6 



that there is a single lady here present who does not know a 

 great deal better than I do about flannels and blankt-ts and 

 their treatment. But there are sometimes agents and assist- 

 ants in our houses whose natures are poorly understood. 



I have before me the directions taken from a package of 

 well-known and much-used soap powder : — 



" To each pail of water add one tablespoonful. If the water 

 is hard, increase the quantity. Clothes wash easier if soaked 

 over night." 



I dissolved a tablespoonful of this powder in half a pail of 

 water and the specific gravity was five degrees Baume. In 

 other words, twice the minimum direction quantity of powder 

 produces an alkaline Solution which will dissolve wool in half 

 an hour, and with the liberty given in the directions to in- 

 crease the quantity, and the knowledge that a larger quantity 

 will perform the required work in a shorter time, servants, 

 and even housekeepers themselves, may, and often do subject 

 their clothing to a dangerous test, which, in proportion to 

 the violence of the process, washes away — dissoi ves out — the 

 wool. Soap powders are of value, but there should go with 

 their use a knowledge of their nature, — an appreciation of 

 what may.result from careless application of their properties. 



The experiment has shown, to a certain extent, the points 

 which the scourer of wool must care for, heat and strength 

 of alkali. Greater heat and greater strength are the tempta- 

 tions. The efficacy of heat is so great that it may weil be 

 believed thal as high a temperature will be maintained as is 

 outside the limits of real danger to the fibre. It is also evi- 

 dent that, to a certain extent, or rather within certain limits, 

 the greater the distance from the danger heat, the better the 

 resuits. and a process which will scour wool at a lower tem- 

 perature has its advantages, in the better condition of the 

 scoured wool. 



The usual temperature to-day is from 130 to 135 degrees F. 

 Mr. Toppan's scour produces its results at 120 degrees at the 

 outside. This fact, of itself, assures greater strength of fibre. 



The time necessary for scouring wool is, as I have stated, 

 not far from half an hour. I have seen it done quicker, 

 but really good results require about this time. Mr. Toppan's 

 process has somewhat the advantage in point of time. 



The capacity of a scouring machine, which I saw at work 

 some time ago, is about 900 Ibs. of clean wool in a day often 

 hours. It was at work on Cal. spring clip. A short time 

 before my visit, the same machine had turned out, with the 

 same number of attendants, 400 Ibs. of the same wool in three 



