LINT CLEANING EFFECT ON SEED-COAT FRAGMENT SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN COTTON

The effect of saw-cylinder lint cleaning at gins on the number, weight, and size of seed-coat fragments in cotton was studied in a three-year investigation. The experimental treatments included zero, one, two, and three stages of lint cleaning. Fragments were sized in ten categories ranging from those with a maximum physical length shorter than 0.4 mm (1/64 in.) to those greater than 6.4 mm (1/4 in.). The study showed that lint cleaning has little effect on the number of fragments in the lint, although it shifts their size distribution toward the smaller fragments. The first and second lint cleaner stages both significantly reduce the weight of fragments present, but more than two lint cleaners are not recommended because of fiber breakage and lint loss attributed to the additional cleaning.