Brush roll cotton harvesters require that the leaves be defoliated. Although complete desiccation is not required, some drying is needed to provide adequate removal of bolls. Preparation of the cotton plant for harvest can be obtained with chemicals or a killing freeze. During 1993, five combinations of boll openers, defoliants, and desiccants were compared to a sixth method allowing the cotton to be terminated by a freeze. All treatments were harvested with a brush roll harvester with and without a field cleaner. The treatment of Prep plus Def(1.3 pt/a + 0.5 pt/a) early followed by application of Cyclone(1.5 p/a)(P+D C) and the treatment of Ginstar(0.5 pt/a) applied at the early date and no desiccant on the second date(G ND) gave the best leaf grades. HVI trash meter readings were lower for the G ND treatment and the treatment of Prep plus Def(1.3 pt/a + 0.5 pt/a) early and no desiccation on the second date(P+D ND) for cotton harvested by both methods. The P+D ND treatment gave the highest grades of the five treatments while the cotton killed by a freeze and harvested later gave the lowest grades. The combination of G ND and harvesting with a field cleaner had lower foreign matter and better quality.