Development and Use of Standards for Grade, Color, and Character of American Cotton Linters

Excerpts from the report: Cotton linters is that residue of vegetable hair found on the seed of all varieties of American cotton after ginning. Until methods were devised for removing it economically, it seriously interfered with the efficiency of the recovery of cottonseed oil and materially reduced the value of the residual cake. The ever-increasing number of channels of consumption for linters have naturally resulted in refinements and restrictions as to the quality of the linters used by each, particularly since linters compete with certain forms of cotton, mill wastes, and wood pulp. The demands for specific qualities of linters in industry and the experiences with linters during the World War demonstrated the need for standard measures of quality. The United States standard grades for American cotton linters have been available since August 1, 1926, but no effort has been made under the provisions of the Cotton Standards Act to enforce their use in interstate or foreign commerce. The present use of these standards, therefore, may be taken as an indication of their utility. A recent survey showed that from a production standpoint approximately 75 percent of the annual crop is now handled on the basis of the standard grades, either in the control of the quality of the linters produced or in connection with their sale. So successful have the oil mills been in controlling the quality of linters by means of the standards, that some mills have been able to sell 95 percent of their total output on the two subgrades that are in greatest demand by consumers, and at substantial premiums.