MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 75 



sometimes sell for as much as 20 a ton and even more. The 

 " hards," or black cloth, when clipped free from all seams and threads, 

 are worth from 20 to 30 a ton. There are common mixed sorts of 

 coarse fabric, which can be bought as low as from 3 to 5 a ton ; 

 whilst the " rubbish," consisting of seams, linseys and indescribables, 

 are purchased by the chemists for the manufacture of Potash Crys- 

 tals for from 2 to 3 a ton. 



It will be seen that assorting these old woolens is equally important 

 with the assorting of the different qualities of new wool ; and there 

 is the additional consideration of colors to render assorting still more 

 necessary. It is surprising, however, with what rapidity all this is 

 accomplished. There are some houses where old woolen rags are 

 divided into upward of twenty different sorts, ready for the manufac- 

 turer. The principal varieties are flannels, of which there are " Eng- 

 lish Whites," " Welsh Whites," " Irish Whites," and " Drabs." Each 

 of these command a different price in the market ; the English and 

 Welsh being much whiter than the Irish and of finer texture, are 

 worth nearly double the price of the Irish. The stockings are the 

 next in value to the flannels, on account of the strength and elasticity 

 of the wool. The peculiar stitch or bend of the worsted in stocking 

 manufacture, and the hot water and washing to which they are sub- 

 mitted during their stocking existence, have the effect of producing a 

 permanent elasticity which no after process destroys, and which no 

 new wool can be found to possess. Hence old stockings are always in 

 great demand, and realize for good clean colored sorts as much as 16 

 a ton, in busy seasons. The white worsted stockings are the most 

 valuable of the " softs," and when supplied in sufficient quantity will 

 sell for as much as 28 a ton. Carpets and other colored sorts are 

 generally, owing to their rapid accumulation, to be had at very low 

 prices. The rag collectors and merchants of America would be sure 

 to find a good market for flannels and stockings in England, but the 

 common articles would scarcely pay for the transit. 



The " hards," consisting of old superfine cloth, will generally realize 

 good prices in England, and should be stripped of their seams and 

 sifted free from dirt, before exporting. We have seen from 20 to 30 

 Irish women in a room cutting the seams from old cloth. This is in 

 fact an important branch of the business, and in Liverpool, Manches- 

 ter, and nearly all large towns, it finds employment for many hundreds 

 of hands. They are generally paid by the weight of rags they cut. 



" Shoddy," so well understood in Yorkshire, is the general term for 

 the wool produced by the grinding, or more technically, the " pulling " 

 up of all the soft woolens ; and all woolens are soft except the super- 

 fine cloths. The usual method of converting the woolens into shoddy, 

 is to first carefully assort them so as to see that not a particle of cotton 

 remains on them, and then to pass them through a rag machine. This 

 consists of a cylinder three feet in diameter, and twenty inches wide, 

 with steel teeth half an inch apart from each other, and standing out 

 from the cylinder, when new, one inch. This cylinder revolves 500 

 times a minute, and the rags are drawn gradually close to its surface 



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