MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 



more tortuous and spiral, by which in a 

 great measure the yarn formed from it 

 acquires that elastic softness, which pe- 

 culiarly distinguishes it from that spun in 

 mills, which latter does not usually un- 

 dergo this operation, and which fits it so 

 well to form the weft of cotton cloth, 

 while the superior firmness and hardness 

 of the mill-twist qualifies it better for the 

 part of the warp for which it is generally 

 employed. 



After being thus washed, the cotton is 

 next carried to the press, where most of 

 the water which it has imbibed is forced 

 out of it : in this operation it is generally 

 put into a strong wooden box, perforated 

 vrith holes at every side, and open at top ; 

 a wooden cover is then put over it, suffi- 

 ciently small to enter the box ; the whole 

 being then put into the press, the cover is 

 forced down by a wooden screw. No- 

 thing made of iron should be used about 

 the cotton while it is wet, as it might im- 

 part a stain hard to be removed. 



When the cotton is sufficiently pressed, 

 it is spread on canvass, or railed wooden 

 frames, and brought to the stove to be 

 dried. 



The stove consists of a chamber, of size 

 proportionate to the work to be done in 

 it, which is usually arched over with 

 brick, and separate from the other build- 

 ings of the cotton factory, to prevent ac- 

 cidents by fire ; a flue of cast-iron runs 

 through the middle of this chamber, a 

 little above the floor, from a fire place, 

 which opens outside. In some stoves, in- 

 verted pots, or metallic cylinders, are 

 fixed at intervals along the flue, with 

 which they communicate beneath ; wood- 

 en supports are placed round the sides of 

 the stove, to sustain the frames on which 

 the damp cotton is spread, which is left 

 to remain here till it is thoroughly dry. 

 As the stove may be constructed in vari- 

 ous manners, without any material dif- 

 ference in its performance taking place, 

 it is probable that many other construc- 

 tions are used in different places ; but the 

 one described is of a kind in very general 

 use, and has no very obvious defect. It 

 is probable a stream of heated air con- 

 veyed through the stove might be an im- 

 provement, tending to accelerate the dry- 

 ing process ; as it is very obvious, that 

 when the air contained in the stove be- 

 comes loaded with moisture, it cannot 

 absorb that of the cotton very readily. 

 Double doors should also be added to 

 stoves, with a small space between them ; 

 and one door should always be shut again 



before the other was opened, to prevent 

 the cooling of the stove, by the whole 

 mass of heated air passing out at once, 

 which must frequently take place in stoves 

 with single doors. 



Carding Engine for Jenny-spinning. 

 When the cotton is sufficiently dry, the 

 next operation which it undergoes is that 

 of carding. This is performed on an en- 

 gine which has now been brought to 

 great perfection, of which, and of the 

 manner in which it is used, the following 

 is a description. The cotton is first 

 spread on a feeding cloth, disposed in the 

 same manner as that already described 

 for the same purpose in the picking en- 

 gine ; two small rollers, about an inch in 

 diameter, take up the cotton between 

 them, as it successively approaches them 

 on the revolving cloth, and deliver it to a 

 roller of from twelve to eighteen inches 

 diameter, according to the size of the en- 

 gine, covered with cards of the fineness 

 proper for cotton : (cards for the opera- 

 tion of carding cotton or wool by hand, 

 being used in most towns and villages, 

 need not be described here, and will also 

 be found under their proper head) : from 

 this roller the cotton passes to another of 

 about the same size, from whence it is 

 delivered to the great carding roller, 

 which is from two to three feet in diame- 

 ter : about the upper half of this roller 

 several small rollers are placed, of three 

 or four inches diameter, between which 

 and the great roller the cotton is carded, 

 as well as between those of a larger size : 

 another roller, of from twelve to eighteen 

 inches diameter, takes the cotton from 

 the large roller, and is again stripped of 

 it by a kind of comb, with very short 

 teeth of iron, which, moving up and down 

 before the roller, strikes the cards in its 

 descent in the direction of their teeth, by 

 which the cotton is separated in a fine 

 thin sheet, like a fleece, in which it passes 

 between a smooth roller (which is mostly 

 covered with fine paper), and a hollow 

 semi-cylinder, that form it into oblong 

 rolls, similar to those made by hand-card- 

 ing, but much longer : on the surface of 

 the smooth roller are small projections, 

 parallel to the axis, at the distance of 

 four or five inches from each other ; 

 which, rolling the cotton between them 

 and the semi-cylinder beneath, produce 

 the effect described. These projections 

 are formed in many engines by whipcord 

 stretched tightly across in .the proper 

 places, before the paper is pasted on, 

 which covers both them and the roller. 



