UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION NO. 10 



Washington, D. C 



November. 1927 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARD GRADES FOR AMERICAN 



COTTON LINTERS 



By Guy S. Mexoy, Assistant Chief Marketing Specialist, Division of Cottoru 

 Marketing, Bureau of Agricultural Economics 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Cotton linters defined 1 



Need for standards 1 



Industry requests standards 2 



Definitions of terms 2 



Staple 3 



Foreign matter ^ 



Color 3 



Character '■' 



Cutting 4 



First cuts 4 



Mill runs 4 



Definitions of terms — Continued. 



Second cuts 



Hull fiber 



Grades proposed 



Grades promulgated 



Using the standards 



Subdivisions of grades 



Hoard of cotton linters examiners 



Industrial trading rules 



Preparation and distribution of 

 copies 



Page 



4 

 4 

 4 

 5 

 5 

 G 

 (i 

 7 



As a matter of public interest and in order to furnish a more com- 

 plete description of the standards, a brief review is here given of 

 American cotton linteis and of the movement leading to the estab- 

 lishment of standard grades for the commodity under the authority 

 of the cotton standards act. 



COTTON LINTERS DEFINED 



Cotton has been defined as "the vegetable hair removed from 

 cottonseed in the usual processes of ginning," and cotton linters as 

 "tlic vegetalilo hair removed from cottonseed in process<'s subsequent 

 to the usual processes of ginning." This hair or residual liber called 

 linters is usually recovered by intensive ginning or delinting as a step 

 in the preparation of cottonseed for crushing. 



NEED FOR STANDARDS 



Willing the season U)i:'.-Il. iiinncdiatcly i^rccediug the outbreak 

 of the World War, 4,847.028 tons (jf cottonseed were crushed, from 

 which 0G(J,U87 bales of linters of 500 pounds net wei'e i-ecovercd. 

 These were valued at $7,030,000.' 



Linters is an excellent source of munitions colluloso and its prodiK"- 

 tion is localized at a comparatively few points — the cottonseed oil 

 mills. The source of lintors being so easily accessibl(\ as soon as the 

 I'^niled Stales entered the World War, rules were immediately issued 



' U. S. BritEAU OP THE CKNSns. rOTTON rnODlCTION AND DIHTUIBCTION, SIARON OT 



1926-20. U. S. Bu. Census Uu\. 100, 0.5 p., lllus. l!)i;o. 



fl4.103— 27 1 



