COTTON 



1607 



COTTON 



stretching frame, and the fibers are then twisted 

 and wound on bobbins of decreasing size, until 

 the strands are fine enough to be spun into thread 

 or yarn. When the product is ready for the 

 spinning machine it is called roving. From the 

 spinning machine the thread or yarn is taken 

 to the looms to be made into cloth. The de- 

 tails of these processes are described in these 

 volumes under the titles SPINNING and WEAV- 

 ING. 



Muslin, silesia, cheesecloth, cambric, duck 

 and canton flannel are some of the fabrics 

 woven from cotton yarns. Plain cotton goods 

 with printed designs are known as calico, and 

 gingham is a fabric woven of cotton threads 

 of different colors. Cotton yarn or cloth 

 treated with a solution of caustic soda is said 

 to be mercerized. In this process the fibers 

 shrink a little and take the dye more readily, 

 while the mercerized fabric acquires a glossy 

 appearance like that of silk. 



The By-products of Cotton. Both the seeds 

 and stalks of the cotton plant are utilized. In 

 the process of ginning, short, fine pieces of lint, 

 called linters, cling to the seeds. These are 

 used in making low-grade yarns, wrapping 

 twine, cheap rope and lampwicks, mattresses, 

 comforters, cushion pads and upholstering. 

 Mixed with wool, linters enter into the manu- 

 facture of hats, and they are also utilized in 

 making writing paper and guncotton. 



The hulls of the seeds, which are cut away 

 from the kernels by machinery, are used in 

 large quantities as a food for stock. The oil 

 pressed out of the kernels has various uses. 

 The better grade is used in making oleomar- 

 garine, cottolene and salad oil (see COTTON- 

 SEED OIL). Large quantities of the American 

 product are shipped to Holland, where the 

 oil is utilized in making imitation butter. The 

 Italians, after putting it through various treat- 

 ments, use it as olive oil ; for several years they 

 shipped it back to America as pure olive oil, 

 and it was a long time before the deception 

 was known. In France inferior grades are con- 

 verted into soap. Cottonseed oil is also em- 

 ployed in packing sardines, and it serves as a 

 substitute for linseed oil in paints. Miners 

 value it as a fuel for their lamps, and drug- 

 gists use it in the manufacture of medicine. 



Another by-product is cottonseed meal, ob- 

 tained by grinding the hard, dry cake left 

 after the oil has been pressed out of the seeds. 

 When sifted like flour it is an excellent stock 

 food, and when mixed with acid phosphate 

 it becomes a valuable fertilizer. 



The cotton stalks are now being put to 

 numerous uses. Cut up and worked into the 

 soil, they are valuable as fertilizer. Pulp made 

 from them is coming into extensive use in 

 paper making, for paper manufactured from 

 cotton pulp is much stronger in proportion to 

 thickness and weight than that produced from 

 wood pulp. The latter, also, is more expensive 

 than cotton pulp, and is more difficult to ob- 

 tain because of the diminishing timber supply. 



Cotton stalk fibers have also been found 

 practicable for the manufacture of guncotton. 

 Cotton pulp which has been dissolved in amyl 

 acetate is used in making artificial silk, the sub- 

 stance being spun into threads and the threads 

 woven into fabrics. Numerous chemicals also 

 are produced from cotton pulp, among which 

 are pyroxylene, alcohol and acetone. What re- 

 mains from the stalk after the fiber has been 

 removed can be prepared as a food for stock, 

 and umbrella handles are now being made out 

 of the tougher portions. 



The Enemies of Cotton. Of several insect 

 pests that damage the cotton plant, the boll 

 weevil is the most malignant. This is a small, 

 gray beetle which attacks the growing bolls and 

 renders their contents useless. The cotton leaf 



Limit of Boll Weevil Region 

 1915 -1910 



BOLL WEEVIL MAP 



worm, another pest, is the caterpillar of a 

 gray moth. These caterpillars injure tljie plants 

 by stripping them of their leaves, thereby de- 

 priving them of one of their chief sources of 

 nourishment. The United States Department 

 of Agriculture has made an exhaustive study 

 of the insect enemies of cotton, and bulletins 

 containing the results of their investigations 

 may be obtained on application. The cater- 

 pillars may be killed by spraying the plants in 

 July and August with poisons containing arse- 

 nic, or by sprinkling them with Paris green. 



