STRUCTURE OF TEE WOOL FIBRE. The wool of the sheep differs from all other fibres. animal or vegetable. on account of its great felting power. (See Woof..) This is due to its corrugated structure, which makes the individual hairs, when brought in contact at an angle, tend to mat together. Another striking characteristic wool is the (-tidiness of the fibre. The transfor mation of wool into cloth is divided into two dis tinct branches: the manufacture of woolens and the manufacture of worsteds. in making woolen fabrics or cloths the natural characteristics of the fibre—its curliness and felting power—are developed by the mannfaeturing processes and produce •R soft cloth with a nap and with the fibres so matted together that the Well VO is hilt slightly visible. In worsted tiguufactnte. the aim is to produce a smooth. wiry- yarn. more like that of the other textile fibres, and to this 'nil the fibres are straightened, twisted hard. and the shorter projecting ones which would form a nap combed out. This produces a cloth in which the \MI Ve is evident and great variety 1/f design in weaving is possible.
After being sorted, the wool is subjected to a process of beating, not only for the purpose of eliminating the dust and other impurities. lint the procedure has the effect of disposing the staple to open and thus render the material softer and less resisting when washed and worked over in the various machines. The wool must be thoroughly dry, else many difficulties will be ell countered. If the heating process be well ear Heti out, it w ill not only dispose, of many im purities, but will invariably treble and quadruple the volume of the fibre.
Scotlrxo. The washing received by the live sheep before the removal of the fleece is not enough tor the purposes of the manufacturer, There is a subsequent cleansing which could by no possibility be given while the material was a part ot the animal. The necessity of thorough scouring is due not only to the dirt adhering to the wool, lout also to the natural fatty secretion, called yolk or saint, which is in the wool. This oily substance is sometimes reclaimed from the wash-water and sold under the commercial name of dcgras. Soft water is required for washing, because the insoluble lime soap formed in dissolv ing soap in hard water is deposited on the wool fibre and becomes inextricably entangled. Wool washed with hard water is always harsh to the touch; it takes on dyes unevenly and is not read ily cleansed. The washing is performed in a series of rake-scouring machines, the wool being immersed in a cleansing solution and passed back and forth b1' the automatic machinery, which squeezes out the dirty water and breaks up the grease. The wool is passed from one tub to an
other, in each of which the cleansing operation is carried a step further until it emerges from the last huh. clean. The wool is then dried in automatic driers, having been first dyed or bleached :us required.
The wool having been dried is still found to retain many objectionable features that are not disposed of in the previous manipulations. These are bunches, matted locks, dust, sand, and other impurities. all of which must be removed before the article can go toward final manufacture. The process of removing these objectionable fea tures is termed tril/owing or willcyiug ( the latter term being given in honor of the inventor, Wil ley). It is accomplished by a machine consist ing of a large drum and three small cylinders mounted on an inclosed frame. Powerful hooked teeth are geared on a drum which rotates with great rapidity, and the matted seetions of wool, being fed into the drum, pass on to the spikes of the lesser cylinders; the matted locks are gently torn asunder, and the whole wool is delivered in a light, free, and disentangled condition. In various of the Mouth American products there is a difficulty which requires additional care. There are little burrs and small adherent seeds which insist on remaining in the wool, no matter what the processes previously described may have ac complished. One method of eliminating them is another mechanical. In the chemical process, technically known as the organic matter in the wool is decomposed by the use of chloride of almnimon, chloride of mag nesium. strong salt solutions, or acid vapor, after which it is subjected to a baking process. The wool is now cooled and the carbon dusted out. Finally it is washed in a strong soda solu tion to remove the acids:. This process is now used not only to remove the vegetable matter from new wool, but also the cotton from the `union' shoddy. The operation of burring is sometimes performed by mechanical burr-pickers which erns!' the brittle burrs under powerful, closely set rollers, without injury to the .more elastic and Ilexible wool. The pieces arc then shaken out.
.M.Lxixo. This is an operation of great impor tance designed to secure uniform quality of yarn. It is accomplished by spreading the wool from different lots or franc two or more qualities or colors into as many thin layers as possible, one on top of another. The greater the amount of wool mixed and the more thorough the mixing, the better will be the quality of the cloth pro duced. If other materials are to be added to the wool, as silk, vottom or shoddy, the blending of these with the wool is performed at this stage.