The important physical characteristic of the fibers is their fineness. For the determi­nation of the fiber fineness instrumental methods have been developed. Generally there are two methods for measurements of fineness: direct method for the measure­ment of the fiber cross-section, and second is an indirect method for the meas­urement of the length per unit weight. It has been observed that the direct method is not the practical one. The reason for this is nonuniformity of the cross-section of natural fibers which ultimately create difficulty in the computation and measure­ment of the area and diameter of the fibers. So by considering this factor several methods were formed for the determination of the fineness of most commonly used fibers like cotton and wool. The first method is the British Standard Method. According to this method, fibers are chopped to suggested length and weighed. The second method is Arealometer method (ASTM D1448-97) which uses a two chan­nel Wheatstone bridge in a tube. In this method a certain amount of cotton is drib­bled in one of the channels keeping the next one empty. When it is observed that the pressure drop is standardized in both sides, then the given series of equation deter­mines the fineness of the fibers. The SDL Fineness and Maturity Tester (Montalvo 2000) can also be used for the measurement of the fall in pressure across 4 g of

cotton at high and low air flow. On other hand in the Vibroscope method (ISO 2061-95),a tension is applied to the fiber up to the completion of the fundamental frequency. As noticed earlier, these are the traditional methods and are time­consuming and also require specific training. Generally bagasse comes under the category of coarse fiber and has limited access to the testing instruments. (Elsunni and Collier 1996)