After the wool is sorted it is next passed through a machine called a duster, which not only removes much sand, dirt and dust, but opens up the wool and better prepares it for the next operation, the scouring.
After the wool passes from the duster, the first operation is to scour it to remove the dirt and grease, thereby obtaining the pure wool Idle This operation consists in passing the wool through three or four vats or bowls which contain a cleaning solution of hot soapy water Each vat has its own set of rollers which squeeze nut the washing solution from the wool before it passes on to the next vat. In this way the wool is gradually cleaned and on pass ing through the rollers of the last vat is pro pelled by means of a chain elevator to the dryer. The dryer is a specially constructed chamber kept very hot by means of steam. Most of the moisture is removed from the wool while in the dryer.
When wool contains burrs, chaff and sum lar vegetable matter it mu:t pass through a special treatment. When the wool is very burry it is passed through what is known as tlie car bonizing process. This consists of dipping it in a bath of aluminum chloride or sulphuric acid solution, extracting the moisture and hearing the wool to 212' F., when the vegetable mat ter is reduced to a powder and may be readily shaken or blown. from the wool. Wools hay ing comparatively few burrs are ordinarily only run through the machine known as the burr-picker, which removes the burrs mechani cally by tearing them from the wool Some times when quite burry it is found more satis factory to run the wool first through the burr-picker to remove larger burrs and then to carbonize it to remove all the fine seeds and such material as is not entirely removed by the burr-picker.
The wool is now ready for the neat operation, known as carding. None of the operations up to this point has made an attempt to straighten the fibres, but all have left them in a more or less tangled condition. The purpose of carding is to open the fibres so that they lie loosely separated in a uniform film, and to eliminate remaining impurities and fibres too short to spin. In the manufacture of woolens the rotary cards are used. These cards consist of rollers in the sur face of which there is a large number of wires. These rollers revolving in opposite directions cause the wool as it is passed between them to be opened, separated and straight ened. The fibres are usually carded three times by being passed successively through three cards known as scribbler, interme diate and finishing card. From the first two the fibres come out in the form of a filmy lap. From the third, this product goes to a condensing machine, where it is district* and comes out in light strands about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. These strands, known
as rovings, are wound onto spools and are now ready for the spinning room.
The next operation is the spinning of the yarn. This consists of drawing out the rov ing and twisting it into yarn. Lp to this stake the wool has received no twisting, but has itself together by the binding action of the scales on the wool, and their natural curliness or crimp. The spinning is for the most part done on a machine known as a mule and u in four successive steps which are practicalls automatic_ Mule spun yarns are soft and rather loosely spun. Another kind of spin is known as frame spinning. The frame spinning requires less space and labor for ns operation. However, frame-spun yarns are not so soft as those produced on the mule. After the yarn is spun, it is used singly or twisted together into two, three or four strands, (k neading upon the coarseness or of the fabric into which it is to be made. The yarn is now ready for the weave room, where it will be woven into cloth Cloth consists essentially of two sets of interlaced threads. One set runs lengthwise and is known as the warp, while the other runs cross-wise and is known as the weft or filling. In a plainly woven cloth, the weaving consists of running each strand of filling alternately above and below each strand of warp. Mount ing the warp beam consists of drawing several thousand threads through wire heddles in a frame called a harness and then through a wire recd. When this is done the warp beam is ready for the loom. These heddles are so arranged that the alternate threads rise and fall in rotation. Through the opening made between these sets of raised and lowered warp threads, a shuttle containing the filling is run and the cloth is woven. This covers in a gen eral way the manufacture of woolen cloth. The manufacture of worsteds is similar in operation to the manufacture of woolens, dif fering for the most part in preparation of the yarn. The main difference between wool ens and worsteds is in the thread. In the preparation of the wool for woolen threads, it is carded. This leaves the fibres of the thread in a mixed and matted condition and results in a rather irregular thread. In the making of worsted thread the wool is not only carded, but is also combed. The combing operation leaves the fibres lying parallel to each other, removes the short ones and, after spin ning, the thread is found to be well formed and regular in shape. Upon examining woolen and worsted fabrics, it will be found that a woolen is soft and elastic, with a blended pattern and threads that are not really dis tinguishable. On the other hand, a worsted has a much brighter and more clearly defined pattern and a close, even and well-defined weave.