COTTON 
283 
brought rival companies into the field, and to-day 
wherever cotton is grown there are mills of various 
sizes converting raw seed into crude oil, meal and 
hulls. 
THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING 
Seed are gathered wherever obtainable and then 
delivered at the oil mill. Arriving here they are 
shoveled into a basket elevator which empties into 
a conveyor in the top of the building, and from 
thence they are distributed wherever storage room 
is available. Seed are now screened so as to get 
rid of bolls and other impurities, sand, dust, etc. 
This process of cleaning is the first step in the 
production of oil. Now seed go to the linters, 
where the short fibres are removed; and from here 
they go to the huller — a contrivance fitted with 
sets of knives that cut the seed into many small 
pieces. The heavier part of the seed, the meat, 
drops out and goes in one direction, while the hulls 
are carried in another. This operation is further 
perfected by having all of the droppings pass 
through sieves or screens which allow the meats to 
go through, but retain the greater part of the hulls. 
The hulls are next sent to places where they may 
be stored away, or carried to the press for baling. 
The meat now passes through a series of rollers 
intended to crush the particles and cells. From 
here it goes to heaters and kettles, and is cooked, 
the time of this cooking varying from 15 to 40 
minutes according to the judgment of the cook, and 
the condition of the seed. 
When this operation has been completed the 
meats are placed in a hydraulic press where the oil 
