Bole-Stained Cotton

BOLE-STAINED COTTON

A term used to denote brown-coloured layers or semi-layers of cotton that appears in American and East Indian bales. The staining is caused by the seed cotton remaining in the unopened pod until it has become saturated by the rain entering at the partly-opened sutures. This saturation of the fibres by moisture causes the colouring matter from the inner membrane of the pod to permeate the fibres. The colouring is of a red or brown shade, and, being transferred to the seed cotton, gives rise to the term of bole or brown-stained. Bleaching removes the stain.