Fiber length is an important attribute of cotton quality. For general use in textile applications, knowledge of the length of longer fibers may be sufficient, but for high quality requirements knowledge of the shorter fibers is also necessary. The percent by weight of fibers shorter than 12.7 mm, commonly referred to as short fiber content, is an attribute that historically has been identified with unsatisfactory textile performance, but no practical method for measuring this attribute for marketing purposes has been developed. Analysis of the relationships between the longer length properties, Upper Half Mean Length (Staple Length) and Mean Length (HVI Uniformity Index), which are available from HVI measurements, has shown that these measurements can be used to identify cotton bales with high short fiber content. "Effective Staple Length", determined from these measurements, is shown to be a practical and efficient indicator for use in textile applications where control of short fiber content in cotton mixes is desired.