OTHER FARM CROPS 565 



hull is broken and forced from the kernel. The mixed shells 

 and kernels are separated in a winnowing machine by a strong blast 

 of air. Being thus cleaned, shelled, and separated, the kernels are 

 carried by a system of elevators to the upper story, and then passed 

 down into the crusher rolls to be ground to flour. After this crush- 

 ing the meats drop into a conveyer, which delivers them to the 

 heaters. Close to the heaters stands the "former," which shapes the 

 meats into cakes for the press. The cakes as they come from the 

 former are wrapped in haircloth and removed by hand to the press, 

 where they are arranged in a series of boxes, one above the other, 

 between the plates of the press, and subjected to a pressure of 3,000 to 

 4,000 pounds to the square inch by hydraulic power. The cakes, 

 pressed as solid as boards, are taken from the press, stripped of the 

 cloths, and stacked to dry. When dry they are passed through a 

 cake cracker, which breaks them into fragments of a size suitable to 

 be fed to a mill. The mill grinds these fragments into a fine meal, 

 which is put up into sacks containing 100 pounds. Sometimes the 

 meal is bolted to separate it from small pieces of the hull, which, 

 being tough and leathery, are not readily ground up. 



Cotton-Seed Oil. As a food cotton-seed oil was first used as an 

 adulterant to soften and temper lard intended for use in cold cli- 

 mates. Later on the fluidity of the oil itself was corrected by mixing 

 it with beef fat. This mixture was put on the market under the 

 name of compound or refined lard. It was so kindly received by the 

 public that before long all disguise was dropped and it was sold on 

 its merits in competition with lard. 



The soap made from cotton-seed oil is claimed to be especially 

 adapted to wool washing and is now largely used by the woolen mills 

 in this country and also extensively in England and Scotland. The 

 oil has also been found to be excellent for laundry, family, and fancy 

 soaps. 



Another by-product in the manufacture of cotton-seed oil is a 

 wash powder made from the soap stock, which, however, owes its 

 principal virtue to the soda or potash used in the refining processes. 



Cotton-Seed Meal. This is bright yellow in color when fresh, 

 with a sweet, nutty flavor, but becomes discolored and deteriorates 

 with age. The black specks seen in some samples show either an acci- 

 dental impurity or an intentional adulteration with hulls. Its compo- 

 sition depends upon the composition of the seed and on the complete- 

 ness with which the hulls and kernels are separated, and the oil 

 expressed. Cotton-seed meal is poor in carbohydrates (starch, sugar, 

 etc.), but rich in fat and protein (nitrogenous matter). In fact, it is 

 so rich in the latter constituents that it can be utilized to advantage as 

 a food for animals only when mixed with some coarse fodder rich in 

 carbohydrates, thus furnishing a more evenly balanced ration. 



In comparative valuations of feeding stuffs it has been found that 

 cotton-seed meal exceeds corn meal by 62 per cent, wheat by 67 per 

 cent, and raw cotton seed by 26 per cent. As regards digestibility, 

 cotton-seed meal compares very favorably with other concentrated 

 feeding stuffs, as the following statement of the amounts of digestible 



