COTTON FIBER SCIENCE — PALMER 495 



fiiienes.s, or "Micronaire clauses," included. Many users of American 

 cotton abroad likewise require their imports to meet definite Micro- 

 naire specifications. Approximately 10 percent of the shippers' con- 

 tracts with manufacturers in this country also ^jx.x.'ify Pressley 

 strength values. Interest in this respect, however, may be even 

 greater with manufacturers in foreign countries tlian with those in 

 the United States. In a few instances, cotton merchants are now 

 willing to guarantee to a mill customer that the cotton [hey supply 

 will produce a textile product that will meet the specifications imposed 

 by the mill's customer. 



As to cotton purchased directly by manufacturers in tliis country, 

 the recent survey for the 1957-58 season showed that slightly more 

 ihan 75 percent of it was reported to have been tested for fiber fineness 

 prior to purchase. The proportion of cotton actually purchased by 

 test, however, is likely to be larger than the figure cited, as practically 

 all cotton obtained directly from areas nearby cotton mills is sub- 

 jected to prior JMicronaire tests, and little, if aiiy, is purchased that 

 does not meet the minimum or range of Micronaire values reqiured. 



The survey results reported above are now 3 years old. Use of 

 instruments to measure cotton quality has increased appreciably since 

 then among cotton mills and shippers, but the extent to which instru- 

 ments were used even 3 years ago is impressive. It shows a trend 

 which is likely to move much faster in the future, cotton mill men 

 say. 



In the approach toward the objectives at which cotton fiber analysis 

 was originally aimed — the improvement of grade and staple length 

 standards — progress has been gratifying. Wliile tecluiical measure- 

 ments obtained from the cotton fiber and color laboratories have not 

 yet been actually incorporated in legal definitions of the standards, 

 they are nevertheless heavily depended upon in tlie day tu-day opera- 

 tions and decisions mvolved. Tiie Universal Standards for grades 

 are prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the help of 

 laboratoiy measurements of color and the use of laboratory reference 

 data. The official standards for staple length, likewise m use aromid 

 the world, are prepared with the help of precise laboratory measure- 

 ments of fiber lengths, uniformity, fineness, maturity, and strength. 

 The grade and staple standards are, consequently, now more accurate, 

 constant, and reliable than ever before. Results obtained from cotton- 

 fiber analysis also give a stable basis for checking the level and ac- 

 curacy of daily cotton-classing operations, and thus contribute sub- 

 stantially to the uniformity of Federal and commercial classing 

 services. 



If, however, one were called upon to single out that segment of the 

 industry where the benefits have been most telling, quite certainly he 

 would have to say that it is raw cotton production, and specifically the 



