WOOLLKX AND WORSTED MAMT.\< ITKKx 



WOOI.l.KN ANI> WdHSTKD MANUFACTURES. 100J 



an called for in the separation. The sorter baa to make Lin selection 

 in relation to the Jintnctt, the toflxea, the ttremjth, the colour, the 

 tltannrtt, and the Krv;A< of the wool; and in reference to these 

 qualities he separates the wool into many parcel*, which receive the 

 names of prime, choice, tuptr, head, dotmrightt, tec-milt, jine abb, eoarte 

 I-'- 1 -. Urtry, Ac. 'Jhe finest fibre is that of Spaniah ewe, the mean 

 diameter of which is nfa, of an inch ; while the coarsest is that of \Vilu 

 ewe, measuring ..fa of an incli. All woolly fibres are thicker at one 

 end than the other ; but the leva the difference in that respect, the 

 more valuable is the wool ; and this is one oi the favourable points in 

 Merino wool 



When the proper kinds are selected, they ore next tcourtilnnA tcailirtl, 

 to free them from the grease which invariably attaches to them. Tin- 

 wool U soaked in an alkaline ley at a temperature of about 120*, 

 rinsed with cold water, ami parsed I ct ween the rollers of a powerful 

 proas to free it from nearly all moisture. 



If the cluth is dyed in tin- wo. .1. that operation succeeds the 

 scouring ; but if dyed in the piece, many other processes intervene ; 

 ami it depends a good deal on the kind of colour as to which plan in 

 followed. Supposing the dyeing to be completed, however, the wool 

 undergoes the process of irillyitig or villuirimj, which is somewhat 

 analogous to the battiiiy or tcutching in tho cotton-manufacture ; the 

 object being to open and disentangle the locks of wool, and cleanse 

 them from Bandy and other loose impurities. One among many foruis 

 of willy is a kind of hollow truncated cone, having an axis running 

 through its centre ; on this axis are fixed three wheels of different 

 diameters, bearing on their circumference four longitudinal bars 

 studded with sharp spikes. The cone revolves with a rapidity of three 

 or four hundred revolutions per minute, within an outer cylindrical 

 casing, whose inner surface is armed with similar spikes. The machine 

 is fed, by means of an endless apron, with wool, which enters at the 

 small end of the cone, and travels to the larger end by virtue of the 

 centrifugal force produced by the rotation. As it passes onwards 

 between and among the spikes, it becomes opened and disentangled, 

 the fibres of each lock separated, and the impurities detached. When 

 the wool has reached the lower end of the cone, it passes into a 

 receptacle where a fan is revolving with great rapidity, by which a 

 current of air is generated sufficient to blow away all the dust mixed 

 with the wool ; while at the same time a kind of revolving cage dis- 

 tributes the wool in a flat equable layer or stratum. Thus tho same 

 machine disentangles the fibres, separates the impurities, blows away 

 the dust, and lays the wool in a smooth sheet. 



Some kinds of wool require willying more than once ; but this ia 

 not the case with the finer qualities. There ore however frequently 

 some impurities which cannot be removed by the willy ; and such are 

 afterwards picked out by boys or women, called wool-moaters, i Q 

 pickers. A further opening of fibres results from tho process of 

 erAMi<7 ; but before this is effected, the wool undergoes that of 

 nlliny ; it being spread out on a floor, sprinkled with olive-oil, and well 

 i with staves. The icribbting-machine consists of several cylin- 

 ders, on whose external surface* are rows of teeth or wires. These are 

 combined in a strong frame, and so fitted as just to touch ami v. m-k 

 against each other ; the wires on one cylinder are bent in a direction 

 contrary to those in the adjoining one ; so that when all k the cylinders 

 are revolving, and wool is applied to the first one of the series by an 

 - apron, it is caught from tooth to tooth, carried rapidly from 

 c-ylindi T t<> cylinder, separated completely from all entanglement, and 

 finally given forth in the shape of a delicate fleece or sheet. It becomes 

 wound on a revolving roller, after having passed through the scribbling- 

 machine; but when it leaves the carding-machino it presents the 

 apiK'oronce of slender rods, cylinders, cr pipes, which .ire called 

 cardingi. 



These carding* are then spun into yarn for the use of the woollen- 

 weaver ; the process of spinning being generally effected by means of 

 the ilultbiny-liilly or li<> e, and afterwards by the common 



i' null or mule-rjiin:;iny machine; the slubbing-billy bringing the wool 

 t-> the Mate of a soft weak thread, and the spinning-machine giving it 

 the proper firmness and hardness for yarn. The tluljbiny-billy has a 

 wooden frame, within which is a moveable carriage, running on lo.ver 

 aide-rails on friction-wheels. The carriage contains a number of steel 

 spindles, which receive a rapid motion from a long cylinder, by means 

 of separate cords passing round the pulleys of the roe|>ective spindles ; 

 this cylinder is a long drum of tin plate, six inches in diameter, 

 covered with paper, and extends across the whole breadth of tho 

 carriage. Tho spindles are placed in a frame so as to stand nearly 

 upright at about four inches ajiart ; their lower ends being so formed 

 a* to act as 'pivot*. The drum lies horizontally before the spindles, 

 v itli it* ceiit.ir a little lower than the line of the spindle-pulley*. The 

 drum receives motion by a pulley at one end with an endless band 

 from a wheel placed on the ouUidc of the main frame, turned by the 

 pinner with his right hand applied to a winch ; and by this movement 

 the spindles are made to revolve rapidly. Each spindle receives a soft 

 card or sluhbiti;;, which c"ines through beneath a wooden roller at one 

 rnd of the frame. A child is employed here, who brings the cardings 

 from the card-engine, and places them upon an inclined cloth. These 

 cardings, being drawn beneath the roller, are then caught between two 

 rails. Tho movement then is very similar to that in Uorgreave's 

 - pinning- jenny ; a small portion of each carding is allowed to pass 



between the rails or clasp; and this portion is then drawn out or 

 elongated to the state of a thread by the recession of the carriage 

 towards tho other end of the frame. Meanwhile the spindles have been 

 kept in which a slight twist is imported to the thread or 



stubbing. A fa!ler-wire and a rail assist in regulating the winding of 

 the thread uniformly on the spindles. The process tlu-n i- thus con- 

 ducted. A child, called a piecaicr, takes the carding* from the i 

 machine, and lays them on tho inclined apron; they .ire 

 carried up beneath the roller and between the rl.i.-p. and the workman 

 or tlubbfr. by managing his moveable carriage with one hand, and tin- 

 wheel which turns the spindles with the other, elongates tlie C'lrdix-i 

 into ilubljing. and winds it on the spindles. The pieccners are em< 

 and paid by the slubber ; and some yean ago great ei 

 be inflicted on the children by the workmen for any neglect of their 

 duty ; but the inspectorship of factories has removed such sources of 

 discredit to the factory system. 



In the tpinniny of the wool, which follows the Blubbing, the ',. 

 machines employed and the general character of the processes are so 

 similar to those exhibited in the cotton manufacture, that it will suffice 

 to refer to COTTON MAM md SI-I.NMM; for details, with tin- 



following few additional remarks. The soft cord or sliver is caused to 

 pass between two pairs of rollers; the space between the two pairs 

 being rather more than equal to the length of the fibres. The two 

 pairs of rollers In tv.eeu winch the sliver is compressed do not : 

 farther from in order to stretch it, but that effect i 



duced by making the second pair of rollers revolve faster than the 

 first. It is necessary to arrange the distance between the two pairs of 

 rollers with reference to the average length of the filaments of which 

 the sliver is composed ; because if the two pairs of rollers 

 apart, the -soft cord would be liable to separate between them, and if 

 they were too near, so that the opposite ends of a filament should bo 

 compressed between them at the same time, the 



or lengthen by the sliding of the filaments, but the filaments them 

 selves must break with the strain. Hence, in machinery for spinning 

 wool, on account of the variable length of the filaments, the d: 

 rollers ore so mounted that they may be readily adjusted to di: 

 distances. In consequence of the greater elasticity of wool, the i 

 velocities of the two pairs of rollers are so arranged as to produce a 

 greater degree of stretching or extension than is usual with cotton. 



The process next following that of spinning i y which the 



yarn is worked up into a textile fabric. If it be a plain cloth, the loom 

 employed is very simple in its arrangements; if it be a twill 

 ornamental fabric, the loom is somewhat more complex; but the 

 general arrangements will be sufficiently understood by a refer. 

 .'<;. Hitherto woollen cloths have been principally \v 

 hand weavers ; but the power-loom is every year becoming moi 

 more applied to this purpose. Some of the clo'hs are woven a 

 as twelve-quarters, to allow not only for the shrinkage occasir 

 the subsequent process of fulling, but for ir list, mad.- 



of goats' hair or of coarse yarn, into which the tenter-hooks are thrust 

 m the process of tcntcriuy. 



As the wool has been dressed with oil before spinning, and with 

 size before weaving, it becomes necessary to clean 

 impurities immediately after the weaving. This is the 

 second scouring process, in which the cloth is beaten \\ith wooden 

 mallets in a kind of trough or mill ; soap and water being let in upon 

 it first, and then clear water. Being then carried t< . 

 or the tenter-ground, it is stretched out by means of hooka on 

 and allowed to dry in a smooth and extended state. It is then taken 

 into a room and examined by Imilirs, who pick out all iri- 

 threads, hairs, or dirt. After this it is ready for the important process 

 of fi'lliu;/, arj'iliiiiy, which imparts to woollen good .liarity 



of surface whereby they ore distinguished from all others. A largo 

 mass of cloth folded into many plies is put into the/ 

 it is exposed to the loog-oootumtd action of two he, ivy woo.len mallets 

 or stocks. Superfine cloth receives four fulling* of three hours each, a 

 thick solution of soap being spread between each layer of cloth every 

 time. During the violent percussions which the cloth thus receives 

 for twelve hour*, the fibres, being at every stroke 

 together, and driven into the close tact, at length 



into each other by means of the little >.n their surfaces, 



until they become firmly and inextricably united; . i, both 



of the warp and weft, being so compacted with those that are con- 

 tiguous to it, that i he whole seems formed in to one substance, in.; liable. 

 like other woven goods, to unravi 1 when cut with the scissors. Tin- 

 completing process in the cloth maunfacti n g, and 



is called ftMivj ; in the hat-nunufaeturc it is cil'ected |,y pressure and 

 rolling, and is colled felliny ; but the two arc 1 1 .niy analogous in prin 

 ciple. This process thickens the cloth remarkably, but diminishes it 

 both in length and breadth nearly one half. 



In the fulled state the cloth presents a woolly and rough appearance, 

 to improve which it goes thtongh the processes oi ti-Jm<j or /. 

 and ihearing or cutting. The object of the first is to raise the en 

 the fibres above the surface, and of the second t.. li'toa 



uniform level The raising of tho fibre.. heads, 



teazling cards, or wire brushes. Teazles are tho seed-pods > 

 tlipueu* fulhaum, having small hooked points on their surfaces. They 

 were formerly used in the cloth manufacture thin : a number of them 



