Products of Industry 417 



appear that we are here dealing with older and more primitive methods 

 of work than are found on the coast. 1 



Every step in the manufacture of cloth is looked after by the 

 women, who raise a limited amount of cotton in the upland fields, pick 

 and dry the crop, and prepare it for weaving. The bolls are placed on 

 racks, and are sun-dried, after which the husks are removed by hand. 



Ginning is accomplished by two methods. The simplest, and doubt- 

 less the older, is to place the cotton on a smooth wooden block and to 

 roll over it a wooden cylinder which tapers slightly toward each end 

 (Fig. 16, No. 1). The palm of the hand, at the base of the fingers, is 

 placed on the roller and the weight of the body applied, as the cylinder 

 is moved slowly forward, forcing the seeds from the floss.'- The more 

 common instrument (lilldsan) acts on the principle of a clothes 

 wringer (Plate LXIII). Two horizontal cylinders of wood are geared 

 together at one end, and are mounted in a wooden frame in such a 

 manner that they are quite close together, yet not in contact. A handle 

 is attached to the lower roller at the end opposite the gears, and as it 

 is turned, it rotates the cylinders in opposite directions. A piece of 

 cotton is pressed between the rollers, which seize the fibres and carry 

 them through, while the seeds are forced back and fall to the ground. 



The cleaned cotton is never bowed or otherwise separated with a 

 vibrating string, as is the case in Java, India, and China, but the same 

 result is obtained by placing it on a piece of carabao hide and beating it 

 with two rattan sticks until it becomes soft and fluffy (Plate LXIV). 



After the carding, the cotton is spun by placing it in a hollow 

 cylinder of palm bark attached to a bamboo stick (HbtibEan). A bit 

 of thread is twisted from the cotton at the bottom of the cylinder, and 

 is attached to a spindle, which is rubbed rapidly against the naked 

 thigh, and is then allowed to turn in shallow basket, or on a piece of 

 hide. As it spins it twists out new thread and the arm of the operator 

 rises higher and higher, until at last the spindle stops. The position of 

 the extended arm is then altered, and the spindle again set in motion in 

 order to wind up the new thread on the shaft. While the spinning is 

 progressing, the free hand of the operator is passed rapidly up and 

 down the thread, keeping the tension uniform and rubbing out any 

 inequalities (Plate LXV). 



1 Weaving in cotton is a recent introduction among the neighboring Bontoc 

 Igorot. Formerly their garments were made of flayed bark, or were woven 

 from local fiber plants. The threads from the latter were spun or twisted on the 

 naked thigh under the palm of the hand. Cf. Jenks, The Bontoc Igorot, p. 113 

 (Manila, 1905). 



* A similar device is used in Burma. 



