182 



THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



steel bands. A bale is usually about 54 inches long, 27 inches 

 wide, and about 36 inches thick. 



To save space in shipping, most cotton is prepared for long 

 shipments by being compressed into half the volume of the 

 ordinary bale. This is accomplished by very heavy pressure by 

 means of ponderous machinery called a cotton compress. Round 

 bales are made by a system of machinery that winds the lint 

 into a cylinder of very compact form as it comes from the 

 gin. Round bales weigh 250 pounds and are not compressed. 



FIG. 89. Unopened cotton bolls 

 Different varieties of cotton have different forms of bolls 



228. Cottonseed products. The primary function of a cotton 

 oil-mill is to secure oil from cotton seed. The seed is " re-ginned," 

 producing a small amount of very short-staple fiber called linters. 

 The seeds are then cracked or chopped, and the kernels and 

 hulls separated. The hulls are used as roughage for stock, or 

 for packing material for breakable wares. The kernels are heated 

 and compressed for the extraction of oil. When the oil has been 

 extracted the residue is left in cakes about |-inch thick, called 

 cottonseed cake. The cake is pulverized and becomes cottonseed 

 meal. A ton of good cottonseed will yield approximately 800 

 pounds of hulls, 1000 pounds of kernels, from 25 to 30 pounds 



