Cotton Fiber and Spinning Properties as Affected by Certain Ginning Practices in San Joaquin Valley, California, Season 1958-59

Excerpts from the report: In the past several years, textile mills have indicated that repeated application of gin drying and cleaning equipment and its misuse in striving for higher grade levels have seriously impaired cotton's spinnability. Even though grade levels might have been improved with no noticeable effect on standard fiber property measurements, very significant changes in cotton's spinnability may occur. In turn, this reduction in spinnability has resulted in increased processing costs and lower value of the finished products. And in general, the economic position of American cotton, both at home and abroad, has been adversely affected. Thus, alleviation of a major economic problem in the marketing of cotton depends on the identification and measurement of those attributes which constitute cotton quality. Proper values must be placed on these attributes to assure equitable pricing. Therefore, scientific and technological problems are involved in identification and measurement of these quality attributes, and the complete solution involves engineers, technologists, economists, physicists, chemists, and others. The study, involving cotton from the 1958 crop, is the first in a group of broad studies conducted cooperatively by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and a commercial ginning company. The object was to determine the effects of drying and lint cleaning on fiber properties, grade, and spinning performance of cotton grown in the San Joaquin Valley of California.