Drying and Cleaning Cotton at the Gin: Effect on Fiber Properties and Spinning Performance, San Joaquin Valley, 1959-60

Excerpts from the report: This study is one in a series designed to determine the effect of various harvesting and ginning practices on cotton quality, market value, and manufacturing performance. Results suggest that excessive drying usually reduces bale values, and that the use of lint cleaners generally increases returns only moderately or not at all if grade-differential prices are narrow. Moreover, drying within narrow limits—as practiced in this study—and lint cleaning affect quality of lint adversely, resulting in weaker and lower grade yarns. The study consisted of analyzing the fiber from 54 bales of mechanically harvested Acala 4-42 cotton grown in the Kern Delta near Bakersfield, Calif. Ginning conditions in the test consisted of: (a) three lint moisture target levels—5, 4, and 3 percent ; (b) elaborate and moderate seed cotton cleaning equipment; and (c) none, one, and two lint cleaners