498         The  Cotton-seed  Oil  Industry  in  Georgia,    {A  ocSber.wS"1' 
rial  for  fabrics  began  with  the  introduction  of  slavery  in  this  coun- 
try, but  the  history  of  the  plant  shows  that  many  of  the  ancient 
nations  were  skilled  in  the  weaving  of  cloths  from  this  fleece  of 
the  fields,  and  authoritative  writers  state  that  long  before  the 
Christian  era,  the  older  peoples  of  the  East  could  weave  it  into 
filmy  fabrics  of  far  more  delicate  texture  than  even  those  of  the 
finest  of  this  day. 
It  is  said  that  the  value  of  the  seed  known  to  the  ancients  was 
both  in  the  oil  and  the  meal ;  that  the  oil  was  used,  but  not  for  its 
edible  purposes,  and  that  the  crushed  seed  were  fed  to  their  cattle. 
The  Chinese,  it  is  related,  expressed  the  oil  from  cotton  seed  at 
least  500  years  before  Christ. 
In  England  there  are  now  about  twenty-five  oil  mills  in  opera- 
tion, consuming  principally  black  seed  of  the  sea-island  plant  trans- 
ported 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  required  to  bring  them  over  in  sailing  vessels. 
Besides,  the  English  and  Holland  oil  is  not  so  clear  as  ours, 
because  the  seed  there  treated  is  Egyptian  or  Indian,  and  is  not 
decorticated,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  picking  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, 
perhaps,  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  oil  cake  a  day.  It  required,  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.  At  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  used  for  illuminating 
and  lubricating  purposes  and  for  currying  leather,  and  the  inferior 
