482 



COTTON. 



to cause a still further immense extension of the 

 manufacture, which is nipklly taking the place of 

 hempen sailcloth, and the diti'erent descriptions of 

 coarse linens. In fact, this valuable material, nt 

 once delicate, strong, and cheap, seems equally well 

 adapted to every fabric, from the gossamer-like mus- 

 lin of the ball room to the coarse garment of the 

 Negro slave. 



Account of thf Imports of Cotton JVool into Great Bri 

 talti, of the Stocks on hand on the 3lst December, unit oj 

 the Annual and weekly Delivers for consumption, from 

 1814 to 1830, both inclusive. 



As the subject of cotton manufactures is one of so 

 much interest, we shall here give a detailed account 

 of the process, and mention the most important ma- 

 chines by which each part is performed. After the 

 cotton has been ginned (see the first part of this ar- 

 ticle), and picked or batted, that is, beat up and 

 separated into a light, uniform mass, the first opera- 

 tion of the manufacturer is carding, which serves to 

 equalize the substance of the cotton, and dispose its 

 fibres in a somewhat parallel direction. The carding 

 engine consists of a revolving cylinder, covered with 

 sheet cards, which is nearly surrounded by a fixed 

 concave framing, also lined with ten to twelve pieces 

 called top cards, with which the cylinder comes in 

 contact. From this cylinder, called the breaker, the 

 cotton is taken off by a smaller cylinder, called the 

 doffing cylinder, and thence by the motion of a trans- 

 verse comb, called the doffing comb, and passes 

 through a second carding in the finishing cylinder. 

 It is then passed through a kind of funnel, by which 

 it is contracted into a narrow band or roving, and 

 received into tin cans, in the state of a uniform, con- 

 tinued roving. The next step in the process is call- 

 ed drawing the cotton. The machine employed for 

 this purpose, called the drawing frame, is constructed 

 on the same principle as the spinning frame, from 

 which the idea of it was taken. To imitate the 

 operation performed by the thumb and finger in hand- 

 spinning, two pairs of rollers are employed ; the first 

 pair, slowly revolving in contact with each other, are 

 placed at a little distance from the second pair, which 

 revolve with greater velocity. The lower roller of 

 each pair is furrowed, or fluted longitudinally, and 

 the upper one is covered with leather, to give the 

 two a proper hold of the cotton. If a carding be 

 passed between the first pr.ir, it will be merely com- 

 pressed by the pressure of the rollers ; but if it be 

 then passed through the second pair, moving with 

 twice or thrice the velocity of the first, it will be 

 drawn twice or thrice smaller than it was when it 

 entered the first rollers. The relative velocity of 

 the two pairs of rollers is called the draught of the 

 machine. The general spring is from six to twelve 

 times the speed. Several of these drawings are then 

 passed together through rollers in the same manner, 

 plying (coalescing) as they pass, and forming a single 

 new drawing. The drawing and plying are several 

 times repeated, and have the effect of arranging all 



the fibres of the cotton longitudinally, in a uniform 

 and parallel direction, and doing away all the in- 

 equalities of thickness. In these operations, the cotton 

 receives no twist. Roving the cotton, which is the 

 next part of the process, gives it a slight twist, which 

 converts it into a soft and loose thread, called the 

 roving. The machine for performing this operation is 

 called the roving frame or double speeder. In order to 

 wind the roving upon the bobbins of the, spindles, in 

 even, cylindrical layers, the spindle rail is made to 

 rise and fall slowly, by means of heart wheels in the 

 interior of the machine. And, as the size of the bob- 

 bins is augmented by each layer, the velocity of the 

 spindles and of the spindle rail is made to diminish 

 gradually, from the beginning to the end of the ope- 

 ration. This is effected by transmitting the motion 

 to both through two opposite cones, one of which 

 drives the other with a band, which is made to pass 

 slowly from one end to the other of the cones, and 

 thus continually to alter their relative speed, and 

 cause a uniform retardation of the velocity. The 

 bobbins are now transferred to the spinning frame, 

 which has a double set of rollers, like those describ- 

 ed in the account of the drawing and roving frames, 

 and which, operating in the same manner as in those 

 machines, extend the rove, and reduce it to a thread 

 of the required fineness. The twist is given to this 

 thread by flyers, driven by bands, which receive their 

 motion from a horizontal fly wheel, or from a longi- 

 tudinal cylinder. The yarn produced by this mode 

 of spinning is called water twist, from the circum- 

 stance of the machinery, from which it is obtained, 

 having been, at first, generally put in motion by 

 water. In 1775, the mule jenny or mule was invent- 

 ed by Samuel Crompton, of Bolton. The spindles 

 are mounted on a movable carriage, which recedes 

 when the threads are to be stretched, and returns 

 when they are to be wound up. The process of 

 stretching is intended to produce threads of the finest 

 kinds, and consists in forcibly stretching portions of 

 yarn, several yards long, in the direction of their 

 length. The purpose of it is to reduce those places 

 in the yarn which have a greater diameter than the 

 rest, so that the size and twist of the thread may be- 

 come uniform throughout. Here ends the process of 

 spinning, and that of weaving begins. 



The following progress of a pound of cotton may 

 be not uninteresting to our readers. It appeared, 

 originally, in the Monthly Magazine. " There was 

 sent to London lately, from Paisley, a small piece of 

 muslin, about one pound weight, the history of which 

 is as follows : The wool came from the East Indies 

 to London ; from London it went to Lancashire, 

 where it was manufactured into yarn; from Man- 

 chester it was sent to Paisley, where it was woven ; 

 it was sent to Ayrshire next, where it was tambour- 

 ed ; it was then conveyed to Dumbarton, where it 

 was hand-sewed, and again returned to Paisley, 

 whence it was sent to Glasgow and finished, and then 

 sent, per coach, to London. It may be reckoned 

 about three years that it took to bring this article to 

 market, from the time when it was packed in India, 

 till it arrived complete, in the merchant's warehouse, 

 in London; whither it must have been conveyed 

 5000 miles by sea, nearly 1000 by land, and have 

 contributed to reward the labour of nearly 150 per- 

 sons, whose services were necessary in the carriage 

 and manufacture of this small quantity of cotton, and 

 by which the value has been advanced more than 

 2000 per cent." 



The foregoing outline of cotton spinning is sufficient to give the 

 general reader an idea of the nature of this specie!! of manufac- 

 ture ; but as it is a prominent feature in the tradn and commerce 

 of this country, we have thought proper to give engravings i.t 

 the mo^t improved forms of the machinery. When the cotton ar- 

 rives in this country it is much compressed, and the first opera- 



