Cotton yarn is used more than woolen because it spins more cheaply and is less difficult to knit.
6. Other Cotton Products
Before concluding this part of our survey which deals with the manufacture of cotton into finished goods, we must at least enumerate some of the by-products and minor fruits of the industry.
Seed Oil
Linters
To begin with, at the time that the cotton is ginned the seeds are sold to the manufacturers of cotton oil. Without going into detail as to the process, we have here an annual product for this country worth $384,000,000. Seed mills regin the seed before they crush it and remove the short fibres which have hitherto adhered to the seed. This regained cotton is known as linters and amounts annually to about 800,000 bales.
Felt and Surgical Dressings
Being of very short staple this reginned cotton is adapted for the manufacture of felts and surgical dressings, both of which are important by-products.
Lace
The manufacture of small-wares and lace curtains is another minor branch of cotton manufacture. Here, however, domestic production is comparatively small, and the bulk of the lace used is imported. Nevertheless probably over 75,000,000 yards[3] of the lace are made annually in this country.