Botanical classification of cotton:

1. Cossypium herbaceum: Plant length 1-1.2m

Flower colour – yellowish.
Fibre length—20-26mm
Cultivated in India, China, Pakistan
2. Gossypium hirsutum: Plant length 3-4m
Flower colour: - yellowish
Fibre length—25-35mm.
Mainly cultivated in Soth America.
3. Gossypium Arboreum: Plant length 2-2.5m
Flower colour – reddish.
Fibre length—15-30mm
Cultivated in mainly in America also in India, China, Pakistan.
4. Gossypum barbedense: Plant length about 5m.
Flower colour – Yellow.
Fibre length—30-69mm
Egyptian and sea Island high quality cotton .
History of Cotton:
 The idea of using these fine seed-hairs as textile fibers came at an early stage in textile
manufacture. Cotton fabrics were made by the Ancient Egyptian and by the earliest of
Chinese civilizations.
 Samples of cotton materials have been found in Indian tombs dating back to the year
3000BC.
 Specimens of woven cotton fabric have been found in the desert woven with immense skill.
 There is no doubt that India was the true cradle of the cotton industry.
 As textile skills developed in India, many different types of fabric were produced.
 At the time of the Roman Empire, cotton growing and manufacture became established
around the shores of the Mediterranean.
 During the seventh century A.D. the Saracens built up their Mediterranean empire and
reached to the borders of India itself.
 Cotton was being grown on the Greek mainland from the eighth century A.D. and its
cultivation became established in other European countries.
 Europe was too involved in religious struggles to allow of any volume of trade with Spain.
 Cotton is used in England in 1300 A.D.
 Cotton is used in America in last of 1600 A.D.
Major cotton cultivating countries:
The main cotton producing countries are USA, India, Russia, Egypt, Brazil, USSR, China, Mexico,
Pakistan, Turkey, Argentina Peru etc. The USA produces almost one-fifth the total crop.

Environment of cotton cultivation:

1. Cotton cultivation mainly takes place in tropical and sub tropical climates. Sunshine, heavy
rainfall, higher humidity is required for cotton cultivation.
2. Sufficient sunshine is necessary for cultivation while frost will kill the plants
3. Cotton plants can survive in dry but best cultivation can be done in place where rain fall is 20”
to 60” per year.
4. Irrigation is necessary when rainfall is less.

Cultivation of cotton:
The cultivation of cotton and the growing condition are not same according to the climates and
temperature of the cultivation.
Growing of cotton-
1. The cotton seeds are usually shown by machine in continuous stream in raw three to four
apart.
2. Two weeks later two leaves appear on the plant.
3. When the plants are a few inches high, the raws must be thinned by cutting out the
undesired plants (chopping).
4. At five or six weeks later, the first flower appears.
5. At eight to nine weeks the first flower blooms.
6. Flower fall of leaving boll begins to develop.
7. Seed hairs start to grow inside the bolls.
8. For 16-18 days, fiber length and perimeter achieved.
9. For the next 22-50 days, cellulose is deposited inside the fibers.
10. When cellulose deposition stops, the bolls dry and cracks to open.
11. These bolls are picked up manually or by machine. This picking period is continue for 1-3
months
12. Then ginning is done to collect the cotton fibers.
13. Supply to mill as bale.

Ginning:
The freshly picked cotton has seeds in it, this cotton is called seed cotton. The treading is done in
this condition also, but normally the treading is done after separation of the fibres from their seed.
So the process involves to separate the cotton fibres from seeds is called ginning.

Objects of ginning:
 To separate fibres fully from its seeds.
 To collect seeds and waste together.
 To collect fibre without any faults.
 To separate whole fibre.

Types of ginning:
1. Saw ginning
2. Roller ginning
3. Macarthy ginning
1. Saw ginning:
The disc number of saw gin is 10-100 and production capacity is 100-1000kg/hr.

Procedure of saw gin-

 The cotton with seed is stored in hopper feeder by feed table or air flow.
 Spiked roller throws the cotton with seed on grid bar.
 The saw teeth disc permits to entry of seed free fiber through the hole of bar.
 The empty path of bars (both sides of saw teeth) permits to entry the fibers but not seeds.
 The separated seeds fall on conveyors.
 The lint cotton are separated from saw teeth by proper air flow.
 The separated lint cotton is transported by conveyor pipe.

2. Roller ginning:
The main part of roller ginning is spiled roller by which seeds are separated from fiber by air flow.

The working procedures follows-

 The seeded fiber comes in contact with feed roller by the help of feed hopper.
 The seeded fibers are embedded on the two feed roller and are feed to spiked drum.
 The trash are removed by the action of spike and are stored on trash chamber by perforated
sheet.
  Then seeded fiber pass through inclined net by air flow and attached to the spiked drum.
Here accelerating drum separates the cotton fiber and pass it.
 The accelerating drum transports the cotton fibers.
 Rough surface of functional roller takes only fibers and the seeds are retained on backing
roller.
 The doffing roller separates the fibers from functional roller and transports through
delivery pipe & the seeds fall on conveyor.

Macarthy Ginning:
 In this machine, seed cotton comes to hopper from feed table as roller gin and comes to
contact with beater bar.
 Leather roller spring and doctor knife bar helps to press cotton.
 Doctor knife is the function of preventing of seed in cotton.
 In this stage, some seed is separated.
 For final separation, a steel beater is used.
 Different movement is inserted in beater by crank and seed cotton is separated by
continuously striking in connected blade in rod.
 In this stage, cotton moves forward and seed falls to bottom of machine in open of grid.
 Double production is possible with double blade.
 Sea Island, Egyptian cotton is Mecarthy ginned.
Differeace between saw gin and Roller gin:
Saw gin Roller gin
i. The saw gin is used mainly i. The roller gin is used for
for short and medium length longer tuft of fibres.
cotton.
ii. Saw ginning is a faster ii. Roller ginning is a slower
process. process.
iii. It is cheaper iii. It is costly.
iv. The main functional parts of iv. The main functional part of
saw gin are disc of saw teeth roller gin is spiked roller.
and grid bar.
v. American cotton is saw v. Asiatic types(Indian and
ginned. Pakistani cotton)cotton is
roller ginned.
vi. Production capacity 100- vi. Production capacity 100
1000kg/hr kg/hr
Lint & linters
Lint: The fibres, which are primarily obtained after separating cotton fibre from seeds, are called
lint.
It is long fibre, which is used for textile application. e.g. yarn, fabric etc.
Linters: After separating lint, there are some short fibers called linters. The short fibers(linters) are
found after second ginning. It is used as the source of pure cellulose for industry and for stuffing
upholstery and it is used for acetate and rayon.

Bi-product of cotton fiber:

1. Seeds:
Uses: Oils (This oil is best raw material for soap manufacturing.)
Residue: After extraction of oil is used as animal food.
2. Hulls:
Uses: -Fertilizer.
-Foods for animals.
-Paper
-Plastic
3. linters:
Uses: -Photographic paper.
-Special bank notes.
-Plastic.
-Acetate and rayon.