Closed-Boll Cotton Part II. Restoration of the Never-Dried State by Treatment with Propylene Oxide 1

Never-dried and dried cotton fibers from closed bolls harvested at various stages of growth were treated with propylene oxide. Both sets of treated fibers, which were tested after drying and rewetting with water, had moisture-sorption and tensile properties close to those of never-dried cotton. Com parison of treated fibers to untreated dried fibers showed that water-retention values were doubled by the treatment, regains at 87% RH were increased by a third, and fiber-bundle and single-fiber elonga tions were more than doubled. Bundle tenacity and single-fiber breaking load were also increased