PRODUCTION AND CONSERVATION OF FATS AND OILS. 11 
DOMESTIC COTTON SUPPLY. 
The 1917 cotton crop fell a little short of that of 1916, and neither 
was more than about three-fourths of the average for the five-year 
period, 1911 to 1916. The 1918 crop was about 11,700,000 bales, or 
about 3^- per cent more than was produced in 1917. To insure 
a sufficient supply of good seed, the United States Department of 
Agriculture recommended that cotton growers save double the 
quantity needed for the first planting. Through the Government 
committee on seed stocks and the various State seed committees 
arrangements were made whereby farmers who carried over more 
seed than they needed could dispose of it in other sections where a 
third or fourth planting was required. 
In 1917 the price of fertilizers in many places was so high that 
undoubtedly some plantations did not receive a sufficiently heavy 
treatment. Through the Department of Agriculture approximately 
100,000 tons of Chili saltpeter were imported under the provision of 
the food control act, and sold to the farmers at cost in 1918. This 
helped to solve the nitrate fertilizer problem, and, incidentally, 
release for commercial purposes a large amount of cottonseed meal 
which would otherwise be needed for fertilizing. 
PRESSING THE SEED. 
The method of pressing American cottonseed oil is typical of the 
way hot-pressed oils are made, and the machinery and processes used 
in the production of this oil in the United States are superior to 
those of any other country. Plants of American design and con- 
struction are in operation in Europe, Asia Minor, India, and China. 
Preparation for the press. — At the crude-oil mill the cotton seed 
is first run through revolving screens which separate out the larger 
pieces of trash mixed with it, then passed over shaking sieves and 
magnets, and through cyclone cleaners, to get rid of the sand, nails, 
and dust. Next the seeds are fed into the delinters, where the little 
short cotton hairs which the gins failed to remove are taken off, com- 
pacted into a felt, and rolled out like cotton batting, ready for the mat- 
tress maker or gun-cotton manufacturer. From the last of these 
delinters the seed goes to the hullers, which break the hard outer coat or 
hull and liberate the soft oil-containing meats. To separate the hulls 
and meats as thoroughly as possible, the material as it comes from 
the hullers is run over shaking screens. The hulls are passed through 
a second and sometimes a third huller, and then through additional 
separators until they come out practically free from any of the valu- 
able oil-bearing interior portion. The meats when nearly freed 
