The Story of Cotton – Sample Questions
- In what country was the oldest cotton fabric discovered?
Mexico - Where was cotton first known to be cultivated?
India - Name the major cotton producing areas of the world?
United States, China, India, Pakistan, and Republic of Uzbekistan. Also, Brazil, Australia, Egypt, Argentina, Turkey, Greece, and Syria - Why did the English resist the progress of cotton?
Wool manufacturers did not want competition from cotton fiber. - Who invented the cotton gin and when?
Eli Whitney, in 1793 - Where was cotton first known to be grown in the U.S. and by whom?
The Spaniards first grew cotton in Florida. - Who invented the first U.S. cotton mill?
Samuel Slater - What are cotton locks called after removal from the cotton bur?
Seed cotton - What process is used to separate cottonseed from fiber?
Ginning - What is cotton fiber called after separated from the seed?
Lint - How is cotton harvested in modernized countries?
Mechanical spindle pickers or brush strippers harvest cotton. - How was cotton first harvested?
By hand - What did the Rust Brothers of Mississippi invent?
The mechanical cotton picker - What is a popular term used for cotton?
“White Gold” - What is wild cotton?
Cotton that grows uncultivated in the world. - Name the varieties of cotton grown in the United States?
American Pima and Upland - What is the Cotton Belt?
The cotton producing region of the United States. - How many states form the Cotton Belt?
Seventeen-California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Kansas - Which variety of U.S. cotton has the longest and shortest fiber?
Upland has the shortest fiber and Pima has the longest fiber. - Which varieties of cotton are the most common?
Upland and Pima - What are cotyledons?
Seedling leaves, first to appear on the cotton plant. - What do cotyledons help provide for a young plant?
Cotyledons help produce food for the young plant through photosynthesis. - What is photosynthesis?
The process that uses the chlorophyll in plants to convert sunlight to carbohydrates. - Name the various parts of the cotton plant?
Leaves, squares, flower, boll, bracts, locks, carpel and bur. - Name the components of the dry mature cotton boll?
The bur is made of dried carpels and cotton locks. - What is a seedbed?
The row or ridge in which the cotton seeds will be planted. - What is listing?
Forming the land into ridges and furrows. - What is irrigation?
Adding moisture to the soil by artificial means. - Name three methods of irrigation?
Furrow, sprinkler and drip tape irrigation - What is rain-feed farming?
Depending entirely on rainfall for moisture needed for plant growth. - Name three methods of weed control in a cotton field?
Mechanical cultivation, hand rogueing and herbicides. - Describe each method of weed control?
Cultivation-Uses a mechanical implement to loosen the soil and remove weed. Hand rogueing-Is physical labor using a weed hoe to remove weeds. Herbicides-Uses chemicals to control weeds. - What does a cotton planter do?
Mechanically places the seed in the soil. - List two methods of planting?
Hand planting and mechanical - What is a crop consultant?
A person who monitors a field for pests and recommends treatment if necessary. - How are insect pests controlled or eliminated?
By the use of insecticide or predator insects. - Define I.P.M.?
Integrated Pest Management is the use of beneficial insects to help control the harmful insect (pest) population. - What is fertilizer?
Plant food or nutrients added to the crop to enhance growth. - Name insect pests that plague cotton fields?
Aphid, mite, bollworms, boll weevil, lygus, thrip, white fly and pink bollworms. - What are beneficial insects called?
Predator insects - What does a defoliant do?
Aids in the cotton harvest by causing the plant’s leaves to dry and fall off. - What is the picker head of a cotton picker?
The unit of the cotton picker that contains the picking components. - Name some components of the picker head?
Spindles, picking bar, moistener pads, doffer, and picker door - Describe the mechanics of the picking components? Spindles-Barbed steel units that revolve to grab and pull the lint from the opened bolls, Picking bar-A vertical bar that contains 18-20 spindles, Moistener pads-Small finned pads which add moisture to the spindles and help clean them, Doffer-A series of circular rubber pads that clean cotton from the spindles, Picker door-A place on the machine where cotton drops before being blown into the picker basket.
- How is a stripper harvester different from a mechanical cotton picker?
A stripper strips opened and unopened bolls from the plant instead of “plucking” the cotton from the bur - What is trash in the harvested cotton?
Leaves, stems, branches and burs. - Name the two types of gins?
Roller and saw gin - Briefly explain the mechanics of each type of gin?
Roller Gin-Uses a roller to grab and pull the fiber under a rotating bar with gaps too small for the seed to pass through, Saw Gin-Uses curricular saws that grip the fiber and pull it through narrow slots too small for the seed to pass. - What is a module builder?
An implement that forms modules (or tightly pressed stacks) of cotton. - Name the ginning process for short staple lint and for long staple lint?
Short staple-Saw ginning and long staple-Roller ginning - Why are huge dryers used in the ginning process?
To reduce moisture and improve fiber quality of the cotton lint. - In what country were roller gins invented?
India - What is raw fiber called after ginning?
Cotton lint - What becomes of the seed and fiber after separation?
Seed goes to cottonseed oil mills or for livestock feed. The fiber goes to textile mills or foreign countries. - What is lint packaged for market called?
A bale of cotton - How many pounds are in a bale?
Approximately 500 pounds - What are the measurements of a universal density bale?
55″ tall, 28″ wide and 21″ thick - Describe what linters are?
The short, fuzzy fibers still attached to the seed after ginning. - What is classing?
The process which measures fiber characteristics against a set of standards. - Where is Yarn and cloth fabricated?
A textile mill - What happens in the opening room of a textile mill?
Bales of lint are opened and placed in a row. - Define carding?
The process of pulling the fibers into parallel alignment to form a thin web. - What is a sliver?
The first step of turning lint into yarn. Fibers that have been pulled into a continuous, untwisted, rope-like strand. - Describe combing?
The process which removes impurities and fibers shorter than ½” from the cotton, so that smoother and more uniform yarn may be produced. - What is roving?
Sliver which has been drawn out to a thinner strand and given a slight twist to improve strength. - What is the final process in yarn manufacturing?
Spinning - Describe the spinning process?
The roving is drawn and twisted into a fine yarn and then wound onto bobbins. - What two names is yarn called during and after the weaving process?
Weft (filling) is the crosswise yarn and warp is the lengthwise yarn. - What adds strength to the yarn before weaving?
Warp yarns are coated with a sizing compound or starch mixture before weaving. - Name the three basic weaves?
Plain, twill and satin - Briefly describe the three basic weaves?
Plain-Weft yarn passes over and under each warp yarn, Twill-Yarns are interlaced in an angle to form straight, diagonal ridges, Satin-Smooth surface is made up mostly of warp yarn passing over and under all but one yarn, intersecting in a regular of irregular formation, not a straight line. - Name another method of turning yarn into fabric using needles?
Knitting - How is knit fabric constructed?
Yarn is made into loops (stitches) which are linked together by the use of needles. - Explain the two basic types of knit fabrics?
Weft knit-Made on a circular needle machine producing fabric in a tubular form, Warp knit-A single yarn is twisted and entwined in several directions lengthwise in an action similar to several yarns entering a machine. - Name two types of cottonseed oil mills?
Screw press and solvent extraction - Explain how solvent extraction and screw press mills differ?
Solvent extraction-Uses an organic solvent that dissolves the oil from the prepared meats (kernels), Screw press-Uses high pressure created by a press to force the oil from the meats. - Describe the first step in processing cottonseed for oil extraction?
In the shaker room a series of screens and air equipment remove trash from the cottonseed. The seed is then sent to gin stands where the linters are removed from the seed and pressed into bales. - How many times is the delinting process done at the cottonseed oil mill?
Usually twice, or sometimes three times. - Name products produced from the first cut and second cut linters?
First cut-Non-chemical products (medical supplies, twine, candle wicks, etc.), Second cut-Chemical products (foodstuff, film, paper, toiletries, etc.) - What is the tough outer shell of the cottonseed called?
The hull - Name the inside meat of the cottonseed rich in oil?
The kernel - Explain the flaking roller and cooker processes in oil extraction?
The prepared kernels pass through a series of heavy cast iron rollers that press the meats into thin flakes, then travel to a cooker to reduce their moisture level. - What is miscella?
A cottonseed oil and hexane (organic solvent) mixture - What is cottonseed meal?
The meats that have been de-oiled, dried and ground to produce high protein livestock feed. - Explain the refining and deodorizing of cottonseed oil for food?
Refiner-With the use of heat, sodium hydroxide and a centrifuge the dark oil is transformed into clear yellow oil, Deodorize-Processes the oil for a lasting clear appearance and no unwanted flavor.
We have done all the research for you…gathered supplemental literature books, videos and CD’s, and offer a variety of resources to be used in conjunction with your study unit. So let’s get started on our cotton’s journey and learn more about this useful, resourceful and magical plant we take for granted…COTTON! 
