LESSON FOR THE FARM HOME 



L. H. Bailey, Director 

 Course for the Farm Home, Martha Van Rensselaer, Supervisor 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT ITHACA, NEW YORK 



vr»T tt w . ITHACA, NEW YORK HOUSEHOLD TEXTILE series 



vol. II. No. 45 AUGUST i , 191 3 No - 1 



HINTS ON CHOOSING TEXTILES 



Bertha E. Tits worth 



In former times family textiles were manufactured mainly in the home 

 and the best products from the farms went into the making of them. 

 As the population increased and economic conditions changed, these 

 industries were taken from scattered homes and centralized in factories 

 where the introduction of complicate machinery and systematized methods 

 greatly increased the output and decreased the cost of manufacture. 

 Woman has calmly accepted this release from responsibility, and too often 

 has allowed the change to free her from all care as to the value and the 

 quality of the product that she must accept from the manufacturer and 

 use in clothing the family and furnishing the home. One result of this 

 indifference is that license has been taken in placing on the market 

 materials of inferior quality, misnamed, and deceptive in appearance. 

 In order to guard against this deception a general knowledge of the 

 manufacture and the adulteration of textile fibers is necessary; and such 

 knowledge will enable the housewife to obtain better value and better 

 satisfaction for the time, money, and energy expended. 



There are four common textiles: cotton and linen, which are vegetable 

 fibers; wool and silk, which are animal fibers. 



cotton 



The commonest and the least expensive fabric is made from the short, 

 twisted, seed-hair fiber of the cotton plant. The seed hairs are gathered, 

 carded, spun, and woven into cloths varying in texture according to the 

 weight of thread and the kind of weave used. The supply of cotton 

 usually equals the demand, so that the finished product may be put on 

 the market at very reasonable prices. 



A modern product is mercerized cotton, made by treating the fiber or 



the cloth with strong alkali and then rinsing it under tension. The 



resulting fabric is lustrous and durable, and retains its luster after 



repeated washings. 



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