![Bale of cotton at LA State Cotton Museum IMG 7387](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Bale_of_cotton_at_LA_State_Cotton_Museum_IMG_7387.JPG)
A Cotton bale is a standard-sized and weighted
pack of compressed
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
lint after
ginning. The dimensions and weight may vary with different cotton-producing countries.
Significance
A bale has an essential role from the
farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is use ...
to the
factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...
. The cotton yield is calculated in terms of the number of bales. Bale is a standard packaging method for cotton to avoid various hassles in handling, packing, and transportation. The bales also protect the lint from foreign contamination and make them readily identifiable.
Standards
Bale
A "bale of cotton" is also the standard trading unit for cotton on the wholesale national and international markets. Although different cotton-growing countries have their bale standards, for example, In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, cotton is usually measured at approximately 0.48 cubic meters (17 cubic feet) and weighs 226.8 kilograms (500 pounds). In
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, the standard bale size is 170 kg.
Parameters
The most important
parameter
A parameter (), generally, is any characteristic that can help in defining or classifying a particular system (meaning an event, project, object, situation, etc.). That is, a parameter is an element of a system that is useful, or critical, when ...
s of a cotton bale are:
* Density (448 kg/m
3)
* Measurements of the bales (nominally 1.40 m X 0.53 m X 0.69 m)
* Weight (Varies, but ‘statistical’ bale weighs 480 lb)
Advances in
standardization
Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardizatio ...
are reducing the variation in weights, sizes, dimensions, and densities of cotton bales.
Candy
Candy is another trading unit. A candy weighs approximately 2.09 bales (356 kg). In India, ginned cotton is traded in terms of candy also which weighs 356 kg (355.62 kg).
Trash
When cotton is harvested and exposed to
ginning, it carries more than 64%
cottonseed, 2% waste and 34% fibrous matter (also known as
lint). Lower trash percentage in cotton increases the recovery. Cotton bales are not pure cotton; they contain foreign contaminants, residual trash and leaf (and other non lint material) that have a direct impact on the
recovery in yarn spinning.
Gallery
Cotton cultivation
File:Cottonfieldindia.jpg, Cotton Field at Singalandapuram, Rasipuram, India (2017)
File:Cotton field, Ware County, GA, US.jpg, Cotton field
File:Cotton plant, Ware County, GA, US.jpg, Cotton plant
Harvesting
File:BALLS OF COTTON (ANDHRA -SOUTH INDIA) READY FOR HARVEST.jpg, link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BALLS_OF_COTTON_(ANDHRA_-SOUTH_INDIA)_READY_FOR_HARVEST.jpg, Cotton ready for harvest in Andhra, south India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
File:Cotton field, late in season.jpg, A cotton field, late in the season
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 137-029895, Togo, Pflügen eines Baumwollfeldes.jpg, Cotton plowing in Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
, 1928
File:Armenian cotton.jpg, Picking cotton in Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
in the 1930s. No cotton is grown there today.
File:Cotton Picking in Egypt.tif, A group of Egyptian fellahs picking cotton by hand
File:Cotton handle peeling (Buka district, Tashkent region, Uzbekistan)-06.jpg, Hand picking cotton (Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous ...
)
File:Module Builder.jpg, A module builder
File:2014.01-413-0023ap upland cotton,module ...(Clinch Cnty,Georgia),US wed01jan2014-1557h.jpg, Cotton modules in a harvested cotton field (Clinch County, Georgia, USA, January 2014).
File:Module Express.JPG, Case IH Module Express 625 picks cotton and simultaneously builds cotton modules
File:Cotton modules.JPG, Cotton modules in Australia (2007)
Ginning and bale making
Image:Cotton gin EWM 2007.jpg, A model of a 19th-century cotton gin on display at the Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant". The population was 61,169 at the 2020 census.
History
The peaceful tribe of Quinnipiacs were the first residents of the ...
Image:ginplant.jpg, Diagram of a modern cotton gin plant, displaying numerous stages of production
File:Cotton jins in use.jpg, Modern ginning machines in working
File:Cotton bales at the port in Bombay in the 1860s.JPG, Cotton bales at the port in Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, 1860's.
File:Cotton Ready for Shipment, Houston, Texas.jpg, Cotton ready for shipment, Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
(postcard, circa 1911)
See also
*
Cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...
*
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
*
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose (the most common ...
*
Wool bale
A wool bale is a standard sized and weighted pack of classed wool compressed by the mechanical means of a wool press. This is the regulation required method of packaging for wool, to keep it uncontaminated and readily identifiable. A "bale of wool" ...
References
{{Reflist
Cotton
Cotton gin
Cotton production