450 ANNUAL KEIORT OF THE 0£e. Doc. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON WOOL AND TEXTILE FIBERS 



By D. S. TAYLOR, Chairman 



Textile fibers may be divided into animal (silk and wood) and 

 vegetable (cotton, Hax, bemp and jute and tbe like). Vegetable fibers 

 may be further divided into soft fibers including manila, icil and 

 istle. The ease and rapidity with which cotton fiber is transformed 

 into yarn and its adaptability to all forms of woven fibers are re- 

 sponsible for the manner in which it has outstripped all other fibers 

 and for its extensive and increasing use. 



Wool, of all textile fibers, is one of the most interesting, as well 

 as the most difficult for the manufacturer to handle. The wide range 

 within which the production of wool is possible together with the 

 desirable qualities it possesses for the manufacture of clothing, have 

 made it a most important factor in the history of civilization. Sheep 

 can be raised in any country where warm clothing is needed, (ex- 

 cept in Polar regions), and it is natiirnl thai tlie woolen industry 

 should spring up in primitive communities and among people who 

 are too poor to buy material for their clothing. Therefore, wool 

 growing and manufacturing industry has a place practically in all 

 countries. As a country increases in population, however, the lands 

 must necessarily be utilized for agriculture and the range for sheep 

 is reduced in recent years consequently. 



The wool growing industry in Europe and America has not kept 

 pace with that in newer countries. Nearly one-half of the world's 

 present commercial supply of wool is produced in Australia, New 

 Zealand and Argentina. Notwithstanding the fact that the produc- 

 tion in the United States is not increasing materially, wool is pro- 

 duced in every state. 



Silk. The world's production of animal silk has increased during 

 the last century from 30,000,000 pounds to about 50,000,000 pounds. 

 The leading countries in its production are China, Japan and Italy. 

 The demand for silk has been so much in excess of the supply that 

 ingenious elTorts have been made in recent years to discover substi- 

 tutes, and the manufacture of artificial silk has assumed consider- 

 able importance. The founders of this industry in France have 

 sought not so much the formula necessary for the complete combina- 

 tion of chemical elements of animal silk, as to produce an article pos- 

 sessing the principle technical properties of silk — more practically — 

 tenacity, brilliancy, elasticity and aptitude for coloring and bleach- 

 ing. The approximate annual production of this artificial silk is 

 about 8,000,000 pounds, and the production appears to be equal to 

 the demand. 



Flax was among the earliest plants cultivated for fiber, and until 

 the advent of cotton, its fiber was used more extensively than that 

 of any other plant. Prior to that time its cultivation was very gen- 

 eral throughout the world. The production of this fiber in the United 



