Am.  Jonr.  Pharm.  ) 
July,  1881.  J 
Cotton-Seed  Oil  Industry. 
343 
which  it  is  difficult  to  detect  by  taste  and  smell.  By  mixing  75  parts 
of  cotton-seed  oil  with  25  parts  of  olive  oil,  a  fine  table  oil  is  pro- 
duced, but  often  the  former  receives  only  a  small  amount  of  some 
otlier  oil  to  give  it  a  flavor.  Of  140,840  barrels,  or  nearly  6,000,000 
gallons,  shipped  from  New  Orleans  during  last  season,  88  per  cent, 
was  exported  on  orders  from  Europe  to  Mediterranean  and  French 
ports,  and  one-half  of  this  to  Italy.  This  is  more  than  tlie  entire 
olive  oil  production  of  France  and  one-fifth  that  of  Italy  itself.^  Tlie 
United  States  imports  only  one-tenth  this  amount  of  olive  oil,  so 
called.^  Some  oil  also  goes  West,  where  it  probably  figures  as  olive 
oil  without  the  intervention  of  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  ;  but  at 
least  two-thirds  of  the  entire  product  of  the  country  (15,000,000  gal- 
lons) is  exported  to  Europe.  It  is  thought  that,  in  time,  the  prejudice 
now  existing  against  cotton-seed  oil  will  be  overcome  and  our  people^ 
like  those  of  Europe,  take  to  cooking  their  food  in  oil,  as  the  Hebrews 
do,  instead  of  using  lard. 
By  the  use  of  close  saws,  the  oil  factories  are  able  to  obtain  what 
little  li7it  is  left  adhering  to  the  seed,  amounting  to  about  5  per  cent, 
of  the  cotton,  or  22  lbs.  to  a  ton.  The  lint  is  short  in  staple,  but 
exceedingly  while  and  clean,  and  the  better  grades  command  8  cents 
in  the  market.  It  is  too  good  for  ])aper-stock  and  is  generally  used 
in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  batting.  The  cotton  crop  "  of  the 
mills  last  year  amounted  to  over  5,000  bales. 
The  hulls  constitute  about  one-half  of  the  seed,  or  1,000  lbs.  to 
the  ton.  They  are  employed  as  fuel  for  running  the  mill ;  some 
oil  being  still  left  in  them,  they  burn  well  and  furnish  all  the  fuel 
necessary,  the  mills  finding  it  unnecessary  to  purchase  a  bushel  of 
coal.  The  ashes  yield  a  cheap  and  valuable  fertilizer  and,  when 
leached,  furnish  a  good  lye  used  in  the  manufacture  of  soap.  Mr. 
Atkinson,  of  Boston,  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  hulls  will  furnish  a 
good  stock  for  the  manufacture  of  paper,  and  suffice  to  supply  all 
the  material  needed  by  the  paper  manufacturers  of  this  country. 
There  is  a  large  profit  in  tlie  manufacture  of  cotton-seed  oil  in 
prosperous  seasons,  some  companies  paying  as  large  annual  dividends 
^  The  average  annual  production  of  olive  oil  in  Italy  is  e^tiniated  at 
1,500,000  hectoliters  or  38,000,000  gallons  ("Pharinacographia,"  p.  376) ;  more 
recently  at  3,000,000  hectoliters  {loc.  cif.,  2d  edit.,  p.  420);  tliat  of  France 
at  250,000,  and  by  Coutance  at  400,000  hectoliters. 
2  In  1870-80, 124,518  gals,  of  olive  oil  and  230,507  gals,  salad  oil  were  imported 
at  New  York.    D.  C.  Robbins,  "  Keview  of  Drug  Trade,"  p.  11. 
