1Vhatever may be the colour or tint or pattern used, whether in monotone, striped, or checked, perfect harmony exists, and the effect is never glaring or in bad taste. l'he dycs are either per manent or tetnporary. In the former aro the yarns for weaving both silk and cotton cloths; in the latter aro white cloths, such as ; turbands, scarfs, and the like aro dyed in the piece, to suit the tastes of their customers. The latter are purposely kept unfixed, as a scarf or turband catt be more easily and perfectly washed and re-dyed than a permanently dyed cloth be cleansed from impurities. Goats' dung is largely employed. Women's garments are usually woven with yarns with fixed dyes, as they have to undergo almost daily mashing and exposure to the sun in drying, yet the colour almost never fades, but seems to grow brighter and clearer front constant exposure. The strong satins, striped and plain, called mushroo and hemroo, used for women's trousers and petticoats, as well as by men for trousers and other garments, must needs be of permanent colour for repeated washing. In most parts of India, 'Mahoinedan ladies wear nothing but this material for their nether gar ments, which are sent to the wash witlt as much confidence as if they were cotton, and with as little injury.
The natural patterns of the Panjab, Baluch istan, and Sind, are large and bold, but the colours are harmonious. The favourite artistic Coranada rugs is one of tho most pleasing of the Indian carnets. The short, even-piled carpets of Turkomania and Kerman have a glorious elabora tion in colour and design.
The mode of printing in colours is by block printing and knot-dyeing. For the former process, the designs are usually cut out from teak-wood (Tectona grandis), the pattern standing out in high relief, and the hollows being cut very deep. Besides the numerous patterned blocks called bibun, the implements required by the calico printer are, the gadi, which is a wooden tray, in which three or four layers of country woollen cloth (dhabadi) are laid, and which are kept soaked with the intended colours. Ilesides, there is a. table-over which are stretched three or four layers of thick cotton cloth, and on the top a woollen cloth, over which lies the cloth intended for printing. The printer usually squats witb the tattle in front of him, on which he works from morning to night. The engraved surface is dipped in a preparation of the dye, to which a mixture of gum-arabie has given a consistency. AVhen tho cloth luta to be printed in metallic leaf, the block is dipped in gum and impressed on it, and tin, silver, or gold leaf is then stuck on to the adhesive design. Another way of printing, called khad,' is to charge the blocks with putty, and cover the impression with talc.
The calico printed goods of Sind rank the highest, and next to them those of Diu and Daman, whence issue bedcovers, games, dhotis, and children's cloths of divers kinds. There is
often a wonderful combination of colours in the patterns of these goods.
Knot-tying is either done on a plain or coloured ;round, according to the kind of pattern required. The lines aro printed with an aqueous solution of Indian earth (red ochre), so as to be easily dis charged during the dyeing proms. The tyer keeps the following nails long, viz. of the fore Anger and the thumb of the right, and of the thumb, the forefinger, and the middle finger of the left hand. To tie the cloth, he takes either a thin or thick cotton yarn, according as the design is in fine or large patterned spots. At the place where the spot is to be, the cloth is raised up into a fold by means of the pointed long nail of the middle finger, and the fold is now caught between the long nails of the forefinger and of the thumb of the left, and a knot tied by means of the yarn held between the long nails of the right hand, by passing the yarn quickly four or five times round and round, and finishing the motion with a kuot, by which the yarn is secured to its place, This 'process is repeated on one spot after another with the same thread so quickly, that a practised band goes over an area of cloth extending 3 feet square in the course of 12 hours. A close pattern is workable during the same time only to the extent of about 1 foot square. The daily earning of the tyer is estimated at rupee a day. After the knot-tying is finished, the silk cloth is taken to the dyer. To produce a black ground, it is dyed red in cochineal. The steeping in the dye-beck is repeated twice, so that the 'red colour penetrates the thread and fixes itself into tho white spots (kanda) covered by the thread. Once steeping fails to allow the penetration. For large spots (kanda) it is necessary to dye red three times. The cloth is now submitted to the indigo vat, then washed and dried. This process appears to have been first devised to overcome the difficulty met with in the production of white spots on a dark dyed ground. It is largely practised in Gujerat, Catch, Sind, and Bombay, and is scarcely met with in other parts of India. From this it appears that it had its origin in Gujerat, Cutch, and Sind. Knot-dyed goods, which are generally handker chiefs, sarees (women's scarfs), bodices, petticoats, trousers, borders, turbands, etc., and executed chiefly for consumption among the Gujerati and Parsecs. They are manufactured either in cotton or silk, the latter kind being common among the Parsees. The patterns produced are either in dotted lines, or in single or grouped spots, the spots varying in size from that of a mustard seed to that of an almond. They are either round or square, according to the way of tying the knot.