of the Cotton Trade. 131 
no important advantage over the common 
looms. 
In 1803, Mr. Thomas Johnson, of Bradbu- 
ry, Cheshire, invented a beautiful and excellent 
machine for warping and dressing warps, 
preparatory to weaving; by which this opera- 
tion is performed much better and cheaper 
than it can possibly be done by hand. It is 
now known by the name of Ratcliff’s Dress- 
ing Machine, from the unremitting exertions 
of that gentleman to have it made effective. 
This is a great advantage to power-looms, 
for without it they never could have been 
made. practically useful, and, during the 
last 10. years, some large manufactories of 
this kind have been established, first in Scot- 
land and afterwards in England. It is found 
however, that one person can not attend upon 
more than two power-looms, and it isstill prob- 
lematical whether this saving of labor coun- 
terbalances the expence of power and machi- 
nery, and the disadvantage of being obliged to 
keep an establishment of power-looms con- 
stantly at work; whilst, in the common way, 
the looms might he stopped, or turned to a 
different kind of:iweaving, if the demand for 
the particular kind of goods they were weav- 
ing should change or fall off. 
Several improvements in the construction 
