CASHMERE. A textile trade term applied originally to a type of soft woollen dress fabric of very light texture, woven from yarn spun from the fine and long fleece of the Cashmere goat. The modern Paisley shawls, manufactured in the Scottish town of that name, are beautiful reproductions of the shawls woven by the natives of Cashmere on primitive handlooms. The term "Cashmere," however, has lost its original significance and is now applied without discrimination to a variety of dress fab rics whether composed of wool, cotton, or a combination of both types of fibres.
Until the year 1857 the word "Cashmere" does not appear to have been applied to any kind of cloth manufactured in England; though cotton dress goods described as "Mousseline-de-laine" (Muslin-de-laine) were woven, in the Colne valley (Lancs.) as early as 1837, and the term Cashmere was probably first used in the dress-goods trade to describe the fine twilled dress fabrics produced from the true fleece wool of the native Cashmere goat. From this date, however, the popularity of the original Cashmere fabric led to the production of inferior and cheaper fabrics first by substituting the fine Merino wool of the Spanish breed of sheep in place of Cashmere wool, and then by weaving fabrics of similar texture by employing weft either of Cashmere or else Merino wool in combination with warps produced from cotton yarn of fine counts; and, finally, by employing cotton yarn en tirely both for warp and weft, though still retaining the original description of "Cashmere." In the Bradford trade the term Cashmere is applied to several distinct varieties and qualities of dress fabrics of light-weight texture, of which one example is a special type of twilled dress goods woven with a cotton warp in combination with Merino (Botany) worsted weft. If a similar style of fabric were woven with both warp and weft of Botany worsted it would be described as "French" or "all-wool" Cashmere ; and if woven with a silk warp and Botany worsted weft it would then be termed "Hen rietta," or "silk-warp" Cashmere, and of which a good quality contains 72 warp threads per inch of 70/2 spun silk, and 163 picks per inch of 82's Botany worsted weft. The usual variety of Cashmere is a light dress fabric produced either with warp of fine cotton or worsted yarn with weft of fine Botany wool, and woven with the three-end weft-face regular twill weave. This weave develops a distinct twill effect of diagonal lines on the face of the cloth, owing to the preponderance of the weft yarn on that side, though the reverse side of the fabric, which displays a preponderance of warp yarn, has the appearance of the plain calico weave, without any resemblance whatever of a twill effect.
"French Cashmere" differs from the usual variety in that it is based on the f our-end two-and-two ) "Cashmere" or "Har vard" twill weave structure, as distinct from the usual three-end weft face twill weave, and of which one quality is woven with 6o warp threads per inch of 4o's Botany worsted yarn, and 14o picks per inch of 52's Botany worsted weft, approximately. Some varieties of Cashmere dress fabrics are produced entirely from cotton both for warp and weft, woven in the "grey" state and afterwards dyed; whilst others are printed to imitate a mix ture or "union" texture woven from warp and weft yarn spun from a blending of wool and cotton staple fibres. One quality of cotton Cashmere contains 72 warp threads per inch of 36's T., and 140 picks per inch of 28's weft. (H. N.)