COTTON FIBRE 29 



irregular, thus giving the harsh woolly character so marked in some 

 grades, and, when uniform, the fine soft silky condition of others. In 

 certain cottons the rapidity with which the cells part with or absorb 

 moisture is so remarkable that the twisting may take place even 

 within the unopened pod. In other instances untoward climatic 

 conditions may alter the character of the ripening crop, by pro- 

 longing the growth of the fibre beyond its proper extent (thus 

 making the floss harsh and coarse), or by checking it before being 

 sufficiently mature, in either case greatly depreciating its value. 



Season of Growth. The length of the growing season, in relation Deter- 

 to the time required by a crop, may necessitate either a change in n j inatlon 

 the date of sowing or the substitution of a more suitable stock. 

 With all new stocks or new localities test experiments should be 

 made. For this purpose flowers should be marked that are fully 

 opened at one and the same time, then allowed to ripen into fruit, and 

 one of these registered fruits taken every few days and examined 

 to see when the highest average maturity is attained. It seems 

 probable that reaping a crop a little earlier than is customary, or in 

 some cases a little later, or sowing a little earlier or a little later, 

 might effect vast improvements. 



So again certain staples, unfit for fine spinning when judged of 

 purely by the standard of measurement, may, nevertheless, be spun 

 into fairly high counts, as a consequence of their hygroscopic or other 

 properties. In another passage (pp. 102-8), interesting particulars 

 of this nature will be found, regarding the once far-famed Dacca 

 cotton, the spinning of which, it would seem, was largely a study of 

 the action of the humidity and electricity of the atmosphere and of Humidity 

 the action of the cells themselves under certain bleaching waters, 

 The Dacca spinners can to-day produce from one of the most 

 inferior of all known staples a yarn quite as fine as that made in 

 Europe and America from the finest and best known staples. This 

 remains one of the enigmas of the cotton industry that would seem 

 to point to the hand spinners being possibly able even to-day to 

 teach machine spinners something they do not know. In this 

 connection the well-known influence of humidity in the cotton 

 factory may be brought to mind. The reader will find much useful 

 information on that subject in a little book by Mr. B. A. Dobson, 

 entitled ' Humidity in Cotton -spinning,' 1894. 



Individual Merits in the Grades of Staple. The theme of 

 the structure and properties of the cotton cell might be detailed 



