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Under a microscope a cotton fiber appears as a very fine, regular fiber, looking like a twisted ribbon or a collapsed and twisted tube. These twists are called convolutions there are about sixty convolutions per centimeter. The convolutions give cotton an uneven fiber surface, which increases inter-fiber friction and enables fine cotton, yearns of squatted strength to be spun. The appearance of the cotton fiber’s cross sections is referred as being kidney-shaped. The micro structure of cotton The cotton fiber is a single plant cell. Its cross-section is oval, compared with the normal hexagonal plant cell. Cotton has a district cuticle, well developed primary and secondary walls and a lumen. Layer 1 the cuticle is a waxy protective layer that provides water resistance to the fibers as they are growing. This lawyer is removed by scouring during processing before spinning.

The existence of cellulose as the common material of plant cell-walls was first recognized by Anselm Payne, a French Chemist, in 1838. The chemical and physical properties of the cellulose fibers, their behavior in dyeing and finishing as well as in practical demonstration is determined to a large extent by the cellulose portion. This is why it is possible to carry out the dyeing to the different cellulose fibers almost in the same manner. The constitution of cellulose The elemental analysis shows that cellulose contains 44.4 percent of carbon, 6.2 percent of hydrogen and 49.4 percent of oxygen. This corresponds to an empirical ration of six carbons to ten hydrogen to five oxygen and the simplest formula for cellulose is written (C 6 H 10 O 5 ) where n is the polymerization factor i.e. DP. Cellulosic fibers: Natural cellulosic fiver: Cotton, Jute, Flax, hemp etc. Human made cellulosic fiber: Viscose rayon, cuprommoniumm, acetate, triacetate, etc. high density, g...

Cotton is being picked up in two different and dissimilar ways; one is manual picking and the other is machine/mechanical picking. 1     Manual picking: Manual picking simply means hand picking. The main advantage of manual picking is that ripen and unripe cotton can be collected and separated easily. But the limitation is that lower productively e.g. 100 ib/day/worker only. 2.      Machine/mechanical picking: Speedy process thus higher productivity e.g. 600 ib/day/machine picking has got some limitations like- it picks leaves, stalk and sometimes dust, it mixes ribbon and unripe cottons these are difficult to separate later.

After picking, cotton is sent to gin where the seeds are separated and the fibers are pressed into the 500 pounded forces, ready for sale. The long fibers separated by ginning shall be used for textile manufacturing. These long fibers are called lint. The very short fibers (0.25 inch)) remain with the seed are called linters and used in the manufacturing of human-made cellulosic/regenerated cellulosic fibers e.g. viscose rayon, coprammonium, acatate triacetate, tect. However, there are some byproducts of cotton as below: ·          Seed: used in making oils and the residues are used in making soaps, glycerin, etc. ·          Hulls: used in making fertilizers and paper. ·          Linters: Used in rayon and acetate production, film and plastic production as well as in bank notes manufacturing. It is also used in making blanket, gauge and in pillow. Gradi...

Successful cultivation of cotton requires a long frost-free period, plenty of sunshine, and o moderate rainfall, usually from 600 to 1200 mm (24 to 48 inches). Soils usually need to be fairly heavy, although the level of nutrients does not need to be exceptional. Soil: common needs a soil with an excellent water holding capacity and aeration and good drainage as it cannot withstand excessive moisture and water logging. The major group of soil of cotton cultivation are the alluvia soils,, black soils, and red sand loam. Seed rate and piecing: Spending upon the variety, soil type, the cultivation on practices and method of showing, seed rates and spacing have been recommended. A seed rate of 15 – 25 kg/ha and spacing of 75 – 90 cm between the rows are generally recommended for irrigated condition. Optimum sowing time: sawing of crops depends upon water resources and varies from region of region. Sowing in rows cane be done either by drilling, dibbling, or placing the se...

Classification of cotton : On the basis of Maturity The fiber   relates to the development of the cell wall. In other words, maturity is the measure of primary and secondary wall thickness. According to the maturity, cotton fiber is classified into the following three groups: Mature fiber: well developed secondary cell wall and very small lumen size. Immature fiber: fibers with thinner secondary cell wall developed. They produce paler shade in dyeing due to their poor absorption capability of dyes. Dead fiber: Only primary cell wall developed. They remain undyed in dyeing due to their minimum absorption capability of dyes and chemicals. Because of dead fibers, the neps oppear in fabric surface prominently. Naturally colored cotton organically grown. During the 1990s color grown cotton was back in production, due to the efforts of Sally Fox, an inventor from California, who cultivated long fiber colored cotton, and created her own patented cotton called “Fox Fiber” Natur...