Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/573

* COTTONSEED AND ITS PRODUCTS. 489 COTYLEDON. because the seed is disposed of to better advantage to tlie millers or can be exchanged for cottonsecd- nieal. There are also the further reasons that the lint on the seed and the dust it collects are likely to be injurious, while at the same time it is not easy to mix the seed itself thoroughly with other coar.se feeds. It is a very rich feeding stuff, and animals nuist be accustomed to it gradually. The whole seed is sometimes used for fertilizer, and then it is partially rolled. Vuttonsi.c<.l->nrul is the ground residue left in the manufacture of oil from the seed. It is some- times called cottonseed cake and belongs to the class of feeding stutt's known as oil cakes. Cotton- seed cake is of two kind.s — undecorticated, or that from the whole seed, and decorticated, or made from the kernels after the hulls have been re- moved. Undecorticated eake was formerly largely used, but most of the mills now remove the hulls before expressing the oil. Cottonseed-meal is bright-yellow in color, with a sweet, nutty flavor. It deteriorates and becomes discolored with age. The following summary of over 400 analyses shows its range in composition, which is due to differences in the composition of the seed and the completeness with which the hulls are sepa- rated and the oil expressed : half of the weight of the ginned seed. They con- tain about 11 per cent, of water, 4 of protein, 40 of fibre. ;i.'? of nitrogen-free extract, and 2 per cent, of fat. Their digestibility is low, less than 40 per cent, of the total dry matter being assimi- lated. They are hard and dry, usually covered with a fuzzy lint, and very bulky. For this reason they are put up in bales weighing about ninety pounds. They are iised ])rincipal!y as a cheaji substitute for hay, and for the purpose of giving bulk to the ration. Large numbers of cattle are fattened in the Soutliern States of the L'nited States on cotlonseed-nieal and hulls ex- clusively, in proportions varying from two to six pounds of hulls to one pound of meal. The prac- tice is claimed to be economical and profitable, and the diet apparently does not injure the health of the animals or impair the quality of the jiroduct. Cottonseed-meal is rich in fertilizing materials, especially nitrogen, as shown by the following average of over 200 analyses: Water, 7.8 ; ash, 7 ; nitrogen, 6.8; phosphoric acid, 2.9; and potash, 1.8 per cent. It is chiefly used as a source of nitrogen, and finds quite extensive use for that purpose through the Southern portion of the United States. It has given excellent results with Percentage Compopitiox of Cottonseed-meal (Decorticated) Water Ash Protein Fibre Nitrogen- ^""^^ free extract Fat Maximum 18.62 5.29 8.52 10.60 1.7-2 7.02 52.88 23.27 43.26 15.15 1.88 5.44 38.68 9.13 22.31 20.66 2.18 Average 13.45 This material is one of the richest feeding stuffs in use, considerably exceeding in protein and fat such materials as linseed-meal, but. in spite of this, it is quite well digested when fed in modera- tion. On an average, 88.8 per cent, of the protein, 57 per cent, of the fibre, 77.6 per cent, of the nitrogen-free extract, and 88.0 per cent, of the fat has been found to be digested by ruminants. It is fed extensively in the. United States to cows, cattle, sheep, and nearly all kinds of farm stock, with the exception of pigs. The- latter do not seem, for some i-eason, to be able to eat the meal, although they eat the whole seed without injurious effects. Yoimg animals, like calves, have also often been injured by cottonseed-meal, and its use with them is attended with danger. All experience goes to show that the fresh meal can be fed to other kinds of animals without danger and in large quantities after they become accustomed to it. Six. eight, and even ten pounds of cottonseed-meal per head is often fed to steers, with good results, using no other kind of grain. It is undoubtedly best to mix some material like cornmeal with it. For cows about two pounds a day seems to be a safe limit for continued feed- ing, although three and often frur pounds are often fed. It tends to give a firmer, harder butter, which will stand shipment better. Larger quantities can be fed with safety in winter than in summer. It is one of the cheapest of the highly nitrogenous feeding stuffs, and is there- fore one of the most economical for balancing rations. f'ottonsred-hiiUs, which are removed at the mills by means of crushers, screens, and shakers, also possess some feeding value, and are much used with the meal. They constitute nearly one- sugar-cane, cotton, and corn, and has been suc- cessfully substituted for barnyard manure in the culture of tobacco. But its u.se as a fertilizer is of course wasteful, as the food constituents are not utilized in that case. A more rational prao tice in many cases is to feed the meal and apply the resulting manure to the soil, since from 80 to 90 per cent, of the fertilizing materials would be recovered in the manure, and additional benefit would be secured in the jiroduction of meat, milk, etc. Cottonseed-hulls are to some extent burned as fuel, and the resulting cotton-hull ashes are rich in jjotash and make an excellent fertilizer for tobacco. (See Ashes.) (Consult Roper, "Cotton- seed Products," in Twelfth Vnited States Census, vol. ix., part iii. (Washington, 1902). COTTON STATE. Alabama. See States, PoPFLAK Names of. COTTONTAIL. Any of the smaller Ameri- can hares, especially the common wood-hare or gray rabldt. The name refers to the fluffy white scut, and is often personified as 'Jlolly Cotton- tail.' See Hare, and Plate of Hares and Pika. COTTON WHIGS. See Conscience Whigs. COTTONWOOD. A name applied to a num- ber of species of Populus on account of the iibun- dant white cottony hairs surrounding the seed. The trees are widely distributed. Some attain large size and are valuable for many purposes. See Poplar. COT'YLE'DON (Gk. Korvh/Sm'. l-otyUdon, cup-shajicd hollow socket, from Kori?.!/, kotrjle, hollow cup). The first leaf or leaves of an iMubryo. In .seed-plants the cotyledons are usu- allv formed within the seed, and in most cases