THE VALUE OF COMMERCIAL STARCHES FOR 

 COTTON MILL PURPOSES. 



By G. M. MacNidee. 



Large quantities of starch are used annually by tlie cotton 

 mills in the processes of sizing and finishing. The yarn is pre- 

 pared for weaving by a process known as sizing, in which it is 

 treated with a solution of starch to give it certain properties 

 essential to good weaving. When the cloth comes from the 

 loom it is put through a process known as finishing to produce 

 a certain " finish " before it is ready for the market. It is essen- 

 tial to good weaving that the yarn be properly sized before going 

 to the loom and with many grades of cloth the finish produced 

 by the starch largely determines the market price of the goods. 

 It is therefore seen that starch plays a very important part in 

 the manufacture of cotton goods, and hence the purchase of the 

 kind of starch best adapted to the purpose in hand is a very 

 important matter. 



The object of sizing is to make the yarn stiff er, increase the 

 strength and put it into proper condition for weaving. To ac- 

 complish this the size must penetrate the yarn to some extent 

 and also form a coating on the surface of the thread, which 

 prevents wear of the thread in the loom. The size is prepared 

 by boiling the starch (and other ingredients) with water in an 

 iron kettle known as the size-kettle. When the mixture has 

 been boiled for a sufficient length of time it is run out into the 

 size-box of the sizing machine and kept hot while the yarn is 

 passed through it. Two systems of sizing are in use : the short 

 chain system, or old system, in which the yarn is sized in hanks, 

 and the long chain or slasher system in which the yarn is sized 

 from the beam. The same results are obtained by both systems, 

 the slasher system being faster than the short chain system. 

 In both systems the yarn is dried as soon as it comes from the 

 starch solution. 



The object of finishing is to increase the stiffness of the cloth 

 and produce a finish and feel on the cloth which are very import- 



