250 



in his "Field Book of Manures/' says : " They abound in a mild oil , 

 and are accounted very nutritious after the oil is expressed, a bushel of 

 seeds weighing 30 pounds, and yielding 2J quarts of oil, and 12^ pounds 

 of fine meal. The oil cake is very brittle, and breaks down more readily 

 than linseed cake. The taste is not unpleasant, and it is stated it can 

 be used with success in fattening stock/' 



In the Patent Office Reports, 1855, p 234, can be found " some 

 chemical researches on the seed of the cotton plant," by Prof. Chas. T. 

 Jackson. He refers to a patent taken out by D. W. Mesner. for 

 separating the "hulls" from the cotton-seed. Analyses are given of the 

 oil, the seed, the cake, etc. Professor Jackson employed ether to 

 separate the fixed oil, and it was found that 100 pounds of the dried, 

 pulverized seed gave 40 per cent, of pure fatty oil. The specific gravity 

 of the oil is given as . 923, which he states is the specific gravity 

 of pure whale oil. He recommended its use for lubricating machinery, 

 burning in lamps and for making soaps, and suggested its use as a sub- 

 stitute lor olive oil, and use as a salad oil, it having no disagreeable odour 

 or taste. On examining the cotton seed oil cake, he found that it 

 possessed " a sweet and agreeable flavour, and was much more pure and 

 clean than linseed oil cake.'' One hundred grains of the seed leave 60 

 grains of the oil cake. This cake examined for sugar was found to 

 contain 1.1 grains, and for gum 35 grains. Iodine gave no proof of 

 any starch in the cotton-seed, nor in the oil cake. 



ISince the war, the cotton-seed oil industry of the South has grown ta 

 immense proportions. The number of mills has increased from four in 

 1867 to over 300 at the present day. In 1872 the export of cotton oil 

 only amounted to 4,900 barrels; in 1896 about 30,000 barrels, and the 

 present products amounts to about 28,000,000 gallons per annum, worth 

 about 30 cents, per gallon, causing the consumption of about 800,000 

 tons of cotton-seed. The product goes to nearly every European port, 

 to Africa, Australia, India, the fcouth American Republics, West Indies 

 and Canary Islands and Japan. The Germans and Americans are said 

 to prefer animal fats to vegetable oils, contrary to the taste of all other 

 civilised people. The capacity of the various mills varies from a con- 

 sumption of 250 tons a day by the larger mills to 15 tons by the 

 smaller. TJie total capacity of the Georgia mills is about 2,000 tons a 

 day, which, if run on full time, would consume more than the total seed 

 product of that State, if all were available ; but the fact is that much of 

 the seed used by the Georgia mills is brought from Alabama, Missis- 

 sippi, Florida and Carolina. The annual out-put of Georgia from the 

 200,000 tons of seed, is about 150,000 pounds of oil, 70,000 tons of 

 meal, 8,000 bales in linters and 80,000 tons of hulls. The average 

 value of the annual product is about $2,750,000. 



I have thus endeavoured to give some of the facts connected with 

 cotton-seed oil, its history and its quantity and production in the hope 

 that our trade may find it a profitable product to deal in. I will now 

 enumerate some of the uses to which it has been applied, hoping that 

 they may suggest others even more in line with our especial interests. 



The principal use to which it is put is for food purposes. The claim 

 that it is more healthful than many animal fats has been largely respon- 

 sible for its extensive adoption in this connection. Nearly seven-eights- 

 of the 38,000,000 gallons produced per annum probably find their way 



