COTTON- WOOL. 



397 



The two wheels are vertical and move in contrary direc- Appendix, 

 tions, so that which is to the left of the workman turns 

 inwards and the other outwards. The workman resting 

 on a little table about the height of the cylinder, places 

 the pod on it, and the wool is immediately drawn from it 

 and falls into a box ready to receive it : the seed not 

 being able to pass remains on the other side. After this 

 operation the workmen clean the wool for the first time. 



A workman can easily give fort}^ pounds gross weight in 

 a day : some workmen would finish by noon and give as 

 far as ninety pounds. 



The ordinary work is, from forty-six to fifty-six pounds, 

 which gives from eleven to fourteen pounds nett. The 

 cylinders are made of a fibrous, hard, and close-grained 

 wood. Iron cylinders are sometimes substituted, to pre- 

 clude the necessity of constant repairs, which the woodea 

 ones continually require ; but it has been discovered that 

 they cut the wool. In fine, when iron cylinders are used, 

 the room is more filled with particles of cotton than with 

 the wooden ones. It is of great consequence for the qua- 

 lity of the cotton that it should be cleaned as soon as the 

 seeds have been extracted, otherwise the seeds crushed by 

 the cylinders that might have passed through them would 

 stain the wool. 



To clean it, it should either be placed on a mat or 

 rattan frame, and struck with a switch. This operation 

 opens and raises the cotton, and renders it easier to distin- 

 guish any particles of dirt which may have got in. 



It ought not, however, to be done too much, lest it 

 should cut the silk and spoil it entirely. 



An experienced workman can easily pick in a day what 

 another mills, if the cotton has been cleaned in gathering. 



