WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE 1165 



from them is conducted between the rollers. The back pair turns round slowly ; the 

 middle pair turns about twice for once of the back rollers ; and the front pair makes 

 from twelve to seventeen turns for one turn of the back roller, according to the degree 

 of extension which is required. 



The spindles must revolve very quickly in the spinning-frame, in order to give the 

 requisite degree of twist to the worsted. The hardest twisted worsted is called ' tammy 

 warp ' ; and when the size of this worsted is such as to be 20 or 24 hanks to the pound 

 weight, the twist is about 10 turns in each inch of length. The least twist is given 

 to the worsted for fine hosiery, which is from 18 to 24 hanks to the pound. The 

 twist is from 5 to 6 turns per inch. The degree of twist is regulated by the size of 

 the whirls or pulleys upon the spindle, and by the wheel-work which communicates 

 the motion to the front rollers from the band-wheel, which turns the spindles. 



It is needless to enter more minutely into the description of the spinning machinery, 

 because the fluted roller construction, invented by Sir Richard Arkwright, fully 

 described under COTTON SPINNING, is equally applicable to worsted. The differ- 

 ence between the two is chiefly in the distance between the rollers, which in the 

 worsted-frame is capable of being increased or diminished at pleasure, according to 

 the length of the fibres of the wool ; and the draught or extension of the roving is 

 far greater than in the cotton. 



Heeling. The bobbins of the spinning-frame ara placed in a row upon wires before 

 a long horizontal reel, and the threads from 20 bobbins are wound off together. The 

 reel is exactly a yard in circumference, and when it has wound off 80 turns it rings 

 a bell ; the motion of the reel is then stopped, and a thread is passed round the 80 

 turns of folds which each thread has made. The reeling is then continued till another 

 80 yards is wound off, which is also separated by interweaving the same thread ; each 

 cf these separate parcels is called ' a ley,' and when 7 such leys are reeled it is called ' a 

 hank,' which contains 560 yards. When this quantity is reeled off, the ends of the 

 binding thread are tied together, to bind each hank fast, and one of the rails of the 

 reel is struck to loosen the hanks, and they are drawn off at the end of the reel. 

 These hanks are next hung upon a hook, and twisted up hard by a stick ; then 

 doubled, and the two parts twisted together to make a firm bundle. In this state the 

 hanks are weighed by a small index-machine, which denotes what number of the 

 hanks will weigh a pound. And they are sorted accordingly into different parcels. 

 It is by this means that the number of the worsted is ascertained as the denomination 

 for its fineness : thus No. 24 means that 24 hanks each containing 560 yards will 

 weigh a pound, and so on. 



This denomination is different from that used for cotton, because the hank of 

 cotton contains 840 yards instead of 560 ; but in some places the worsted hank is 

 made of the same length as the cotton. 



To pack up the worsted for market, the proper number of hanks is collected to 

 make a pound, according to the number which has been ascertained; these are weighed 

 as a proof of the correctness of the sorting, then tied up in bundles of one pound each, 

 and four of these bundles are again tied together. Then 60 such bundles are packed 

 up in a sheet, making a bale of 240 Ibs. ready for market. 



Of the treatment of short wool for the cloth manufacture. Short wool resembles cotton 

 not a little in the structure of its filaments, and is cleaned by the willy, as cotton is by 

 the willow, which opens up the matted fleece of the wool-stapler, and cleans it from 

 accidental impurities. Sheep's wool for working into coarse goods must be passed 

 repeatedly through this machine, both before and after it is dyed ; the second last 

 time for the purpose of blending the different sorts together, and the last for imbuing 

 the fibres intimately with oil. The oiled wool is next subjected to a first carding opera- 

 tion called scribbling, whereby it is converted into a broad thin fleece or lap, as cotton 

 is by the breaker-cards of a cotton-mill. The woollen lap is then worked by the 

 cards proper, which deliver it in a narrow band or sliver. By this process the wool 

 expands greatly in all its dimensions ; while the broken or short filaments get entan- 

 gled by crossing in every possible direction, which prepares them for the fulling opera- 

 tion. See Carding, \mder COTTON SPINNING. 



The stubbing 'machine, or billy, reduces the separate rolls of cardings into a con- 

 tinuous slightly-twisted spongy cord, which is sometimes called a roving. Fig. 2128 

 is a perspective representation of the slubbing machine in most common use. A, A, 

 is the wooden frame ; within which is the moveablo carriage D, D, which runs upon 

 the lower side rails at a, a, on friction wheels at 1, 2, to make it move easily back- 

 wards and forwards from one end of the frame to the other. The carriage contains 

 a series of steel spindles, marked 3, 3, which receive rapid rotation from a long tin 

 drum F, bv means of a series of cords passing round the pulley or whorl of each 

 spindle, this drum, 6 inches in diameter, is covered with paper, and extends across 

 the whole breadth of the carriage. The spindles are set nearly upright in a frame, 



