166 COTTON 



object of all is the same, namely, to get rid of the seeds with 

 as little injury to the lint as possible. 



BALING. When the seeds have been removed, the cotton 

 is pressed together and formed into great bales, or bundles. 

 These generally weigh 500 lb. each, but Indian bales weigh 

 only 400 lb. The Indian ones are bound up in black hemp, 

 and are secured by iron bands. 



CARDING. When the bales arrive at the factories the cotton 

 undergoes various processes, all with the object of removing 

 extraneous matter and separating the fibres from one another. 

 At last, having been reduced to a long sheet or lap of uniform 

 thickness, it is ready for carding. 



The word Card, used in this sense, comes from the Latin 

 carduus, a thistle, and a card was an instrument for combing 

 wool or flax, or for cleaning and smoothing the hair of animals ; 

 it was usually made by inserting bent teeth of wire in a thick 

 piece of leather, fastened to a piece of wood. 



The modern carding machine is more complicated, but the 

 principle is the same. Instead of a thick piece of leather 

 studded with teeth, there are several rollers covered with 

 sharp little steel teeth, and the * lap ' after having passed 

 under these rollers emerges in the form of a soft untwisted 

 rope called the Sliver. 



The ' sliver ' is still further straightened and lengthened, 

 until at last it is no thicker than a thread, and then it has to 

 be twisted or spun. 



SPINNING. A spinning machine consists of a number of 

 spindles which revolve rapidly and spin or twist the thread. 

 This is then wound on to bobbins, or reels, and either forms 

 the yarn for weaving, or, after being subjected to other pro- 

 cesses, appears as our sewing cotton. 



WEAVING. Weaving is doing by machinery on a large scale 

 what we do by hand on a small scale when we darn. The first 

 process consists of putting the long strong threads (called 

 the Warp) in position on a roller at the back of the loom or 

 frame. These threads must be as long as the piece of cloth 



