LARD AND LARD ADULTERATIONS. 413 



From September 1, 1883, to September 1, 1886, there were exported from New York 

 88,871 barrels, and from New Orleans 186,720 barrels, making a total .of 275,591 bar- 

 rels from the two ports. These figures show conclusively that American cotton-seed 

 oil is growing rapidly in favor in foreign countries. 



When well stored and properly ventilated, cotton seed keeps sweet for twelve 

 mouths. If allowed to become damp, or stored too long in bulk, it grows heated, and 

 is liable to spontaneous combustion. 



Manufacture of cotton-seed oil. The seed when landed at the mill is first examined 

 If too damp or wet it is dried by spreading it over a floor with free access of air, ex- 

 posing it on frames to the sunlight in warm weather, or by kiln-drying. Drying is 

 the exception rather than the rule in the United States. Cotton ginning is so care- 

 fully done that the seeds have little or no opportunity to become wet. Besides this, 

 the seed is generally held at the gins for some time before it is sold to the oil manu- 

 facturer. 



The first process in preparing the dry seed for the mill is to free it from dust. This 

 is effected by shaking it in a screen or in drums lined with a fine metallic net and 

 containing a strong magnet to which any iron nails will adhere, which are frequently 

 present. From the drums the seeds drop into a gutter leading to a machine which 

 removes the lint left by the gin. This is done by a gin constructed for the purpose, 

 with saws closer together than Ihc ordinary cotton-gin. An average of twenty-two 

 pounds of short lint is taken from a ton of the seed. This product, called "linters," 

 is used in the manufacture of cotton batting. The clean seeds are then transferred 

 to the sholler, which consists of a revolving cylinder containing twenty-four cylin- 

 drical knives and four back knives. The sheller revolves at great speed, and as the 

 seed is forced between the knives the pericarp or 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. This removal of the husk makes a vast difference in the meal 

 cake, a dessicated or decorticated cake being five times more nutritious and whole- 

 some than an undecorticated cake. 



Doing thus cleaned, shelled, and separated, the kernels are carried by a system of 

 elevators to the upper story and then pass clown into the crusher- rolls to be ground 

 to Hour. 



Cold pressure produces a very good salad oil, and this is the method generally pur- 

 sued in Marseilles and other European cities for the first pressure, after which the 

 residue is subjected to a second warm pressure. In this country, however, warm press- 

 ure is generally preferred. Tn*c meal is heated in a meal heater for fifteen to twenty 

 minutes to 204.4 to 215.3 F. 



The heated meal is placedin woolen bags, each holding sufficient seed for a cake. The 

 bags are then placed between horsa-hair mats backed with leather having a fluted sur- 

 face inside to facilitate the escape of the oil under the hydraulic pressure amounting 

 to 169 tons. With the most improved presses the hair mats are, however, done away 

 with. The bags remain in the press seventeen minutes, the solid " oil-cake " of com- 

 merce remaining behind. This cake forms a superior feed for cattle, horses, sheep, 

 and especially swine, and is nutritious, easily digested, and fattening. 



Cotton-seed cake is of a rich golden color, quite dry, and has a sweet, nutty, oleag 

 inotis taste. When ground to the fineness of corn meal it is known as "cotton-seed 

 meal," and in that form is frequently used for fertilizing purposes. 



The crude oil as obtained from the press is pumped into the oil-room and either bar 

 relcd for shipment or refined. 



Four qualities of the oil are known : 



Crude oil is thickly fluid and of a dirty yellow to reddish color ; on standing it de 

 posits a slimy sediment. The second quality has a pale orange color and is obtained 

 by refining the crude oil. The third quality is obtained by further purification of the 

 second ; and the fourth, w hich has a pale straw color and a pure nutty tasto, by bleach- 

 ing the third quality. 



