404 THE TEAZLE CROP. 



cular colours. " Kendal green" is mentioned by Shak- 

 speare in his play of " Henry IV.;" Coventry was famed 

 for its blues, Bristol for its reds, and many other places 

 were equally celebrated for other tints and hues. The 

 industry flourished in every district where it was intro- 

 duced, and teazles were, as a consequence, cultivated in 

 its neighbourhood. 



The sole use to which teazles are applied is in the manu- 

 facture of woollen cloths, their curved, tough, yet elastic 

 bracts catching hold of the filaments of the woollen yarns, 

 and giving the surface a rough appearance. This "nap," 

 as it is termed, by a subsequent operation is cut down per- 

 fectly smooth, and gives the fabric a soft feel and beau- 

 tifully finished appearance. The quantity of teazles re- 

 quired for this branch of industry is very large, as each 

 piece of fine cloth requires from one-eighth to one-sixth 

 of a "pack" of "middlings" to bring up the desired face. 

 Many mechanical substitutes, chiefly in the form of 

 steel cards, have been devised, and from time to time intro- 

 duced, but none have succeeded in supplanting the teazle, 

 whose superiority consists in its elasticity and strength 

 being just sufficient to raise the "nap," without injuring 

 the texture of the fabric, should any knot or other ob- 

 stacle present itself to their action. 



The teazle belongs to the order DIPSACE^E, of which it 

 constitutes the only genus which forms an object of culti- 

 vation. The order itself is a very small one, and consists 

 chiefly of herbaceous plants or small shrubs. Its mem- 

 bers appear to be natives of Southern Europe Barbary, 

 the Levant, and the Cape of Good Hope not being par- 

 ticular as to locality, save that they generally do not like 

 cold, and consequently do not grow so well in elevated 

 and exposed as in low and sheltered situations. Some 

 species possess medicinal properties; some contain an 

 astringent principle, which gives them a certain value for 



