248 



KUMPTA COTTON AND ITS iMPROVEMENt 



(8) The staple. The lint of himpta cotton is markedly variable in .staple 

 and in strength. The length of the lint naaybe anything from half an inch 

 to one inch, and the strength from very weak to strong. The variation in the 

 length of staple has been studied on seed cotton, and the method is that used 

 by Balls. ^ Seven seeds of each plant were combed and the length of fibres 

 coming from the middle portion of the seed measured. Generally, the tip of 

 the seed bears short hairs and the butt end bears long ones. The diflerenre 

 between the length at the tip and the butt of the same seed is often as great as 

 six millimeters (l inch). This is illustrated in Fig. 12. 



^^^•f^. 



18M.M. 



£1 M.M. 



Buti- 



Ary-un^e>ne>i^ o^ L/mI- ott seed 



Fig. 12. 



The bulk of the fibres are, however, placed between tlie two ends, and 

 the measurement taken in the middle of the seed represents the mcde of the 

 length. Such a measm-ement is taken seven times m the case of each plant, 

 and the mean of these is adoptecl as the length of the staple of that plant. 

 One more precaution is also taken. The seed^ placed at the apex of the cells 

 of the boil produce shorter hairs than those of other seedjs of the same boll. 

 This difference is marked in the late bolls which form the bulk of the last 

 picking. All such seeds were excluded from the above measure ments.^ 



1 " The Development of E.aw Cotton," page 184. 



2 It is possible that differences in staple may exist between the cotton lint from bolls pro • 

 duced in the different classes of branches. Tins matter is now vmder study. 



