COTTON. 113 



Raw Cottons. Fig. 71 is from a photograph of the layers of cotton 

 from an American cotton bale. The bulky appearance is a characteristic 

 feature of American cotton, and is a sign that it has been cleaned by 

 the Saw Gin process, by which curliness is avoided. The longer stapled 

 cottons are remarkable for the curly appearance in samples. Nearly all 

 the long-stapled, and most of the East Indian cottons, are peculiar in 

 their raw state for this curliness. It is regarded as a sign that such 

 cottons have been ginned by the Macarthy or by one of the roller 

 gin type of cleaners. 



Fig. 72 represents two samples of cotton. In the one that has been 

 opened the fibres have been freed from many of the impurities by the 



Fig. 71. Cotton layers from an American bale. 



opening treatment, and show a fleecy character. In the other, the 

 fibres are stringy, owing to over-scutching. When cotton has been 

 opened, it is next scutched, which means that it undergoes a further 

 opening and cleaning process, and is then compressed into a lap sheet. 



In the construction of a lap sheet it is essential that the fibres should 

 be so disposed as to form a dense opaque lap sheet of the same thickness 

 in every part, exactly similar to a carpet. Any variations from this 

 character may result in the fibres behaving differently in bulk one to 

 another, as, for instance, fig. 73, which shows a lap made from long-stapled 

 Brown Egyptian cotton, and in which it will be seen that, while the 

 layers of fibres adhere together, there is a jagged appearance at the sides. 



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