320 COTTON 
from growing the seed to manufacturing the 
finished cloth is full of interest to those who watch 
intelligently. 
The first step in cotton manufacturing, when 
cotton arrives at the mill in the form of a bale, is 
the opening process which consists of simply re- 
moving the ties and bagging (a fabric made of 
rope) that enclose the bale. The mixing opera- 
tion is next. Were all cotton just alike, and of 
the same uniformity, mixing would not be neces- 
sary, but fiber comes from lowlands and highlands, 
in long or short staple, of one variety or many 
varieties; so, unless thoroughly mixed, goods of 
widely varying quality will be produced. 
Many bales are therefore mixed together, by 
hand or by machine, the purpose all the time being 
to get a considerable quantity of cotton as uniform 
in quality as possible. 
From here cotton goes into a large machine that 
makes the lap, or gauzy film of cotton—first 
sheets of fleece three or four feet wide, but so 
very thin that sand, broken leaves and other im- 
purities drop from it of their own weight. And 
this is one of the reasons why the lap is made—to 
rid the cotton of these impurities, else yarn would 
be of poor quality. ‘Three or four times this lap- 
ping process is repeated, the second and third 
machines using the product of the preceding ones. 
As a rule, four laps or films of the first machine 
pass through the second machine at once. All 
the while it is being further cleaned and prepared 
for the carding machines. 
Up to this point there has been no change in 
the form of cotton. It has been opened and the 
heavy impurities have fallen out, but it remains 
still the white, fluffy, fleecy material—now in rib- 
