372 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JVSE 3, 1835, 



From TraiiEaclions of the Essei Agricultural Society, for 1834. 

 ON COLORING. 

 (Coiilinueil from page 3C5.] 

 A TELLOW OM COTTON OR LINEN, 



It has been said that the fibres of cotton and 

 linen have not so strong an affinity for clay 

 and tin as those of wool and silk. A some- 

 what ilifterent management, therefore, becomes 

 necessary in coloring the former goods, from that 

 which is required for tlie latter. The fibres of 

 linen or cotton are prepared for dyeing by being 

 first boiled in water, with a portion of potash and 

 afterwards bleached. It should then be soaked 

 in water soin-ed witli sulphuric acid, to dissolve 

 and to remove all earthy matter, and then be 

 thoroughly rinsed, to free it from the acid. Alum, 

 and not tin, must be used as the mordant, for al- 

 liough tin gives yellows exceeding all others in 

 lustre and beauty, on cotton, they decay very 

 speedily when exposed to the sun and air. 



For one | ound of cotton and linen yarn, or 

 cloth, take alum 3 ounces, sugar of lead 1 ounce 



dissolve them in one gallon of water, about 



blood warm, and soak the stnft' two hours ; take 

 it out, moderately squeeze or wring it, let it then 

 be dried, and then soaked again in the solution of 

 alum, squeezed and dried as before ; then let it 

 betlioroughly washed in lime water and dried as 

 before. Let it then be well rinsed and put into a 

 kettle of cold water with three ounces of quer- 

 citron bark tied up in a bag ; stirring it frequently 

 gradually raise the water to a boiling heat, let it 

 lioil a few minutes only, as longer boiling would 

 injure the color, and take it out, rinse and di^ as 

 usual. It has been found that by immersing cot- 

 ton a great number of times, allernately in the so- 

 lution of alum and lime water, and drying after 

 each immersion, the color acquires greater body 

 and durability. The reason of this seems to be 

 found in the shrinking of the aluminous basis 

 (the clay) in drying, and thereby making room for 

 an additional quantity to penetrate the fibre after 

 each drying, and the larger the quantity of this 

 substance united or incorporated with the cotton, 

 the deeper and more durable will be the color 

 fixed upon it. 



There are other methods of preparing cotton, 

 so that it will take a sufficient quantity of the clay 

 from alum, without the use of the sugar of lead, 

 and which are, consequently, somewhat cheaper 

 than the one described above. 



Take of the roots of our common snmacli, 

 (rlius glabrinn) dried and chipped, one potmd, sal 

 soda four ounces, or barilla half a pound, which 

 is an impure soda used by manufacturers of hard 

 soap, and in two or three gallons of soft water 

 boil them for one hour, and then strain ofl" the 

 liquor and steep the cotton therein for two or 

 three hours. Take it out of this liquor and steep 

 it for the same length of time in a mixture of 

 warm water and fresli cow dung, rinse it out aiul 

 dry it. Dissolve three ounces of alum in one gal- 

 len of water, soak the cotton in this and lime 

 water alternately, and dye it slowly with tlie quer- 

 citron bark as belbre directed, liy the addition 

 of madder, the yellow may be raised to or- 

 ange, &c. 



Woolen, silk, or cotton goods colored yellow as 

 directed, may be immersed in the saxon blue dye, 

 fsccond metliod,) and made to take any shade of 

 green which may be desired. 



Crimson-^on wool or silk. — Provide yourself 

 with the following articles — Alum 41b., cream of 

 tartar Jib., Nicaragua wood 14 lbs. — dissolve the 

 alum and tartar in four pails of water, in a brass 

 or copper kettle, when boiling, put in the cloth, 

 yarn &c., and continue the boiling two hours, 

 then take it out and cool <ind wash it. Fill the 

 kettle again with water, put in the Nicaragua 

 wood tied up in a bag, put in the cloth and boil one 

 hour, take it out and wash it, and if you wish to 

 change the color to crimson, add one ounce or 

 tnore of pearlash to the liquor, and boil again for 

 fifteen minutes. 



Madder Red. — Soak the cloth &c. as directed 

 in the last recci))t, then instead of the Nicaragua 

 wood, put into four i)ails full of water, 14 lbs. of 

 madder and ilb. of the nitro nuiriate of tin, and 

 when blood warm put in the cloth and turn it 

 continually till it boils, take it out immediately 

 and dip it into lime water, and turn it for a few 

 minutes without boiling, take it out and wash it, 

 &c. The quantity of dye-stufts mentioned in 

 these receipts, are calculated for about 24 lbs. of 

 woolen goods. 



Scarlet. — Firstly, color as directed for the most 

 brilliant yellow, then take one ounce of powdered 

 cochineal for every pound of cloth, and put it into 

 the yellow dye from which the cloth has been 

 just taken, or into a suitable quantity of clean 

 water, vj'ith one ounce of murio sulphate of tin. 

 Put in the cloth, and boil it for fifteen or twen- 

 ty minutes, wash and dry as usual. 



To color cotton red, with Brazil or j-edwood, 

 Nicaragua wood or madder, it must be soaked in 

 alum water, and otherwise managed as directed for 

 yellow, the red wood, &c. being used instead of 

 the quercitron bark. 



BLACK. 



To dye woolen goods black, perfectly and most 

 durably black, they must first receive an indigo 

 blue, as described in our first method, and be well 

 scom-ed out afterwards. The mordant used in 

 dyeing black is iron — sulphate of iron (copperas) is 

 most generally used for wool. There are a great 

 number of dye-stuffs, both native and imjiorted, 

 used in coloring black. Nutgalls are usually con- 

 sidered the best for this purpose, but Bancroft 

 says, and we think correctly, that the bark of the 

 red flowering majde (acer ru!)rum) so common in 

 swamps in this county, gives *' a more intense, 

 pure and perfect black than even galls, or any 

 other vegetable matter within our knowledge." 

 Logwood is a useful addition, especially where the 

 cloth has not received an indigo blue. It certain- 

 ly improves the appearance of the black dyed 

 from galls and iron, by rendering it more intense, 

 glossy and soft. In fact it seems that almost ev- 

 ery coloring vegettdtlc matter for which the fibres 

 of wool have an affinity, adds something to the 

 body of black, and lessens the hardness or harsh- 

 ness which iron gives to wool. Among other ar- 

 ticles, therefore, which may be adv.-intageously 

 use<l in black dyes, are the barks of our common 

 elm and alder, and several S|)ecies of lichen, or 

 mosses, which glow on rocks, tmd have long been 

 in use among us for dyeing various cheap colors. 



For host iilack. — On cloth previously colored 

 blue with indigo, take dried maple baik 12 oun- 

 ces, or 1 lb. of tindricd bark, logwood 6 ozs. flesh 

 elm bark 8 ounces, and boil tliem in two gallons 

 of water for one hour. Take out the bark, im- 



merse the cloth, and boil another hour. Then 

 take 5 ounces of copperas, dissolved in 29 pounds 

 of water, and add it slowly to the liquor in the 

 boiler. The cloth should be kept continually 

 turning in the boiling liquor for two hours. Take 

 it out, cool it, and again soak it in boiling water, 

 to which a small quantity of ox gall or fresh cow 

 dung has been added, another hour, Rinse it out 

 and scour it well with hot water and hard soap. 



Cloths not colored with indigo, will take a good 

 black if the quantity of logwood be increased, 

 and the dippings alternately in the decoction of 

 the bark, &c. be many times repeated. 



Black, on Silk. — The fibres of silk do not so 

 readily receive the black dye as those of wool. 

 What the woolen dyer effects by three or four 

 dippings, the silk dyer scarcely obtains from twen- 

 ty. As the affinity of the silk for the soluble part 

 of the gallsor maple bark is greater than with the 

 iron, it is thought most advantageous to begin by 

 boiling about one half as much in weight of the 

 galls or bark as of the silk to be dyed, in a suita- 

 ble quantity of water, for three or four hours. 

 Let it settle, pour off the clear liquor, and macer- 

 ate the silk in the same for twentyfour hours. 

 Being dried and slightly rinsed, the silk is after- 

 wards immersed in a solution of the sulphate of 

 iron (copperas,) moderately warmed, and kept 

 therein twelve hours, after which it should be 

 rinsed and immersed in a warm decoction of log- 

 wood for several hours, again immersed in the so- 

 lution of iron, rinsed, again transferred to the de- 

 coction of bark, &c., rejeating these alternate im- 

 mersions till the desired color shall have been 

 produced. Iron dissolved in vinegar, is still bet- 

 ter than copperas. A black vat may be easily ])re- 

 pared for coloring silk, by immersing in vinegar, 

 old iron hoops, turnings of iron, or iron in small 

 and thin pieces, to which may be added maple 

 hark, the berries and bark of the sumach, oak 

 liark, alder bark, &c., and left to undergo a grad- 

 ual solution, by the joint action of the acids and 

 acerb vegetable matters. The longer the liquors 

 are kept, the better. In some coloring establish- 

 ments in Europe such vats have been kept for 

 ages, being replenished from time to time by ad- 

 ditions of the several ingredients above mention- 

 ed. By repeated dippings in black dyes, silk may 

 be made to acquire nearly a fourth part more in 

 weight than it possessed before its natural gum 

 had been separated from it by the boiling whli 

 soap, a process to which all new silk should be sub- 

 jected before it is colored. But the color produ- 

 ced by this excess of black is not so good as it is 

 when no such excess has been employed. As soon 

 iherefoj-e, as the silk becomes sufficiently colored, 

 judgingbythe eye, it should be rinsed out and 

 passed through a bath containing at the rate of one 

 pound of starch and half a pound of linseed oil, 

 well mixed with six quarts of warm water. 



Black, on Colton. — Cotton may be colored Wack 

 in the dyes above mentioticd for wool and silk. A 

 somewhat different management is howeverrecom- 

 mendedby the best writers on the subject. One, 

 who is considered good authority, recommends 

 making a decoction by boiling the logwood, maple 

 bark, &c. above directed, and pour the clear liquor 

 into a tub. Fill another tub with a like quantity 

 of lime water, and another with the copperas 

 water, formed by dissolving two and a half ounces 

 of copperas to each gallon of water, and while the 

 decoction and lime water arc nearly boiling hot, 

 dip and turn the cloth for thirty minutes, take it 



