can be grown, it can also be prepared 

 for market in such a form that it will at once 

 command a remunerative sale. It is well known that 

 the fibre of Rhea is contained in that part of the 

 stem of the plant which lies between the wood and 

 the outer bark, to both of which it adheres tenaciou^'ly, 

 embedded in a mass of glutinou.';, resiuoiis matter, 

 from which it i.? most ditficult to free it. In China 

 this is accomplished by hand-stripping and washing, 

 an expensive process which involves a serious loss of 

 good fibre. M. Favier has invented a process of 

 decortication by steam, which so loosens the bark 

 together with the whole of the fibre from +he wood, 

 that it can instantly be stripped off without damage 

 to the fibre. 



I have before me stalks of Indian grown Rhea 

 which have been thus stripped, and similar stalks 

 that have been decorticated by hand without the 

 use of steam, the contrast is remarkable and quite 

 conclusive. In the former case the wood is perfectly 

 clean, and the stalks can be broken short like biscuit, 

 but on the latter there still remains a considerable 

 quantitj' of fibre adhering to the wood, which of 

 course would be lost, and when it is considered that 

 no more than five per cent of fibre is contained iu 

 the green steni«, it is a matter of con.'iequence that 

 the whole be secured. This is accomplished by the 

 steaming process, and the ribbons so obtained may be 

 dried, packed and shipped to England for subsequent 

 treatment. 



I have also the ribbons which have been removed 

 from the stalks to which I have referred, and 

 comparison indicates a further superiority of those 

 decorticated by steam, the inner surface being smooth 

 and even, whilst in the case of those which have 

 been stripped without the use of steam the fibre 

 appears much lacerated, and this would involve a 

 still further loss of fibre when the ungummed filasse 

 is converted into slivers in the carding machine, or 

 rather I should say the percentage of noils or short 

 filaments will be considerably greater from the un- 

 steamed ribbons than from those prepared by Favicr'a 

 method, and the value to the manufacturer will be 

 proportionately less. It will be the aim of producers 

 to furnish a staple which will compete for use iu the 

 raanufactux-e of the most expensive fibres, because such 

 a staple will command the highest range of prices, 

 and it cannot sufficiently be impressed upon cultivators 

 that whether their produce will compete in the 

 market with hemp, with flax, or with silk, depends 

 almost entirely upon the method they adopt for the 

 production of fibre in the first instance. Although 

 the fibre of Rhea is exceedingly strong, it is easily 

 bruised and injured iu the process of separating it 

 from the stem, and the severe treatment to which it 

 is subjected in the best machine yet introduced cannot 

 fail to atTect its ultimate value considerably. 



I have recently sent some machine-prepnred Rhea 

 for conversion into filasse, and the result is deserving 

 of note. When carded the proportion of Slivers — i.e., 

 long filaments — was considerably smaller than it should 

 have been, this was attributed to the bruised condition 

 of the fibre in the first instance. It must, however^ 

 be remembered that the Fremy process is specially 

 adapted to de-gum steamed ribbons, and may not 

 therefore have been the best chemical process for 

 machined fibre. I do not mean to say that a machine 

 may not yet be produced, which will be, a great 

 improvement upon anything at present before the 

 piibli'!. A machine that will remove the fibre from 

 the stem and clean it at a small cost, and yield a 

 product that will command a ready gale fo.r many 

 jHirjtoscs, I have, iudtcd, alrtaJy ^cvu a aiumily 



