124 TOBACCO LEAF. 



fiber. In this shape the seed resembles the small cocoons 

 in which the larvae of many insects are encased. This 

 downy fuzz is removed by machinery, the lint finding a 

 sale for certain industrial purposes. The seed is then 

 almost bare. It is next decorticated ; that is, the hard 

 flinty shell is split open and then sifted from the pulp. 

 The pulp is rich in oil, and the shell contains enough fat 

 to make it readily combustible. The shell, or hull, is 

 burned for fuel under the engine boilers, sometimes 

 being the only fuel, but more often used with wood, and 

 occasionally with coal. The resulting ash is called 

 cottonhull ash, described under potash fertilizers. The 

 pulp of the seed is subjected to heavy pressure, which 

 expresses the oil, and the dry cake is then ground. Its 

 final condition is that of a fine dry powder of an olive or 

 yellowish green cast. Occasionally, the hulling process 

 is omitted, and the entire seed is crushed and ground, 

 the result being undecorticated meal. This product is 

 darker than the usual brand, from containing fragments 

 of the black hulls. Such meal is inferior to the normal, 

 both as a fertilizer and as a fodder. The shells, or hulls, 

 are much used in the South for feeding cattle, and though 

 it may appear incredible, cattle fed on them are kept in 

 good condition. 



Cottonseed meal is admirably suited to fertilizing 

 purposes ; it is a fine dry powder, of excellent mechanical 

 condition, free from odor, and very easily applied. It 

 can be distributed very evenly, which insures a thorough 

 distribution through the soil, and owing to its fine 

 mechanical condition, it is easily disintegrated, and the 

 fertilizing elements soon become available. It is not so 

 rapid in its effects as the nitrate and ammonia salts, but 

 it compares favorably with any animal matter. Chem- 

 ically it is quite uniform, as appears from the analyses in 

 Table IV, Page 112. A clearer idea of its constituents 

 is obtained from the following more complete analysis : 



