2 BULLETIN 62, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE, 



In this way it lias been shown how cotton is affected — that is, im- 

 proved or injured — when grown in certain ways or handled in certain 

 ways. 



The last appropriation bill of the Department of Agiiculturo 

 was so amended in the Senate as to direct the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture to make tests as to the waste, tensile strength, and bleach- 

 ing quahties of the various grades of cotton as established by the 

 Government. 



These experiments are being conducted in part at the Riverside 

 and Dan River Cotton Mills, at DanviUe, Va., and are being so 

 can*ied out as to reserve at each stage of the manufacture a liberal 

 supply of the material. It is intended that this reserve shall be 

 used in making 50 sets of exhibits to accompany the full report. 

 Each exhibit will consist of 25 to 50 boxes or cases containing samples 

 of waste, shver, roving, yarn, etc., of such size that their commercial 

 qualities can be estimated by those versed in the art. It is intended 

 to distribute these exhibits in such a way as to make them accessible 

 to growers, buyers, manufacturers, and educational institutions. 



COTTON USED IN THE EXPERIMENTS. 



In making tliese waste, tensile strength, and bleaching tests of the 

 official grades of cotton, only the grades Middling Fair, Good Middlmg, 

 Middling, Low Middling, and Good Ordinary have been used. This 

 method makes it possible to test a larger number of bales of the 

 respective gi-ades and so gives a more accurate average. The qualities 

 of the intermediate grades may then be interpolated. Since there is 

 some difference in the spinning characteristics of eastern and western 

 Upland cotton, the test has been divided into two parts. From 50 to 

 60 bales of the two respective growths, or an aggregate of 100 to 120 

 bales have been selected; that is, 10 to 12 bales of each gi-ade of both 

 Atlantic States Upland and Western Upland cotton. In order that 

 the tests may be comparative, each lot has the same length of staple — 

 1 inch. There is probably more staple produced which is fifteen- 

 sixteenths of an inch to 1 inch than any other one length m both the 

 eastern and western Upland cotton. The term ''Western Upland" 

 as here used includes practically all cotton grown west of Alabama, 

 except long-staple river-bottom cotton. 



The cotton was secured in June, 1913, from the following places: 



Greenville, S. C, 6 bales, Atlantic States Upland cotton. 



Seneca, S. C, 5 bales, Atlantic States Upland cotton. 



Atlanta, Ga., 34 bales, Atlantic States Upland cotton. 



Atlanta and Montgomery, 18 bales, Atlantic States Upland cotton. 



New Orleans, La., 9 bales. Western Upland cotton. . 



Mobile, Ala., 32 bales. Western Upland cotton. 



Memphis, Tenn., 5 bales. Western Upland cotton. 



Lesser-Goldman, St. Louis, Mo., 12 balen, Western Upland cotton. 



New Orleans, La., 2 bales. Western Upland cotton. 



