282 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of actually inclosing the types in glass tubes is rapidly progressing. 

 The final operation of evacuating and fusing off will follow in the 

 immediate future. 



Several demonstrations of the practical usefulness of our method 

 for accurately determining the length of staple of cotton have been 

 made within the past year, and great interest is shown by all those 

 engaged in the industry who have seen this method, which has most 

 important applications in every part of the cotton industry. 



(1) It is of use to the breeder of cotton, since it permits a study to 

 be made of the relative proportions of long and short fiber on indi- 

 vidual seeds and on the various portions of the same seed. It also 

 enables a more accurate estimate to be made of the staple of a given 

 plant or a given seed. 



(2) It is now possible for the first time to say definitely what 

 effect ginning has on the length of staple. By taking a carefully 

 picked sample of cotton and running it through the gin at different 

 speeds and m different ways it is possible by meas'iring the staple to 

 ascertain the optimum conditions for staple. A comparison of these 

 results with the output of the gin will enable the operator to select 

 such speeds and other factors as may best meet these conditions. 



(3) When the cotton becomes an article of commerce, the length 

 and evenness of its staple are the factors that above all others de- 

 termine its value for spinning purposes. Hitherto the methods of 

 making these determinations have been very crude. It has not yet 

 been possible to accomplish this accurate stapling at a price that will 

 admit of its application to a single bale of cotton, but the price is 

 being constantly reduced and the time is probably not far distant 

 when it will be so cheap that it may be applied in a good many of 

 the ordinary transactions in cotton. Meanwhile, this accurate 

 method of stapling is a means for standardizing the rougher methods 

 that prevail in this respect. A study has been made of the methods 

 of high-class experts in all branches of the industry with a result 

 showing that on an average experts do not estimate within an eighth 

 of an inch of the actual length of the staple. They nearly all esti- 

 mate too high, but do not show any uniformity in this respect. In 

 important arbitration cases, this method of stapling will be of great 

 value. Instances of this are believed already to have arisen. 



(4) Accurate measurement of the staple has an important appli- 

 cation in the spinning of cotton. Machines are adjusted to handle a 

 given length of staple and it is important that they be supplied with 

 cotton suitable to their adjustment. It is also important to know 

 whether the adjustment marks on machines are what they pretend to 

 be. Hitherto there has been no certainty of determining either of 

 these points with accurac3^ 



(5) A matter of very great importance is the quantity of good 

 spinnable fiber lost in the waste from the mills. Here again there 

 has been no accurate means of determining how much spinnable 

 fiber is left in the waste. Examinations have been made during 

 the year of a number of wastes with very striking results. This 

 method can undoubtedly be made the means of a more careful ad- 

 justment of machinery so as to save valuable fiber which now goes 

 into the waste. 



An application of this method of stapling is being made in the 

 interests of cotton growers. A good chance to improve the quality 



