TEXTILE MANUFACTURES. 





machinery, which is constantly undergoing im- 

 provement. One method adopted is illustrated 

 in fig. 6. The rod ee has an alternate latera: 

 movement, as shewn by the arrows ; fingers, one 

 of which is shewn at f, are jointed to the under 

 side of this, and hang downwards. They are pre- 

 vented from moving in one direction by means oi 

 a snag or projecting part attached to ee. As the 

 rod ee moves in one direction, the fingers give 

 way, and slide over the top surface of the holders ; 

 but on its moving in the other direction, the 

 fingers come in contact with the ends of the 

 holder, and being prevented from moving by the 

 snag above mentioned, they press against the 

 holders, and move them along the table dd. The 

 third movement required is to place the flax so 

 that both sides of the strick shall be subjected to 

 the hackles. As the hackles revolve always in 

 one direction, it is necessary to turn the stricks 

 after passing through the machine, before sending 

 them a second time through. This, in many 

 machines, is effected by hand ; but in Carmichael's 

 the strick is made to give a semi- 

 revolution by ingenious mechanism ; 

 while in Plummer's patent machine, 

 both sides of the strick are hackled 

 at once, by allowing the strick to be 

 suspended from the holder c, be- 

 tween two revolving cylinders, a, b, 

 fig. 7, in the peripheries of which 

 are fixed a series of brushes. 



The flax is next passed through the ' spreading- 

 machine ' -the object of which is to bring the 

 fibres into the condition of a long, narrow band, 

 of uniform thickness. As the stricks from the 

 hackling-machine are of different thickness, they 

 are spread upon a table, 

 c, fig. 8, the thin part of 

 \f one being placed against 

 the thick part of another. 

 The sheet of flax thus pre- 

 pared is passed between a 

 pair of rollers, a, b, on to 

 a series of upright hackle-teeth, represented by 

 the line h, which have a progressive movement 

 from the front to the back of the machine ; these 

 teeth still further comb and parallelise the fibres 

 as they are moved onwards to a second pair of 

 rollers, d, e, which, revolving faster than the first, 

 draw out or lengthen them. The thin sheets of 

 flax from the different rollers are passed in fours 

 through slits made in the back plate of the 

 machine, and being united into one, are finally 

 passed between a pair of rollers, yj g, and delivered 

 to a tin can. The subsequent processes of doubling, 

 drawing, and spinning are all nearly the same as 

 in the cotton manufacture, afterwards described 

 in this paper. The only difference is, that in 

 spinning flax the slivers are previously passed 

 through hot water of 120, and are worked in a 

 moist and warm atmosphere ; this is necessary to 

 soften the gummy matter of the fibre, and utilise 

 its adhesiveness in making the twist of the fibres 

 more permanent. Weaving being a process com- 

 mon to all the textile fabrics, of the nature of 

 cloth, will be described when speaking of the 

 woollen manufacture. 



The tow, which is the broken, coarse, and 

 irregular fibres removed from the line by hackling, 

 is now extensively used in the manufacture of 

 inferior carpets and other fabrics, for which pur- 



Fig. 8. 



pose it is carded and spun into yarn the same as 

 wool. 



In the majority of flax-mills, the operations 

 cease with the spinning of the fibres into the 

 yarn, and the weaving is effected elsewhere, chiefly 

 by hand-looms ; although there are many factories 

 in which linen-cloth is manufactured by the aid 

 of the power-loom. 



The chief seats of the linen-cloth manufacture 

 are, the north of Ireland, chiefly Belfast; the 

 counties of Forfarshire, Fifeshire, and Perthshire, 

 in Scotland ; and the towns and neighbourhoods 

 of Barnsley and Leeds, in Yorkshire. In Barnsley, 

 the fabrics manufactured consist of linen, hucka- 

 back, diaper, duck, check, drabbet, tick, towelling, 

 and union, a mixture of the staple with cotton. 

 The fabrics made in Ireland are coarse and fine 

 linens, canvas, sacking, and damask. The manu- 

 factures at Dundee are mostly confined to coarse 

 linens, and sailcloth ; while at Dunfermline, fine 

 shirtings, damasks, and table-cloths, &c. are the 

 principal fabrics made. 



Bleaching and calendering are the processes 

 which follow the weaving. The principles of 

 bleaching have been already explained under 

 APPLIED CHEMISTRY. 



Prior to the introduction of machinery, the linen 

 trade was very limited in extent. On the intro- 

 duction, however, of improved mechanism, it 

 increased rapidly. According to the Return of the 

 Board of Trade, the declared value of the exports 

 of the linen manufacture in 1852 was ^4,23 1,786, 

 and in 1853, 4,761,252. Linen-yarn was exported 

 in 1852 to the extent of 23,928,592 pounds, value 

 ,1,140,565; in 1853, the number of pounds was 

 22,782,661, the value, 1,149,103. In 1881, the 

 number of pounds was 18,250,200, and the value, 

 1,057,799 ; whilst the value of other manufactures 

 of linen amounted to the large sum of 5,846,361. 



Hemp and other Ligneous Fibre. 



Hemp is the fibrous bark of the Cannabis saliva 

 a plant supposed to be a native of Persia or 

 India, but which has long been naturalised and 

 extensively cultivated in Europe, particularly in 

 Italy, Russia, and Poland, where it forms an 

 article of primary commercial importance. It is 

 also cultivated to a considerable extent in many 

 parts of America ; but in Britain it is but little 

 [jrown, except in a few districts of Suffolk and 

 Lancashire. Its fibres are prepared for spinning 

 in the same way as flax, and are made into yarn 

 for the fabrication of canvas-bagging, sailcloth, 

 ropes, and cordage. 



Indian Hemp, which is imported from the East 

 Indies, is the product of quite a different plant, 

 Crotolaria juncea, a leguminous shrub resembling 

 the Spanish broom of our shrubberies, which 

 itself yielded fibre used in making the sailcloth 

 and cordage of the ancient Roman navies. The 

 Indian hemp is frequently known in trade by its 

 native name, Sunn-ticmp, or Sunn. The fibre is 

 obtained from the bark of the young twigs. 



New Zealand Flax is a very strong fibre, obtained 

 from the long sword-shaped leaves of a liliaceous 

 plant, Phormium tenax. Considerable quantities 

 are used, but chiefly for cordage. 



What is called Manila Hemp in commerce is 

 the very long fibres obtained from the stems of 

 the plantains and bananas, but chiefly from the 

 one species, Musa textilis. It is best known by 



m 



