OTHER FARM CROPS 563 



the lint were the only part of the plant removed from the soil on 

 which it was grown cotton would be one of the least exhaustive of 

 farm crops. The only other product of the cotton plant whose fer- 

 tilizing constituents need be permanently lost to the soil is the oil, 

 which also contains comparatively insignificant amounts of these con- 

 stituents. It can be shown that, even when the seed is taken away 

 along with the lint, cotton still removes smaller amounts of fertilizing 

 materials from the soil than either oats or corn. 



If the stubble is turned under (not burned) and the seed or its 

 equivalent in meal is returned to the soil, the growing of cotton ex- 

 hausts the soil fertility very slowly. In fact, the direct loss to the soil 

 under these circumstances is not more than one-half pound of phos- 

 phoric acid, 1% pounds of potash, and I 1 /! pounds of nitrogen per 

 acre in a crop of 300 pounds of lint per acre. The stalks and other 

 refuse on an acre after the seed cotton has been picked amounts to 

 about 850 pounds in weight with average yields of lint. Stock is 

 usually turned in to pasture on this stubble after the last picking. 

 The animals strip off the limbs and pods, leaving finally nothing 

 but the hard and brittle bare stalks. 



Air-dry cotton plants, with seed cotton removed, rank as a feed- 

 ing stuff with the coarse, dry fodders, such as cornshucks, corn stover, 

 and rye, oat, and wheat straw. One hundred pounds of air dry ma- 

 terial contains on the average: Water, 10.01 pounds; ash, 6.13 

 pounds ; protein, 6.35 pounds ; fiber, 34.38 pounds ; nitrogen-free ex- 

 tract, 41.15 pounds, and fat, 1.98 pounds. 



It has been proposed to utilize the cotton stem for the prepara- 

 tion of fiber for cotton bagging, etc., and a process has been patented 

 for this purpose, but the enterprise has not proved successful, owing 

 largely, if not entirely, to the difficulty of devising a machine that 

 will satisfactorily work up the rough, irregular material. It is 

 claimed that under favorable conditions 5 tons of stalks will yield 1 

 ton of bark, producing about 1,500 pounds of fiber. Bagging made 

 from this fiber is pronounced by dealers to be of first-class quality. 

 The stalks are also highly valued for fuel in countries such as Egypt, 

 where other supplies are scarce, and the bark of the roots (Gossypii 

 radicis cortex U. S. P.) contains a principle which has long been 

 used for medicinal purposes, its action being similar to that of ergot. 



The uses of these by-products have now reached large propor- 

 tions and are constantly being extended. It is entirely possible that 

 ultimately cotton will be grown as much for the seed as for the fiber. 

 Accurate information regarding the value and uses of cotton seed 

 and its products is therefore of great importance not only to the con- 

 sumer but also to the producer. 



Cotton Seed. For many years cotton seed was considered only 

 useful to plant. Thousands of tons of this seed were annually burned 

 or dumped into the rivers. But at last it was shown that cotton seed 

 was not only valuable as a fertilizer and feeding stuff in its crude 

 state, but was capable of furnishing products that are among the most 

 important elements in our national industries. The oil is the main 

 product, and is used for a great variety of purposes. The residue after 



