420 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Official Cotton Standards of the United States. 



AMERICAN EGYPTIAN COTTON. 



THE readers of The India Rubber World are already fa- 

 miliar with the development of the American Egyptian 

 cotton of the Salt River valley in Arizona and some dis- 

 tricts of California. Those who are not can find some interest- 

 ing facts in Service and Regulatory Announcement No. 41, pub- 



IlXUSTR.\TION OF StEPS FROM 1 TO V/s INCHES. 



ment of Agriculture, which is mainly devoted to the announce- 

 ment of official standards of grades and lengths of these and the 

 Sea Island varieties of cotton. 



When the Yuma cotton was developed from careful experi- 

 mental breeding, and proved of greater strength of fiber, the 

 Department of Agriculture established and introduced grades 

 and lengths of staples, which have largely formed the basis for 

 description of such cotton in transactions between cotton mills 

 and producers. 



In 1910 a single plant of distinct type was found growing in a 

 field of the Yuma variety, at Sacaton, Arizona, from the seed of 

 which a progeny row was grown in 1911 and more extensive 

 plantings were made in 1912 and 1913. The most careful ex- 

 aminations failed to reveal any noteworthy departure from the 

 ■original plant found in 1910. This variety was named Pima. 

 The important differences between the Pima and the Yuma 

 varieties are that the Pima has a whiter color and a longer 

 staple. The Yuma variety has a staple from 1-7/16 to W2 

 inches in length, and the Pima a staple from 1% to 1J4 inches, 

 or an increase of from 3/16 to % of an inch. 



The grading and stapling of 2,100 bales of the 1917 crop were 

 done by a representative of the Bureau of Markets of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, and material was 

 collected for types. It was thein decided to replace the tentative 

 standards for Yuma cotton with the official cotton standards of 

 the United States for American Egyptian cotton, made up of 

 types of the Pima variety. Heretofore the grades of Pima cot- 

 ton have been designated by the names Fancy, Extra, Choice, 

 Standard, and Medium. In the official cotton standards for 

 American Egyptian cotton numbers are substituted for the grade 

 names — No. 1 for Fancy; No. 2 for Extra; No. 3 for Choice; No. 

 4 for Standard ; and No. 5 for Medium. 



Furtherinore, American Egyptian cotton which in grade is 

 between any two adjoining grades represented by types in the 

 standards, are designated by the grade number of the higher 

 grade, followed by "><" ; for example, cotton between grades No. 

 1 and No. 2 is grade V4. Also, cotton inferior to grade No. 5 

 is designated "Below grade S." The lengths of staple formerly 

 known by numbers are designated by their actual measurements. 



determined in the manner set forth in the order establishing 

 the standards for length of staple. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON. 



Standards for Sea Island cotton are also established. 



In the standards for Sea Island cotton, as in the case of 

 American Egyptian cotton, numbers are substituted for grade 

 names, No. 1 for Fancy; No. 2 for Extra Choice; No. 3 for 

 Choice; No. 4 for Extra Fine; No. 5 for Fine; and No. 6 for 

 Medium Fine. 



Likewise, Sea Island cotton which in grade is between any two 

 .uljuining grades represented by types in the standards, is desig- 

 iiaud by the grade number of the higher grade, followed by 

 "'j"; for example, cotton between grades No. 1 and No. 2 is 

 made 1'/.. Also, cotton inferior to grade No. 6 is designated 

 ■ntlow grade 6." The lengths of staple will be designated by 

 ilnir actual measurements determined in the manner set forth 

 III the order establishing the standards for length of staple. 

 LENGTH OF STAPLE COTTON. 



The Department of Agriculture has been making investiga- 

 ti'iiis for several years, looking to the establishment of standards 

 if length of cotton. Specialists interviewed mill-owners, mer- 

 chants, buyers, brokers and shippers in the North and South, 

 ami the result which met the approval of more than 70 per cent 

 oi those consulted, was that instead of the lengths of staple be- 

 ing designated by numbers, they are hereafter to be known by 

 the actual measurements, in inches, of the length of the fibers, 

 according to the standard rule, under a relative humidity of the 

 atmosphere of 65 per cent and a temperature of 70 degrees 

 Fahrenheit, without regard to the quality or value of the staple. 



It was also determined that length of staple of less than J4 

 inch should be designated "Below ^" ; froin ihree-ofurths to 

 one inch should be designated in steps of sixteenths of an inch, 

 and from one inch upwards should be designated in steps of 

 thirty-seconds of an inch. When cotton more than three-fourths 

 of an inch in length of staple is not actually one of the measure- 

 ments specified, it is to be designated by the specified length 

 which comes nearest under its actual measurement. An illus- 

 tration of the steps from one to one and one-eighth inches, both 

 inclusive, is shown in the accompanying graph. The following 

 lengths specified in the standards, nine in all, are represented by 



Official Cotton Standards. Lengths of Staple for Which 

 Types Are Ready for Distribution. 



physical types: 54, %, 1, \%. V/i, U/s. Ij^, Is/g and 1^- Reproduc- 

 tions of samples of cotton having these lengths are shown in the 

 half-tone illustration. 



As different methods of pulling staple may cause variations 

 in results obtained by different classifiers, the Bureau of Mar- 

 kets has made a study of methods used by acknowledged experts 

 in this work, and has devised a method, the adoption of which 

 it recommends. Photographs of the various steps or successive 

 motions involved in this method are given in the document here 

 mentioned. 



