GROWING & PROCESSING

(Figure 2) This image is of a picker machine collecting the fully grown cotton plants.

     Cotton is grown in warm temperatures, typically during the early spring season. The land is ploughed and the soil is broken into rows forming seedbeds all in preparation for planting cottonseeds. Mechanical planters are used to plant the cottonseeds into the soil. This process is called seeding – machine planters tunnel small holes into the ground, release the necessary amount of seeds into each hole and finally, conceal the hole with a pack of dirt above it. On average these machine planters can cover as many as twelve rows at one time. Machine cultivators are used to pull uprooting weeds that will possibly compete with the cotton plants for soil nutrients, sunlight and water. This process is called hoeing. The plants are irrigated and fertilized as needed over the next few weeks. About a month or so into planting the cottonseeds – a white bloom begins to form. This white bloom gradually turns red and dies after approximately three days – (all the petals shrivel up and simply fall). This allows for the cotton bolls to develop from the fruit that remains. Afterwards: fibers from the inside of the cotton bolls grow and expand, eventually splitting the boll a part – the end product that springs outward is cotton. The plants are defoliated only if they are to be picked up by a machine. Defoliation is a process whereby chemicals are showered above the plants to allow their leaves to fall off, lessening the chance of the leaves becoming tangled in the machine. A machine – either a picker or a stripper – is used to collect all the plants. In developing countries, cotton is often harvested by hand. The cotton collected from the harvesting is packed and stored into modules. These modules are then taken to the gin. The role of the gin is to separate the cotton fibers from the seeds. The cotton fiber (lint; without a seed) is cleaned of any debris and is compressed into bales. These bales are then transported to textile mills. These bales are then opened at the textile mills and the lint is mixed and further cleaned by means of blowing and beating. This cotton enters a carding machine and is further cleaned once more for the last time. The carding machine also straightens and softens these fluffed-up fibers. The outcome of the work of the carding machine is an untwisted rope called silver. Spinning machines yarn the fibers in the silver. Machines called looms weave the cotton yarn at fast speeds. The final product - a woven fabric entitled grey woods - is sent to the finishing plant where it is bleached, pre-shrunk, dyed and printed. Home products and clothing can then be made from this woven fabric.