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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



CARDED WOOL IN A MASSACHUSETTS WOOEEN FACTORY 



There are two objects in combing wool: first, to straighten the fibers and lay them parallel 

 to one another, and, second, to eliminate the short fibers. The long fibers are used in the 



higher-grade yarns. 



pound, and the temptation everywhere is 

 to "load" it with tin, so that much of the 

 silk goods one buys today has more metal 

 than fiber in it, and consequently "cuts" 

 and wilts away in a manner very disap- 

 pointing to the wearer, a few manufac- 

 turers still adhere to the production of 

 "unweighted" silks. 



Pure silk is one of the most durable of 

 all cloths. One may judge of its lasting 

 qualities from the experience of a Massa- 



chusetts manufacturer whose silks are 

 known everywhere. A half century ago 

 his little mill, nestling close to the eastern 

 slope of the Berkshire Hills, was caught 

 in a flood that carried it away. To this 

 day little bobbins of the silk from that 

 mill are sometimes upturned by the plows 

 of the farmers in the valley below. The 

 wood of the bobbin has rotted away, but 

 the silk fiber remains as strong as the day 

 it was wound. 



