560 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



GRADE: DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE. 



In the cotton market the term staple refers to the length and 

 fineness of the fiber, and these points are influenced most by seed 

 selection. The term grade, on the other hand, indicates the appear- 

 ance of the cotton as regards cleanliness and color, qualities influ- 

 enced mainly by the manner in which the cotton has been handled. 

 The price is considerably influenced by the grade. 



Loss of Bloom or Luster. The best staple has a gloss or luster 

 which adds greatly to its beauty and is indispensable for certain 

 kinds of fabrics. This bloom is destroyed by exposure to sun and 

 storm when cotton is left long unpicked, and the staple then has a 

 gray, lifeless appearance, sometimes termed mildewed or weather- 

 beaten. A similar effect is produced by picking cotton when wet 

 with rain or dew and storing it in piles without first drying it in the 

 sun. To preserve the staple at its best, pick often once a week, 

 if possible and expose the seed cotton to the sun to dry. This is 

 done by spreading it in a shallow layer on a low roof or arbor, where 

 it is turned frequently until so dry that the seed will crack between 

 the teeth. 



Loss of Strength. The loss of luster is accompanied by a les- 

 sened strength, so that a staple originally good fails to make as strong 

 thread as before an added reason for better care. Very dry cotton 

 is also not as strong as that which, under proper treatment, has re- 

 tained its natural moisture. 



Nep. Spinners designate as nep small white specks in the baled 

 cotton, which they find very difficult to remove in spinning and 

 which often go into the thread and appear in the completed fabric as 

 white dots. These neps are in reality tangles in the fibers, which 

 when viewed under a microscope are seen to be weak and undevel- 

 oped. They are due in part to picking cotton before maturity; a 

 boll that is forced open to extract the lint is a source of nep, as the 

 cotton in it does not get the necessary exposure to the sun to dry and 

 straighten and strengthen the fiber. Other nep originates with weak 

 cotton from diseased bolls or from any other cause that prevents 

 the fibers from attaining full development. Such undeveloped staple 

 comes from the gin full of nep. Poor ginning, however, by weaken- 

 ing and breaking fibers increases loss from this cause. Pickers 

 should be cautioned against picking unripe bolls. Thorough sun- 

 ning will in part remedy the trouble, and good culture, by producing 

 healthy plants, will do more. 



Broken Leaf, Etc. The presence of fragments of leaf, weed 

 seeds, and other foreign matter in the cotton reduces its grade. 

 These are often difficult to avoid, particularly after storms, when bits 

 of the dried square, or involucre, are often mingled with the cotton ; 

 but pickers should be watched and cautioned against picking dirty 

 cotton. Fortunately, the spinners find it easier to remove this class 

 of impurities than the nep previously mentioned. 



Short Fibers. A large part of the waste is due to short _ fibers, 

 which have to be combed out. They originate in part in variations 

 in the length of the staple on the seed, a serious fault, to be remedied 



