Relation of Cotton Fiber Maturity and Strength Uniformity to Change in Tenacity with Mercerization

Abstract

Bolls of eight cultivars of Gosspium hirsutum L. were harvested 26, 32, 38, and 44 days postanthesis. Percent maturity varied from 2 to 91, and strength uniformity varied from 0.386 to 0.611. Strength uniformity was negatively correlated with the increase in tenacity on both slack and tension mercerization (tenacity ratio) on samples within a harvest date. When all harvest dates were included, this relationship was nonsignificant. Within a cultivar this correlation was strong and positive. The relationship of XaOH maturity to the tenacity ratio was not significant on samples from one harvest date, but it increased to significance when the range in maturity was extended to include samples from all harvest dates. Within a cultivar this relation was strong and negative. Data on 38- and 44-day-old bolls cover maturities encountered in commercial cottons, and these data show a higher correlation between strength uniformity and tenacity ratio than between maturity and tenacity ratio.