G64 CALICO-PRINTING 



to prevent the COJOUT from marking off on tho white grounds. The pieces should not 

 be passed through the agoing machine, but hung up in a slightly moist atmosphere at 

 about 70 F., for about 24 hours ; when, if the colour has assumed a dark myrtle- 

 green shade, almost black, tho goods are ready for raising. If only black has been 

 printed, tho goods are passed through milk of limo, or solution of carbonate of soda at 

 2 oz. per gallon, at 160 F., washed and dried ; or they may have a passage afterwards 

 in weak hot solution of bichromate of potash, which gives a browner shade of black ; 

 or they may be raised by a passage in boiling soap solution. If printed along with 

 lead-orange (No. 64 a.), the process is as follows : 1st. Give a passage of half a 

 minute in a liquor composed of 2 Ibs. sulphate-of-soda crystals, and 3 oz. of 

 bichromate of potash per gallon of water at boil. 2nd. Wince in cold water. 3rd. 

 Wince in a liquor composed of 100 gallons of boiling water, 1 gallon of bichromate of 

 potash solution at 18 T., 24 oz. measure of caustic soda solution at 70 T. Keep the 

 goods in until the orange is well dyed, then wince in cold water and soap at 160 F. 

 for 4- hour, in a soap solution containing 2 Ibs. of soap to 100 gallons of water, then 

 wash and dry. 



When aniline black is printed along with madder mordants, the ordinary dunging 

 process raises the black at the same time as it prepares the mordants for dyeing. 



Printed along with colours intended for steaming, a passage in ammonia vapour is 

 given to the goods after ageing and before steaming. This is necessary in order to 

 neutralize the acid in the black, which would tender the fibre, if not neutralised. 

 This ammonia passage is given in a rectangular box, which is 7 feet long, 4 feet wide, 

 and 6 feet deep ; provided with rollers at the top and bottom ; a lining of sheet lead 

 for about 6 inches deep, is put in the bottom of tho box ; a steam-pipe is placed along 

 the bottom of the box, lengthwise, down the centre, a smaller pipe is placed along the 

 eteampipe, on the top of it ; this pipe is perforated with smaller holes. A lid covers 

 the whole of the box, except a slit through which the pieces enter, and another by 

 which they leave after passing up and down over and under tho rollers. Steam being 

 turned on tho pipe, liquid ammonia is allowed to run into the small pipe from a 

 reservoir outside, and to issue from the perforations, dropping on the steam-pipe. 

 The pieces are now passed through, and are then ready for steaming. 



The last operation in calico-printing is what is called the Finishing, which com- 

 prehends starching, drying, breadthening, calendering, measuring, and making-up. 

 The starching is a very important operation, simple as it may appear, in consequence 

 of the extremely varying requirements of the print buyers. A variety of starches are 

 used, differing in the nature of the paste they give when boiled with water, some 

 being' gummy; and others firm and stiff 1 , and at all degrees between the two. Com- 

 pounded starches adapted to different styles, are made and sold by the manufacturing 

 chemists. 



Fig. 392 is an elevation and plan of a finishing room for calicoes, as arranged by 

 Mather and Platt : A, circular boxes for receiving cloth ; B, wince for drawing cloth 

 from tho squeezers in the dye-house ; c, opening wince for tho cloth from the boxes to 

 the drying machine ; D. drying machine ; E, chloring machine ; F, steaming-box ; G, 

 water-mangle ; H, drying-machine ; i, starching-mangle ; K, Jones' patent back stiffening 

 machine ; L, drying-machine ; M, engine and gearing for drying-machine ; N, engine 

 and gearing for chloring arrangement E, F, G, H ; o, engine and gearing for starching 

 arrangement i, K, L. 



Several details which cannot be shown in this plan, can also be but imperfectly 

 described in words. The opening wince c, is placed at a height of 30 to 40 feet above 

 the cloth-box, the higher the better, the pieces arrive in the box A in the form of a 

 rope ; before any chloring or finishing can be done, this rope must be opened out, and 

 the pieces presented to the drying-machine extended to the full breadth ; this is dona 

 by a boy who sits on a platform near the wince, and the piece gradually untwisting 

 during its passage from the box to the wince, is pulled flat out by the boy just before 

 going over the wince c. Again the constant passage of tho pieces over so many 

 machines has pulled them lengthwise, and consequently diminished their breadth. 

 To counteract this, and restore the pieces to something like their usual breadth, a 

 peculiar roller, called a spreading roller, is fixed on every drying-machine. The 

 ' spreading roller ' is composed of brass or iron diagonal saw-tooth grooved plates or 

 rails, each about 2 inches wide and f ths inch thick, and of length according to necessity ; 

 each of these rails has 2 small friction pullies at one end, and 2 slide pieces in suit- 

 able places. The rails are mounted on the periphery of discs and cams supported in 

 their centres by a fixed shaft ; the discs are prepared with grooves to correspond with 

 the 2 slides in each rail, and work on the shaft by the pull of the cloth. The cams 

 are fixed at a variable angle, and give a throw causing a longitudinal motion of the 

 rails, to open out the cloth whilst passing over. Tho cloth enters into contact with 

 the spreader when the rails are closed and leaves it at the opposite side, when they 



