SOUTHERN HORIZONS 



out by the Sylvania Industrial Corporation at Fred- 

 ericksburg, Virginia. 



At Rockingham it appears that an acre will produce 

 about five thousand pounds of whole cotton a year, 

 yielding two thousand five hundred pounds of cellulose 

 and three hundred and fifty pounds of oil. The whole 

 plant can be delivered at the factory at a per acre cost 

 of $20. Processing costs are estimated to be about $23. 

 At war prices, three hundred and fifty pounds of cotton- 

 seed oil and two thousand five hundred pounds of 

 cellulose are worth in the neighborhood of $200, but 

 even at normal prices, $120; so the financial prospect 

 is pleasing. The advantages of an annual source of 

 cellulose and of taking cotton acres out of the produc- 

 tion of lint are as obvious and tempting as a water- 

 melon lying on the broad highway. 



At Fredericksburg, Dr. Frank Reichel, the chemist- 

 president of Sylvania, is enthusiastic but reserved. 

 There is no doubt that "whole cotton" makes good 

 cellulose, suitable even for the exacting uses of photo- 

 graphic film and high tensile yarn for tirecord. The $64 

 question is, can close planting, mechanical cultivation 

 and harvesting, efficient processing, bring the cost of 

 this form of cellulose down to five or six cents a pound? 



Once again, we are back where sooner or later every 

 discussion of cotton lands at price. Nobody expects 

 cotton to vanish from the face of the earth or even from 

 the favorable fields of our South. It is too cheap, too 



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