DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF COCOONS. 101 



and placed on the distaff and spun. The silk thus pro- 

 duced is called fleuret. But if after boiling and drying, 

 and beating, the cocoons are carded, the fleuret will be 

 more bright and beautiful, and command a higher price, 

 owing to the greater waste of materials, arid the far 

 greater amount of labor. 



In every large establishment there should be super- 

 numerary reels, to be detached from the reeling appa- 

 ratus. When the suitable quantity has been wound on 

 the reel, it is to be rubbed gently with a handful of 

 clean coarse silk which has been dipped first in cold 

 water and gently squeezed ; it is afterwards rubbed 

 gently and smooth with the palm of the hand. Then 

 opening the windows, turn the reel with the greatest 

 possible velocity for about ten minuses, ,whi,ch wjU 

 effectually dry the silk. 11 \\\ \ V 



DISBANDING THE 



The individual fibres of which the silken thread is 

 composed, will unavoidably suffer different degrees of 

 tension during the process of reeling. This may arise 

 from the inequality of the size of the filaments, or from 

 their being unequally steeped in the water or from 

 other causes. The fibres thus unequally stretched while 

 wet, would be liable to contract, unequally, thus des- 

 troying the union and diminishing the strength of the 

 compound thread. 



To prevent such an occurrence, the skein must re- 

 main on the reel for six or eight hours, until the fibres 

 are all firmly united in one compact thread. Those 

 fibres which have suffered less strain in reeling, and 

 those which have suffered a greater strain, will be 

 brought to an equal length by the prolonged and forci- 

 ble state of union which they undergo in the process of 

 drying and shrinking on the reel. This drying must 

 be effected in an airy place, but not in the sun. 



When the skein is dry, tie a mark to the end of the 



