A Unique, Natural FiberCotton is a natural fiber with layers of

highly organized cellulose surrounding ahollow core. The pitch, or angle, of the celllayers alternate, first one way then theother, which accounts for cotton’s extraor-dinary strength.

Recently, a science museum in Newark,NJ, lifted a 3,500-pound car with sevenpairs of denim jeans attached to the crane.

The hollowness and the layering of thecells also contribute to cotton’s abilityreadily to absorb water and to “wick”moisture away from the body.

Even after 8,000 years, cotton remainsthe most miraculous fiber under the sun.No other single fiber comes close to dupli-cating all the desirable characteristicscombined in cotton.

Cotton is noted for its versatility,appearance, performance, and above allelse, its natural comfort. Cotton in today’sfast-moving world is still nature’s wonderfiber, providing thousands of useful prod-ucts and supporting millions of jobs.

Why we love CottonCotton is the most used fiber in the

world. It’s popular because it’s versatile.It’s used in apparel, home furnishings, andindustrial and other consumer products.There isn’t a part of your day that you did-n’t use something made from cotton. Thetowel after your shower, the shirt andpants you put on, the seats in your car.The money you used to buy a biscuit forbreakfast. All made from cotton.

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Cotton: A Miraculous Fiber

The cotton plant produces more food for manand animals than it does fiber for cloth.

A 480 pound bale of cotton can produce:1,200 men’s T-shirts,3,000 baby diapers,1,300 pairs of pillowcases,690 terrycloth bath towels,more than 730 shirts orblouses, or 215 pairs ofmen’s denim jeans.

Some non-fabric uses of cotton fiber includetissues, cotton balls,and cotton swabs.

Cottonseed oil is usedin many products weeat every day.

Quality, 100% cotton products are easily identifiedby the distinctive Seal of Cotton.

Denim trousers and pants are thefavorite in clothing.

All Parts of Cotton are UsedThe most important is the fiber or lint,

which is used for making a myriad of tex-tile products. The cottonseed is crushed tomake oil, which is used in shortening, mar-garine, cooking oil, and salad dressing.Some cottonseed is also used as a high-protein concentrate in baked goods andother food products. Cottonseed meal andhulls are used to make livestock feed.Cellulose from cottonseed linters is usedto make ice cream, paper currency, pho-tography papers, plastics, and mattressand auto cushion coverings.

Cotton takes few nutrients from thesoil because it is grown primarily for thefiber found in the boll part of the plant.Farmers have also adopted tillage prac-tices that minimize soil erosion.

Recycling Cotton• Cotton stems and leaves are plowed

back into the soil• Cotton’s deep-rooting pattern makes it

very efficient at utilizing moisture fromthe soil and makes it possible to producetop yields with half the water required bymany other crops

• Even the meal produced from cottonseedas feed for livestock finds its way back tothe soil as fertilizer

100% Cotton, 100% Usable,100% Environmentally Friendly

Cotton is the leading cash crop in theUnited States. The annual average cottoncrop accounts for 5 million tons of lint and7.5 million tons of cottonseed. The grossdollar value of cotton lint and its extensivesystem of production, harvesting, and gin-ning provides countless jobs for mechan-ics, farm machinery dealers, crop consult-ants, processors, and people in other sup-port services.

America’s Cotton IndustryToday, the world uses more cotton

than any other fiber. At the farm levelalone, the production of each year’s cropinvolves the purchase of more than $5.3billion worth of supplies and services.This stimulates business activities for fac-tories and enterprises throughout thecountry.

Processing and handling of cottonafter it leaves the farm generates evenmore business activity. Annual businessrevenues stimulated by cotton in the U.S.

economy exceeds $120 billion, making cot-ton America’s number one value-addedcrop. The average annual value of U.S. cot-ton and cotton products sold overseas ismore than $8 billion. That’s a lot of moneycoming back to the U.S.

Other allied industries such as bank-ing, transportation, warehousing, and mer-chandising also benefit from a viable U.S.cotton production system.

North Carolina’s Cotton IndustryBack in the roaring ‘20s, cotton was

king in North Carolina and the Cotton Belt.In 1926, growers in the Tar Heel State grewan all-time high 1,802,000 acres of cotton.Even into the early 1950s, North Carolinawas home to a textile industry using 2 mil-lion bales of cotton yearly.

About that same time, however, cottongrowers faced a serious threat—a littlegray beetle with a long snout. The bollweevil fed on newly developed cottonbolls, destroying its growth. The dreadedboll weevil was responsible for millions ofdollars worth of damage to the cotton cropand was a major factor in the beginning ofthe economic depression in the South. In1978, North Carolina producers grew anall-time low of 42,000 acres of cotton.

If it weren’t for the successful BollWeevil Eradication Program initiated inNorth Carolina, farmers wouldn’t be grow-ing the crop across the Cotton Belt today.The program has been so successful thatmany states, all the way to Texas and NewMexico, have adopted its practices.

In 2004, cotton provided almost75,000 jobs and over 7 billion dollars toNorth Carolina’s economy.

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Cotton’s Importance to our State and Nation’s Economy

U.S. cotton production stretchesfrom California to Virginia, cover-ing more than 14 million acres ofabout 22,000 square miles.

North Carolina Cotton 5

The U.S.A. producesmore cotton than itsmills need. In fact,approximately 65% ofthe American cottoncrop is exported toother countries.

Cotton’s comeback in North Carolina has been dramatic.

The boll weevil has been stopped, but isstill monitored should any come backCarolina's way.

Sometimes called“white gold,” cotton isgrown in 55 counties inNorth Carolina.

The cotton plant grows wild in manyplaces on the earth, but it has been knownabout, cultivated, and put to use by peopleof many lands for centuries. Archaeologistshave found cloth fragments, proof that cot-ton was being grown in the Indus Valley ofIndia (Pakistan) dating around 3000 B.C.

About the same time, natives ofEgypt’s Nile Valley were making and wear-ing cotton clothing. Arab merchantsbrought cotton cloth to Europe around 800 A.D.

Currently, there are five prominenttypes of cotton being grown commerciallyaround the world: Egyptian, Sea Island,American Pima, Asiatic, and Upland. Thelargest producers of cotton include theUSA, People’s Republic of China, India, and Pakistan.

Cotton’s Beginnings in AmericaWhen Columbus came to America in

1492, he found cotton growing in theBahamian Islands. By 1500, cotton wasknown generally throughout the world.Later, the Coronado expedition sightedcotton crops grown by American Indians inthe early 1500s.

In 1616, American colonists were grow-ing cotton along the James River in

Virginia. Americans loved their “home-spun” fabric made from cotton and wore itas a symbol of American independence.Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s firstSecretary of the Treasury, believed in cot-ton’s promise as a major crop. He recog-nized that the southern states were espe-cially suited for cotton cultivation and pre-dicted in 1775 that the U.S. would one day“produce enough fiber to clothe the entirecontinent.”

In 1793, Massachusetts teacher andinventor, Eli Whitney, revolutionized thecotton industry when he invented thelabor-saving cotton gin. He called it a “gin”— short for engine —and claimed itreplaced the work of 50 men, mostly slavelaborers. The gin revolutionized theprocess of separating the seeds from thecotton fiber or lint.

The invention was considered so sig-nificant to America’s economy that thepresident of the United States, GeorgeWashington, signed the patent issued toWhitney. The gin made it possible to sup-

Marco Polo reportedcotton flourishing inIndia as early as 6,000 B.C.

ply large quantities of cotton fiber to thefast-growing textile industry

By 1860, America’s cotton cropreached almost a billion pounds or about2/3 of the world’s supply. Cotton exportswere financing 60 percent of total U.S.expenditures for imports of manufacturedgoods, including sugar, coffee, railroadiron, and other products.

Today, the U.S. is the 2nd leading pro-ducer of cotton in the world.

Civil War Nearly Wiped Out Cotton

The Civil War severely impaired cottonproduction in the South. When the warended in 1865, the scramble was on tobegin production again. After the war, cot-ton fabric once again became America’sfavorite. Part of cotton’s comeback can beattributed to the demand for denim jeans,or “Levis”, which were created for minersduring the 1849-1869 California Gold Rush.

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A Richly Textured HistoryNorth Carolina Cotton 7

Before the industrial revolution, slave laborersperformed the arduous task of harvesting andseparating the cotton lint from the seed.

The Wright brothersstretched cotton muslinover the wings of theirairplanes that made thefirst sustained flights.

The Industrial RevolutionCotton was used in some of the most

important inventions of the 19th century.For instance, Samuel Morse invented thetelegraph and a language called MorseCode to send messages over long dis-tances. The messages were sent over elec-trical wires similar to today’s telephonewires. Cotton was used to insulate themetal wires.

When the famous inventor ThomasEdison was trying to develop the first prac-tical electric light bulb, he needed a spe-cial material for the filament, which is partof the light bulb that heats up and glows.He tried platinum, silicon, and boron.Then he tried a strip of charred cotton—it was perfect for the light bulb because,unlike other materials, it glowed ratherthan melted when subjected to the electric charge.

Everyday Inventions – Today and Tomorrow

As the twentieth century took off, sodid cotton. In 1905, Wilbur and OrvilleWright covered the wings of their first air-plane with cotton.

When World War I broke out, fine cotton fibers were used to make a smoke-less gunpowder.

21st century inventors found more andmore uses for cotton. It is now used tomake everything from photographic film to margarine.

We can only won-der what new usestwenty-first centuryinventors will find forcotton, this miracle of nature!

How Cotton is Grown in North Carolina Production steps in growing a cotton crop

In the spring, North Carolina producersprepare their land either by plowing or useconservation tillage for planting in lateApril and May.

Healthy, fast-growing seedlings are thebest defense against crop damage andpoor yield, so producers must be aggres-sive in reducing environmental stressesand managing crop growth to ensureprogress.

Crop ProtectionFertilizers and crop protection prod-

ucts, which help weeds and early seasoninsects from damaging the newly develop-ing plant, can be applied before, during, orafter planting. Growers often cultivate orhand rouge their young crop to clean outweeds and grass between rows.

Timely and technically correct applica-tion of insecticides and biological controlsis essential to preventing crop damage andprofit loss. To reduce pesticide use andcost, farmers are using integrated pestmanagement (IPM) practices on a limited

basis. IPM coordinates the use ofinsecticides and the dispersal ofbeneficial insects to aid in suppress-ing unwanted insects.

Prepare for HarvestOpen bolls are very vulnerable to

adverse weather conditions, and atimely harvest will maintain theintegrity of the fiber to ensure yieldand profit. The use of harvest aidsmaintains lint quality, reduces trashcontent, and expedites a once-over-harvest.

North Carolina Cotton 98

Cotton seedlings emerge fromthe soil within two weeks ofplanting, depending on soiltemperature and moisture.

Squares or flower buds beginto appear on the plant a monthto six weeks after planting.The plant will continue bloom-ing for six to eight weeks.

Three-week-old squares pro-duce early-morning bloomsthat turn pink by evening.The resulting fruit is the cot-ton boll.

Bolls open 50 to 70 daysafter bloom. White, fluffyfibers are dried by thesun. Plants are defoliatedto prepare for harvest.

Cotton is considered afruit because the bollcontains seeds fromwhich the cotton fibergrows.

An average boll willcontain nearly 500,000fibers of cotton.

Seeding is done with mechanical planters, which cover as many as 6 to 8 rows at a time.

Cotton fields are inspected regularly during thegrowing season by “cotton scouts”, who arespecially trained to identify and count harmfulinsects.

insect damage can loweryields by 25 – 85%.

While harvesting is one of the finalsteps in the production of a cotton crop, itis also one of the most important. It isessential that cotton is harvested beforeweather and rain can damage or ruin itsquality and reduce yield.

When enough bolls have opened natu-rally, defoliation aids are applied to theplant to help speed up the maturationprocess. By helping the leaves to dry andfall off, the cotton bolls open faster andthe crop is ready to be harvested.

Since cotton was first grown inAmerica, the crop was picked by hand. An

experienced laborer could pick approxi-mately 450 pounds of seed cotton by handper day. But, by the mid-1930s, mechani-cal cotton harvesters were being usedwidely across the Cotton Belt.

One of the first mechan-ical harvesters, a one-rowpicker, could gather 8,000pounds of seed cotton inone day. It replaced the out-put of more than 20 people.

Today’s modern cottonharvesters can cover up to6 to 8 rows at a time andcan harvest up to 190,000pounds of seed cotton a day.

Seed Cotton StorageOnce harvested, seed cotton must be

removed from the harvester and storedbefore it is delivered to the gin. In theearly 1970s, module builders came on the market, greatly improving storagecapabilities.

This implement allows cotton to bedumped from the picker onto the groundand hydraulically compressed to form amodule, a tightly pressed stack of cotton.This module can be left in the field forstorage and later be hauled directly in amodule mover to the gin’s storage yard.The use of these builders allows the pick-ers to continue harvesting, unimpeded byginning problems or delays.

Ginning, Classing and Marketing Cotton

From the fields, seed cotton moves tonearby gins for separation of lint and seed.The cotton first goes through dryers toreduce moisture content and then throughcleaning equipment to remove foreignmatter. These operations facilitate pro-cessing and improve fiber quality.

Cotton is then conveyed to gin stands,where revolving circular saws pull the lintthrough closely-spaced ribs that preventthe seed from passing through. After thelint is removed by air blasts or rotatingbrushes, it is then compressed into balesweighing approximately 500 pounds.

After the cotton is ginned, the lint cot-ton bales are moved to a warehouse forstorage until it is shipped to a textile millfor use. The separated seed goes to an oilmill where the linters (downy fuzz) areremoved, baled, and sold to the battingand plastics industries, while the seed isprocessed into cottonseed oil and meal orused as whole seed as feed for cattle.

Samples are taken from each bale oflint cotton and classed according to fiberstrength, staple length, length uniformity,color, non-fiber content and fineness.

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How Cotton is Harvested, Ginned & Marketed

North Carolina Cotton 11

Human evaluation is also used in the classingprocess. Once classed, cotton is ready for sale.

Cotton is usually harvested in North Carolinafrom early October to mid-December.

Module builders make modules that hold 12 to14 bales of cotton.

Cotton providesabsorbency in towels,yet provides waterrepellancy in tents.

Large trucks move modules from the field to the gin.

Lint from cotton is compressed into500-pound bales.

A gin typical can produce about 12 bales per hour, while some oftoday’s “super” gins turn out as many as 60 bales per hour.

An average bale is 55” tall, 28” wide and21” thick.

The manufacture ofyarns and fabrics and theproduction of high qualityconsumer and industrialproducts involve some ofthe most complex tech-nologies used in com-merce today.

At the textile mill, thebales are opened bymachines, and the lint ismixed and cleaned severaltimes before going to thecombing machine. Thecombing machine finishesthe job of cleaning andstraightening the fibers

and makes them into a soft, untwistedrope called a sliver. The twisted andpulled fibers reach a spinning frame, whichgives them a last pull and twist. The fiberleaves the spinning frame wound on bob-bins as cotton yarn.

Modern looms, which work at greatspeeds, weave cotton yarns into fabrics.The woven fabric is sent to a finishingplant where it is bleached, pre-shrunk,dyed, printed, and given a special finishbefore being made into clothing or prod-ucts for the home.

Cotton Fabric UsesCotton is used for virtually every type

of clothing from coats and jackets to foun-dation garments. Most of its apparelusage, however, is for men’s and boy’sclothing. Cotton supplies over 70% of thismarket, with jeans, shirts, and underwearcomprising a large part of the market.

In home furnishings, cotton’s usesrange from bedspreads to window shades.Cotton is also popular in sheets and pillowcases where it holds over 60% of the market.

Industrial products containing cottonare as diverse as wall coverings, bookbindings, and zipper tapes. The biggestcotton users in this category, however, are medical supplies, industrial thread,and tarpaulins.

Qualities of CottonCotton not only has a variety of uses,

but it can be made into medium and heavyweight fabrics. It can be made smooth ortextured, Cotton’s versatility makes itcomfortable in warm or cold weather. It’s durable and launders well. Cotton fabric breathes, making it very comfortableto wear.

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How Cotton is Spun, Woven, Dyed,Printed and Finished in Textile Mills

North Carolina Cotton 13

A large, modern millcan produce enoughyarn or thread in 30days to wrap aroundthe earth 2,300 timesor go to and returnfrom the moon 235times.

Knitting machines may use more than 2,500needles to produce a wide variety of fabricsand shapes.

High-speed carding, framing, combing, andspinning machines make yarn.

Cotton’s versatility makes it the prefered fabric for year-round use.

Cotton can also be found in a myriad ofhousehold furnishings.

Cotton is known for its natural comfort.

Cotton bales at textile mills are combined to form a uniformblend of fibers.

Cotton supplies 100% of thetowel and washcloth industry

Back in 1880, the USNavy issued sailors anelbow-and hip-lengthunder-shirt. Laid outon a flat surface, itformed a perfect “T”—hence the name—T-shirt.

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Textiles are only part of the cottonstory. Although fiber is the most valuableproduct from a cotton field, the real newsis that the cotton plant produces morefood for man and feed for animals than itdoes fiber, making it a valuable food crop.

Oil from CottonseedOf the four primary products produced

by cottonseed processing plants, oil is themost valuable. On the average, itaccounts for about 40 % of the total valueof all four products. Cottonseed oil is usedalmost entirely as a food for man.Depending on its stage of refinement, itcan be used in snack foods, mayonnaise,margarine, baking or frying oils, explo-sives, cosmetics,rubber, soap, insec-ticides and manyother products.Foodstuff cotton-seed oil has superi-or nutritive quali-ties and is on theAmerican HeartAssociation’s list of“okay foods.”

Whole CottonseedDairy producers have found that whole

cottonseed is a highly effective proteinsource in cattle feed. Those who usewhole cottonseed have found it to be anexcellent high-energy feed that also pro-vides a high level of fiber that can becomeimportant during times of dry weather andtight forage supplies.

Cottonseed MealCottonseed meal is the second most

valuable product of cottonseed, usuallyaccounting for about 1/3 of total productvalue. It may be sold in the form of meal,cake, flakes, or pellets. Cottonseed mealis used principally as a high-protein feedfor livestock.

Cottonseed HullsThe hulls of cottonseed are used pri-

marily as feed for livestock. Hulls differfrom meal, in that they are a roughagerather than a protein supplement. In feed-ing value, hulls are comparable to goodquality grass hay and can serve as a prac-tical, quality supplement to pastures.

LintersCottonseed linters, the short fibers

removed from seed in the first step in pro-cessing, are sometimes referred to as “thefabulous fuzz.” Through mechanical orchemical conversion, they enter a widervariety of end use products than any of theother products of cottonseed.

Cottonseed – Oil and Meal Have Valuable Uses, Too

North Carolina Cotton 15

In 1951, a progressive group of NorthCarolina cotton farmers came together toform a cotton organization dedicated toimproving the welfare of cotton farmers inthe state. Chartered in 1954, the grouplater became the North Carolina CottonProducers Association. Through a 70-centper bale assessment, the group con-tributes to the important work of theSouthern Cotton Growers Association andthe National Cotton Council of America.

The NCCPA continues to help achievegains through research, efficiency in pro-duction and marketing, quality improve-ment, public relations, and legislative poli-cies designed to keep the North Carolinacotton industry strong and healthy.

It does so, working with NC StateUniversity, the NC Cooperative ExtensionService, the NC Department of Agriculture

and Consumer Services, and other industryinstitutions and agencies in the state.

Another important organization head-quartered in North Carolina is CottonIncorporated. Cotton growers from acrossthe state and the entire Cotton Belt haveinvested millions of dollars over the yearsfor Cotton Incorporated scientists andresearchers to develop new uses andprocesses for cotton. The mission ofCotton Incorporated, working with cottonproducers and importers of American cot-ton, is to increase the demand for andprofitability of cotton through research andpromotion.

To do so, Cotton Incorporated leadersand staff share their unparalleled technicalexpertise all over the world with mills andmanufacturers, promoting the purchase ofmore U.S. cotton. In addition to influenc-ing the textile industry with new fabricinnovations, Cotton Incorporated alsoworks effectively to influence consumersthrough retail promotions, advertising, andmedia exposure.

Partnerships for the Future of Cotton

Peanut butter, pancakemix, and corn and potatochips all include cotton-seed oil.

Cotton Incorporated cre-ates cotton technologytoday…for worldwide usetomorrow.

Cottonseed oil now ranks 3rd involume behind soybean oil andcorn oil.

Presidents of the NC Cotton ProducersAssn. over the past 50+ years.

Even after 8,000 years, cotton remains the most miraculous fiber under the sun. Noother single fiber even comes close to duplicating all the desirable characteristicscombined in cotton. It’s a fiber of a thousand faces and almost as many uses—

because cotton is noted for its versatility, its appearance, its performance and—aboveall—its natural comfort.