249 



oermal as well as the extreme variation .... It is possible from suoh 

 records to show the character of a »^eason. The methods of cultivation 

 should hav^^ for their prime object the maintenance of the water supply 

 above the line of drought, so that the growth of the plant shall receive 

 no check. If this can not be done by the ordinary method of cultiva- 

 tion, irrigation must be resorted to upon such occasions, if the crop is 

 to be maintained in its best condition." 



THE COTTON-SEED OIL INDUSTRY IN GEORGIA. 



By Joseph Jacobs. 



In the present paper I shall endeavour to give some account of the 

 cotton- seed oil industry, confining the statistical portion of the article 

 mainly to my own State, Georgia, as this is one of the typical Southern 

 States, and what is said in that connection is measurably true of the 

 other Southern States of our Union ; though the industry is by no 

 meaDs confined to the South. 



While the Southern States of our country now principally supply the 

 -world with cotton, ihe cultivation of the plant is not at all confined to 

 that section. Egypt, India, Australia, portions of China and many of 

 the States of South America, as well as many of the islands of the seas, 

 cultivate the variety of the Grossypium plant, known by the common 

 English name cotton." 



In England there are now about twenty-five oil mills in operation, 

 consuming principally black seed of the sea island plant transported in 

 ships from Egypt, and the Hollanders are, perhaps, as largely engaged in 

 the industry. The oil has been made in those countries for many years. 



The superiority of the oil made in our Southern States is due partly 

 to the fact that the seeds can be secured fresh from the fields, near the 

 oil plants, whereas in England and Holland some months are often re- 

 quired to bring them over in sailing vessels. Besides, the English and 

 h oUand oil is not so clear as ours because the seed there treated is 

 Egyptian or Indian, and is not decorticated, owing to the difficalty of 

 piiikmg it. Our cotton seed parts with its fibre more readily, and in 

 every way yields better to treatment. 



The first mill for the manufacture of the oil in this country was, per- 

 haps, the one near Columbia, S. C, mention of which is found as early 

 as 1826 ; though it was probably operated prior to that date. One of 

 the mills in New Orleans before the war used a 35 horse-power steam 

 press, producing 500 gallons of oil and 5 tons of oD. cake a day. It re- 

 quired, as stated in the Southern Farmer and Planter, about 15 tons of 

 cotton seed to produce this amount of oil and cake, or each ton yielded 

 about 40 gallons of oil and 700 or 800 pounds of cake. In Memphis, 

 Tenn., it was also made in large quantities. A.t this period we find the 

 following published statement of the uses of the oil :— '* This oil, refined 

 by a secret process is made of two qualities — the best use for illuminat- 

 ing and lubricating purposes and for currying leather, and the inferior 

 for making soap equal to the palm soap. Cotton-seed cake was then 

 considered of about equal value with flax-seed cake." 



Prior to the war the cotton seeds were very little used as a stock food. 

 Some farmers sparingly used them after boiling. They were abundantly 

 applied as a manure, but only in their uncrushed condition. Browne, 



