COMMERCIAL FEEDING-STUFFS 257 



will not only cover the points of practical interest to 

 American feeders, but will serve to illustrate the main 

 facts that pertain to the manipulation of these oil 

 seeds. 



348. Methods of extracting oils. — It may be stated 

 in a general way that two methods have been used for 

 removing vegetable oils from seeds, expressing by pres- 

 sure and extraction with a solvent. With the first method, 

 it was formerly the custom to express the oil from the 

 cold crushed seed, but now the seed is more generally 

 submitted to heat, either by boiling or steaming, after- 

 ward applying the pressm-e to the warm material. More 

 oil is obtained by the latter process. The second or 

 extraction method involves the use of a solvent, gen- 

 erally a light naphtha, which leaves less oil behind than 

 either cold or warm pressure. Before extraction the 

 crushed seed is heated just as when pressure is used. 



349. Cottonseed meal. — ^The cotton seed as gathered 

 from the plant consists on the exterior of a mass of long 

 white fibers that are attached to the outer coat or hull, 

 inside of all of which is the kernel or meat. The seed 

 is first delinted by running it through a gin, which removes 

 the lint or cotton of commerce. After this operation 

 there is still attached to the seed a soft down, which 

 is subsequently removed and which constitutes what is 

 known as "linters," a short lint that is used in making 

 cotton batting. The remaining portion is that from 

 which cottonseed oil and certain by-product feeding-stuffs 

 are produced. 



350. Cottonseed hulls. — ^The first process in the manu- 

 facture of the oil is to remove the hull from the inside 

 meat. This is done by a sheller, which breaks the seed 

 coat and forces it from the kernel. These seed coats. 



