408 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Approximately 50 pounds of cotton from each bale were sent to 

 the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts 

 (textile department) and a check test was conducted by the office 

 against the results found at the commercial mills. Cotton originat- 

 ing from the different zones of the cotton belt, namely, Piedmont, 

 Coastal Plains, Eastern Gulf, Western Gulf, and red and black 

 prairie lands of Oklahoma and Texas was tested separately. 



The check tests indicated that the percentage of waste taken out 

 in the manufacturing processes of the cotton representing the respec- 

 tive zones were within 1 per cent of each other. All of the cotton 

 represented commercial 15/16 staple. 



The check tests indicated also that the cotton grown in the Western 

 Gulf and in the red and black prairie lands of Oklahoma and Texas 

 produced a stronger but somewhat harsher yarn than the cotton of 

 the Piedmont, Coastal Plains, or Eastern Gulf. 



Tests have been conducted in the laboratory of the Office of 

 Markets and Rural Organization on samples of yarn made from 

 the respective grades of cotton. Moisture tests also are being made 

 on samples of cotton that were secured during the various processes. 

 Samples of the cloth, bleached and unbleached, are being tested by 

 the United States Bureau of Standards in order to determine the 

 comparative tensile strength of the different materials. 



BLEACHING TESTS ON COTTON STANDARDS. 



Cloth samples representing over 100 different combinations of 

 warp and filling, made from the 5 eastern and 5 western grades 

 of cotton, were bleached at two commercial bleacheries in order to 

 determine the comparative bleaching properties. 



Laboratory tests are now being made at the New Bedford Textile 

 School as a check against the work done at the commercial estab- 

 lishments. The percentage of loss due to the bleaching processes, 

 also the comparative tensile strength of the material before and after 

 bleaching, is to be determined. 



OTHER TESTS. 



At the request of the Federal Horticultural Board tests were made 

 of foreign-grown cotton which had been fumigated with hydro- 

 cyanic-acid gas as a preventive against the introduction of the pink 

 boll worm. It was shown that fumigation with hydrocyanic-acid 

 gas does not injure the fibers of the cotton for spinning purposes, 

 and a description and the results of the tests have been set forth in 

 Department Bulletin 366, Manufacturing Tests of Cotton Fumigated 

 with Hydrocyanic-acid Gas. 



Tests of the five tentative grades of Arizona-Egyptian cotton have 

 been made in comparison with Georgia Sea Island cotton and Sakel- 

 laridis Egyptian cottons of the same relative grade and length of 

 staple. The results indicate that the Arizona-Egyptian cotton is 

 less wasty and substantially equal in other respects to the other cot- 

 tons used in these tests. Descriptions of the tests and the results 

 have been published as Department Bulletin 359, Comparative Spin- 

 ning Tests of the Different Grades of Arizona-Egyptian with Sea 

 Island and Sakellaridis Egyptian Cottons. 



