Why retting is not used to separate cotton bolls
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Answer:
After retting
The retted stalks, called straw, are dried in open air or by mechanical means, and are frequently stored for a short period to allow "curing" to occur, facilitating fibre removal. Final separation of the fibre is accomplished by a breaking process in which the brittle woody portion of the straw is broken, either by hand or by passing through rollers, followed by the scutching operation, which removes the broken woody pieces (shives) by beating or scraping. Some machines combine breaking and scutching operations. Waste material from the first scutching, consisting of shives and short fibres, is usually treated a second time. The short fibre or tow thus obtained is frequently used in paper manufacture, and the shives may serve as fuel to heat the retting water or may be made into wallboard