COTTON 323 



ant machine. And here you doubtless recall old 

 traditions that have come down through your 

 family of the time when cotton was not only spun 

 in the home but woven there as well. Now, though 

 the hand loom and the spinning wheel have al- 

 most disappeared, they have had their share in 

 history making. 



As has been suggested before, the loom uses two 

 sets of threads, known as warp and rilling. The 

 set running throughout the length is the warp, and 

 those threads extending from side to side, make 

 the filling, weft, or woof. 



The loom works on the principle of three move- 

 ments : the first separates the threads of the warp 

 longitudinally into two sets, leaving a space through 

 which to pass the weft; the second passes the 

 filling through that space, and the third presses 

 the thread of filling up against the one preceding 

 it. All weaving is built upon this principle, 

 though different processes have been employed in 

 making the different fabrics. 



Looms may be divided into three classes: plain 

 looms, (operated either by hand or power), fancy 

 looms, and Jacquard looms. 



An important part of the power loom is the 

 harness. This is simply a skeleton frame of rods 

 placed parallel to one another on which are a series 

 of heddles, with eyes at the center through which 

 the warp threads pass. These heddles for plain 

 goods are generally knit from cotton with an eye 

 through the center and varnished so as to work 

 freely through the threads. As the number of 

 harnesses is increased, weaving becomes more com- 

 plicated, and produces finer cloth and more costly 

 fabrics. 



Plain looms, as a rule, have but two harness 



