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WOOL 
 
 THE WORLD'S COMFORTER 
 
When You Look at This Machinery, a Very Small 
 
 Part of That Used in a Woolen Mill, You Get an 
 
 Idea op the Amount of Money It Takes to Swing 
 
 a Textile Enterprise 
 
WOOL 
 
 THE WORLD'S COMFORTER 
 
 A SURVEY OF THE WOOL INDUSTRY FROM THE 
 RAW MATERIAL TO THE FINISHED PRODUCT, 
 INCLUDING DESCRIPTIONS OF MANU- 
 FACTURING AND MARKETING 
 METHODS AND A DICTION- 
 ARY OF WOOL FABRICS 
 
 By 
 
 W. D. DARBY 
 
 NEW YORK 
 DRY GOODS ECONOMIST 
 
 TWO THIRTY- NINE WEST THIRTY- N T I NTH STREET 
 19 2 2 
 
u** 
 
 <£-$•» 
 
 Copyright, 1922 
 Dry Goods Economist 
 
 v* " 
 
 Federal Printing Co., New York 
 1922 
 
 FEB 24 "23 
 
 C1AG98682 <+$& \ A 
 
CT- 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 An Introduction. By Ernest C. Hastings, Managing 
 Editor, Dry Goods Economist 6 
 
 Chapter I — History of Wool 7 
 
 Chapter II — History of Wool Manufacture 15 
 
 Chapter III — The Wool-Bearing Sheep 25 
 
 Chapter IV — The World's Wool Production 33 
 
 Chapter V — Classification and Marketing of Wool. . 40 
 
 Chapter VI — Preparatory Manufacturing Processes . . 49 
 
 Chapter VII — Spinning Woolen and Worsted Yarns.. 57 
 
 Chapter VIII — The Weaving Processes 63 
 
 Chapter IX — Dyeing and Finishing 72 
 
 Chapter X — Manufacture and Use of Shoddy 80 
 
 Chapter XI — Mohair, Alpaca and Other Fibers 87 
 
 Chapter XII — Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 94 
 
 Twelve Illustrations. 
 
Introduction 
 
 IT is safe to say that, while wool is the oldest of all our textiles, the 
 public knows less about it than about silk, cotton or linen. 
 
 Folks realize in a general way that woolen fibers come from the 
 backs of sheep, yet they have little or no conception of the vast difference 
 that exists between wool as it comes from sheep in various parts of the 
 world, for example. 
 
 Most people think that wool suits or hats or socks are all alike, whereas 
 there is often a very tremendous difference in those articles that may appear 
 exactly alike. One may be of virgin wool and the other of wool that has 
 been worked over many, many times. 
 
 Wool is the one textile for which no substitute has been found. We 
 have fibre silk and materials made of various fibres that answer the purpose 
 of cotton or linen, but NO material has been discovered that will take the 
 place of wool. 
 
 So-called imitation wools may look, feel and appear like wool, but the 
 body refuses to react to these in the same way it does to real wool. 
 
 Selling or buying woolen materials or products of any kind involves 
 more than the sale of just the item. What the buyer wants is comfort or 
 protection. The salesman who fails to realize this is missing a big oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 That all may know the properties and kinds and types of woolens the 
 Dry Goods Economist has had prepared one of the most complete brief 
 treatises on wool ever attempted. We doubt if any volume of its size gives 
 in condensed form so much vital information about the oldest of our ma- 
 terials. 
 
 As is usual in Mr. Darby's writings, the book is free from technicalities 
 so that it is easily understood by a layman. 
 
 Whether you buy or sell woolens you'll get greater pleasure from the 
 handling of them if you are familiar with the facts contained in this book. 
 
 May the reading of it be a great pleasure. 
 
 ERNEST C. HASTINGS, 
 
 Managing Editor, 
 Dry Goods Economist. 
 
WOOL 
 
 THE WORLD'S COMFORTER 
 
 Chapter I 
 History of Wool 
 
 IT is probable that wool was the first fiber used by man for clothing. 
 It is certain that wool shares with flax the distinction of being the 
 
 most ancient of the textile fibers; but the origin of both of them 
 goes so far back into prehistoric times that it is impossible to say which 
 came first. In the beginning men used skins to clothe their bodies, 
 and sheepskins no doubt were used widely for this purpose by primi- 
 tive peoples. As far as we know, the pastoral stage always has pre- 
 ceded the agricultural stage in the development of civilization. Men 
 lived nomadic lives and counted their wealth in flocks and herds for 
 ages before they began to settle down and cultivate the earth. And 
 unquestionably the woolly skins of sheep that died or were killed 
 for food must have been deemed especially suitable for clothing. 
 
 Just when men first began to shear off the wool and to spin and 
 weave it into cloth is another matter. They must have done it cen- 
 turies before the dawn of recorded history; because the very earliest 
 legends make reference to the fleeces of sheep, and sheep originally 
 did not possess the woolly fleece we so inevitably associate with them 
 now. Sheep in the beginning were covered with hair, and the wool 
 was merely a slight soft down next the skin. Apparently it occurred to 
 some prehistoric shepherd that sheep could be made to ^row more 
 of this wool by special breeding; and as a result of this experiment the 
 woolly sheep was produced. It is very likely that the impetus to 
 develop a woolly sheep came from previous experiments in spinning 
 and weaving the fiber. That the production of wool for its own sake 
 
 [7] 
 
8 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 goes back to the most ancient times we may infer from such early 
 myths as that of Jason and the Golden Fleece. 
 
 Some idea of the antiquity of wool as a textile fiber may be 
 gleaned from the fact that when the ruins of villages inhabited by the 
 Swiss Lake Dwellers, in the Stone Age, were uncovered in 1853-54, 
 fabrics made of wool were found there, and bodies wrapped in plaited 
 woolen cloth have been found in the barrows of the early Britons. 
 If we assume, as we plausibly may, that wool was used as a textile 
 at a correspondingly early stage in the civilization of Asia, we can 
 trace it back to the very childhood of mankind. Indeed Abel, the son 
 of Adam, we are told, was a keeper of sheep, and whether we take 
 the Bible literally or figuratively, this indication of the high antiquity 
 of sheep raising is eloquent enough. 
 
 That the ancient Israelites were great sheep ranchers is well 
 known. And that they used the wool for making cloth is suggested 
 by many references to sheep-shearing made in the Bible. (For ex- 
 ample, Genesis 38: 13, and 31: 19; Deuteronomy 15: 19; 1 Samuel 25: 
 4; 2 Kings, 3: 4.) Besides speaking frequently of the wool of sheep 
 as a separate, valuable commodity, the Bible makes more direct refer- 
 ences to its use as a textile fiber. The book of Proverbs, for example, 
 says of the virtuous woman that she "seeketh wool and flax and worketh 
 willingly with her hands." We find, too, that the priests were for- 
 bidden to wear garments of mixed wool and linen. This prohibition 
 was evidently borrowed from the Egyptians, who forbade the wearing 
 of woolen clothing by their priests. 
 
 Such a prohibition would indicate that woolen cloth was an article 
 of such common use among the ancient Egyptians as not to be deemed 
 suited for wear by the august servants of the gods; although one 
 writer has suggested, with an apparent flippancy which may convey 
 a real truth, that perhaps the Egyptian linen manufacturers had a 
 pull with the Government. As an instance that this latter surmise 
 may not be so absurd as it sounds, the writer cites the fact that 
 Charles the Second of England, with the express object of promoting 
 the use of woolen cloth in his realm, decreed that all dead persons 
 must be wrapped in woolen shrouds. 
 
Here Is a Scene from the New England Hills. 
 The Sheep Are Being Relieved of Their Fleece 
 by Shearers Working with Hand Shears. Note 
 How the Old Fellow in the Foreground Holds 
 the Sheep Down During the Operation. On 
 Large Ranches, Power Shears Are Used 
 
History of Wool 11 
 
 But in any case, even if the Egyptian linen manufacturers were 
 forced to use their influence with the Government, it merely goes to 
 show that they were having a hard time with the competition of 
 woolens. We have evidence to prove that the Egyptians wore both 
 woolen and linen garments fully 3000 years before the opening of the 
 Christian era, and it is likely that the beginning of woolen spinning 
 and weaving among them antedated that time by many centuries. 
 
 Coming down to later times we find from Homer (about 850 B. C.) 
 that wool clothing was familiar to the most ancient Greeks. Evidently 
 it was linen that Penelope was spinning while she held off her suitors 
 until Ulysses could get back to her; but the familiar practice of spin- 
 ning and weaving among the Greeks of that period is enough to 
 suggest that they must have been making woolen cloth for a long time, 
 as they were a pastoral people. Apparently they got the textile arts 
 from the Babylonians. Herodotus tells us that the Babylonians wore 
 woolen tunics, and Tertullian says: "From the beginning the Milesians 
 were employed in shearing sheep, the Seres in spinning the product 
 of trees, the Tyrians in dyeing, the Phrygians in embroidery and the 
 Babylonians in weaving." 
 
 Nobody who has read much in the history and legend of ancient 
 Rome can escape the impression that the Roman matron did practically 
 nothing but spin and weave from morning to night. Every time we 
 catch a glimpse of her she is sitting at her distaff or sending her shuttle 
 merrily "flashing through the loom." It is quite probable that most 
 of the clothing worn by the ancient Romans was made of wool; for 
 even in later times, when Rome began to grow rich, linen still was 
 considered something of a luxury. Sheep raising was carried on ex- 
 tensively in the country around Rome, and when we get down to the 
 Augustan age we bejjin to find evidence that the Romans devoted con- 
 siderable attention to the breeding of sheep. 
 
 In fact, the finest wool-bearing sheep of our own times are indirect 
 descendants of Roman breeds. About two hundred years before the 
 birth of Christ the Romans had developed a breed of Tarentine sheep, 
 which had valuable wool-bearing properties. These sheep were brown 
 or black. The Arabs of Northern Africa in the meantime had devel- 
 
12 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 oped a good wool-bearing sheep which was pure white. Undoubtedly 
 the Arabs had bred sheep for their wool at a much earlier period than 
 the Romans, inheriting the custom from the pastoral tribes that wan- 
 dered the plains of Asia in prehistoric times. But the Romans appar- 
 ently were the first European people to devote serious attention to 
 sheep-breeding. 
 
 In the first century A. D., a Spanish farmer crossed some Tarentine 
 ewes with African rams, and the result of this cross was the famous 
 Spanish merino, the ancestor of the finest wool-bearing sheep of our 
 day. For many centuries Spain was the great wool-producing country 
 of Europe. The famous merino stock was renewed there with Barbary 
 rams imported by Pedro IV in the 14th century and by Cardinal 
 Ximenes in the 16th century. But from about the 10th century on 
 Spain had a dangerous rival in England, and by the 13th century 
 England was unquestionably the greatest wool producing country in 
 Europe. The reason for this is difficult to understand, as the English 
 sheep could scarcely have been equal to the Spanish merino. But 
 possibly the English wool was cheaper. 
 
 It is difficult to ascertain when the rearing of sheep for their wool 
 first began in England. Wool was used for clothing in that country 
 before the Roman conquest, and the Romans manufactured woolen 
 clothing there on a considerable scale for the use of their legionaries. 
 But there is no documentary reference to native wool. A document 
 of the year 712 mentions the price of sheep; but gives no inkling of 
 whether the sheep were valued for their wool or their mutton. But by 
 the 10th century we find English wool a most important article of 
 commerce. In that century (the year 961, to be precise), 
 Count Baldwin III established a woolen manufacturing industry at 
 Ghent and wool markets at Ypres and Bruges, and for fully three 
 centuries thereafter Flanders and Brabant were the great woolen 
 manufacturing centers of Europe. Most of their raw material was 
 derived from England. 
 
 But beginning about the reign of Henry I, England began to 
 develop a woolen industry of her own, and this industry was promoted 
 most energetically by Edward III, who, among other measures for the 
 
History of Wool 13 
 
 benefit of the English industry, prohibited the export of wool from 
 England. From the reign of Edward III to that of Elizabeth the pro- 
 hibition on the export of wool continued. It was lifted during the 
 reign of Elizabeth; but was again put into effect in 1660 and continued 
 until 1825. The measures taken to promote the woolen manufacturing 
 industry in England also served to promote the sheep-breeding indus- 
 try, and by the opening of the 19th century there were estimated to be 
 about 30,000,000 sheep in England. Many of the English breeds, as 
 we shall see in a later chapter, were good wool-bearing sheep, although 
 none of them could quite compare with tha merino. 
 
 During the centuries when England shut down on the export of 
 wool, Spain was the main provider of raw material to the continental 
 woolen industry until the Peninsular War. France, Germany and Aus- 
 tria also produced some wools of fine quality. But Spain maintained 
 her pre-eminence chiefly by virtue of the merino, which was heavily 
 protected by laws forbidding under heavy penalties the export of 
 merino sheep. Some of these sheep, however, trickled out into other 
 countries as royal presents to reigning sovereigns. In this way Louis 
 XIV of France got some which were the progenitors of the famous 
 Rambouillet merinos. Others went to Germany and Austria, the former 
 resulting in the Saxony merino, probably the finest of all wool-bearing 
 sheep. Still others went to Holland, which sent them to the Cape 
 of Good Hope after the Dutch settled that colony, and laid the foun- 
 dation for the great wool-raising industry of South Africa. Some 
 merinos were brought also from Spain to England — by smugglers, 
 it is said. 
 
 In the meantime, an important wool growing industry had been 
 developing in the New World. In South America the use of wool as a 
 textile fiber goes back to very ancient times. The Incas of Peru wove 
 cloths of wool, and wool cloths were found also in Mexico by the first 
 explorers of that country. The beginning of the North American wool 
 growing industry, however, may be traced to the landing of English 
 sheep at Jamestown, Va., in 1609. James I, who was interested in 
 promoting so many things, encouraged wool growing in the Colonies, 
 and the industry was further encouraged by subsequent colonial gov- 
 
14 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 ernors. In the early 18th century, Jamaica, Maryland and Virginia 
 were exporting wool to England. 
 
 But the greater profits in tobacco and cotton interfered with the 
 promotion of sheep raising in the South on a large scale, while in New 
 England the climate was not particularly favorable, as it made pas- 
 turing difficult or impossible in winter time. Nevertheless, consider- 
 able attention was paid to sheep breeding in this country after the 
 Revolution and during the early years of the 19th century, and Ver- 
 mont especially became famous for the breeding of fine sheep. Be- 
 tween 1801 and 1812 merino sheep were introduced by William Davis, 
 Col. David Humphreys and others. From these have developed a fine 
 American type known as delaine. Finally the opening up of the West 
 provided large areas suitable for sheep raising, and made the United 
 States one of the important wool producing countries of the world. 
 
 But the 19th century, which marked the growth of the United 
 States and the decline of Europe as wool-producing regions, saw both 
 of them rapidly overshadowed by Australasia, which is now by all odds 
 the greatest wool producing area in the world. The foundation of the 
 Australian sheep raising industry seems to have been laid by Capt. 
 John MacArthur of the British Army, who brought some merinos there 
 from the Cape in the beginning of the 19th century. Later a con- 
 siderable number of Rambouillet rams were brought from France and 
 crossed with the other merino stocks. Merinos were brought to Aus- 
 tralia also from England, Saxony and the United States. In New 
 Zealand and in South America the sheep raising industry began some- 
 what as it did in Australia, with the importation of merinos from 
 other countries; but, unlike Australia, both New Zealand and South 
 America gradually began to devote more and more attention to the 
 raising of mutton or cross-bred sheep, and while they are still important 
 wool-producing countries, they supply a comparatively small proportion 
 of fine wools. 
 
Chapter II 
 History of Wool Manufacture 
 
 AS mentioned in the preceding chapter, wool was first made into 
 cloth ages before the beginning of recorded history. It is 
 assumed that primitive men made woolen cloth by felting the 
 wool before the arts of spinning and weaving were discovered. There 
 is no means of knowing that they did this, except by analogy with 
 primitive people of our time, such as the Polynesians, who make cloth 
 from vegetable fibers in this way. But the pulpy nature of vegetable 
 fibers may have suggested such a method of treatment as an alternative 
 to the more laborious work of spinning and weaving, and it is to be 
 doubted if woolen cloth was first made in such a manner. 
 
 It is much more like'y that the art of weaving, in its most elemen- 
 tary form, was practised long before men abandoned the use of animal 
 skins for clothing, or perhaps even before they adopted clothing at 
 all. No doubt it began with the first crude attempts of primitive 
 women to weave twigs into some kind of object, with no other idea, 
 probably, than a mere childish curiosity as to what the result would 
 be, or an equally childish desire to keep their hands employed during 
 the long hours when the men were away on the chase. 
 
 After they had succeeded in making baskets and similar articles, 
 it probably occurred to some bright cave woman that clothing might 
 be made by weaving some soft material like wool. To do this it 
 would be necessary to twist tufts of wool into long strands. Thus 
 we have the beginning of spinning. And as the strands of wool were 
 not stiff like twigs, it would be necessary to have a certain number of 
 them stretched taut between poles or something in order to weave the 
 fabric. Thus we had the first loom. 
 
 All this is surmise, of course, but it is probable that the arts of 
 spinning and weaving began in some such way. When we come to 
 the earliest mythological and historical records we find the arts of 
 spinning and weaving mentioned so frequently as to suggest that 
 they had been in existence for long ages and had been developed to 
 
 [15] 
 
16 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 a fairly advanced stage. The Egyptians attribute the invention of 
 weaving to the goddess Isis, and they themselves were generally 
 credited by other ancient peoples with having been the inventors of 
 weaving. This, however, was due largely to the deep impression 
 made by Egyptian civilization on the ancient world, particularly the 
 Greeks. It is more probable that the Egyptians developed the art 
 of weaving to a higher degree than any other people, for they were 
 excellent craftsmen, and that they borrowed some of their best 
 ideas, as was their custom, from the Assyrians. 
 
 In the Bible we find Job complaining that the days of his life fly 
 past as quickly as the shuttle through the loom — a very familiar 
 complaint. It suggests, however, that the weavers of his time must 
 have had considerable skill. To judge by the pictures of ancient 
 Egyptian looms, most of the skill must have been in the fingers of 
 the operatives. But the imperfection of their looms did not prevent 
 them from weaving beautiful fabrics, no more than it prevented 
 the Hindus from weaving their exquisitely fine Dacca muslins on 
 looms of an equally primitive type. Later, Babylon became the great 
 center of trade in woolen cloths, and its people are said by Tertullian 
 to have surpassed all other people in weaving, just as the people 
 of Tyre surpassed all others in the art of dyeing. Still later the 
 trade supremacy passed to Carthage. 
 
 It would be interesting to know whether those ancient trading 
 nations had anything remotely approaching the beginnings of a fac- 
 tory system. We consider it likely that they had. The surpassing 
 skill of the Egyptian and Babylonian weavers is convincing proof 
 that they were highly trained craftsmen, and it is altogether likely 
 that they were slaves employed in numbers by wealthy merchants. 
 It is probable that they were housed under one roof by their masters, 
 with women and children who did the picking, carding and spinning, 
 and thus constituted what might be called a factory in embryo. Among 
 more pastoral peoples, such as the Greeks and Hebrews, the spinning 
 and weaving were done in the home, and women of the highest rank 
 busied themselves with making clothing for their households. And 
 it is a curious thing that the textile industry, until comparatively 
 
History of Wool Manufacture 17 
 
 3cent times, developed along the lines of a household craft rather 
 lan along the lines of the primitive factory system. 
 
 Both systems seem to have existed in ancient Rome. The Roman 
 latrons of the patrician class were very industrious women and 
 roud of their skill in spinning and weaving. On their great estates 
 ley maintained large numbers of male and female slaves, some of 
 horn they instructed in the textile arts, so that every estate had a 
 Drt of private textile factory which supplied clothing for the family 
 nd its servants. There was also in Rome and other cities of the 
 mpire a class of professional weavers, called textores, who in some 
 ises, perhaps, were freemen and practised their craft independently, 
 [though in most cases probably they were slaves. The usual dress 
 f the Romans was made of wool, and even as late as Caesar's time 
 nen was something of a luxury, while silk was decidedly so. There 
 as the toga densa or hirta (thick or hairy toga) worn in the winter 
 me, and the toga trita or rasa (thin or smooth toga) worn in sum- 
 ler. The former obviously was made of a heavy, napped, woolen 
 oth, and the latter of a light material similar to worsted. 
 
 It is not apparent, however, that the Romans developed to any 
 reat extent the textile arts, or any other arts except those of war. 
 he important centers of the textile industry continued to be in Asia 
 nd North Africa, although in the declining years of the Roman 
 mpire there were considerable textile manufactures in Constanti- 
 ople and other Greek cities. During the early centuries of the 
 hristian era the finest woolen stuffs were made in Bagdad, Damas- 
 is and other cities of the Saracenic Empire, while the barbarians 
 ere overrunning Europe, extinguishing the torch of civilization which 
 le Romans had kindled. 
 
 In the textile arts, as in all other respects, this torch was re- 
 indled by Venice, Florence and the other great cities of the Italian 
 enaissance. Venice it was that brought woolen manufacture back 
 ) Europe. Even before this time, it is true, there was a flourishing 
 oolen industry in Spain. The industry had been introduced there 
 t a very early age by the Carthagenians, and was re-introduced in 
 le 8th century by the Saracens, who were noted for the production 
 
18 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 of beautiful fabrics. But Moorish Spain was only geographically a 
 part of Europe. It was really a part of the Saracenic Empire, and 
 it did not serve as a carrier of the textile arts to other European 
 countries. In the Middle Ages, Barcelona had become the seat of 
 an important woolen industry and its products were far-famed. But 
 after the discovery of the New World the attention of the Spaniards 
 was turned to gold and the more prosaic textile industries began to 
 decline. 
 
 In Venice, Florence, Padua and other Italian cities, however, the 
 woolen industry flourished apace. Venice imported weavers from 
 Constantinople and the cities of the Levant, and became not only a 
 great woolen manufacturing center, but a great cloth market. In 
 Florence, we are told, wool manufacturing was established about the 
 year 1250 by friars of the Order of St. Michael of Alexandria, and 
 soon grew to large proportions. Villani, in his "History of Florence," 
 says that in the year 1340 there were over 200 wool manufacturing 
 establishments there, supporting about 30,000 people. 
 
 In the medieval Italian cities they had the guild system, which 
 was more a development of the household craft than of the primitive 
 factory system. Instead of being slaves working for a master, the 
 weavers of the Middle Ages were independent craftsmen, who were 
 very proud of their skill and put on considerable airs. A master 
 weaver conducted his business in his own home, with the aid of 
 his family and apprentices, and he had his yarn spun for him by 
 women and children either on his own premises or in their homes. An 
 apprentice could rise to the dignity of a master weaver on his own 
 account after he had served a certain number of years and passed 
 the tests of the guild, which were very strict. This system, with 
 variations, continued until the beginning of the industrial revolution. 
 
 From Italy, the woolen industry spread to the Netherlands, where 
 it is said to have been established by Count Baldwin III about the 
 year 960 or 961. For centuries the industry flourished in Flanders, 
 Brabant and Hainault, and supplied most of Europe with clothing. 
 Bruges was the great woolen market until the 16th century, when 
 it began to be eclipsed by the rise of Antwerp. Ghent and Louvain 
 
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History of Wool Manufacture 21 
 
 also were important manufacturing cities. It is said that in the 
 year 1305 Louvain had 4000 weaving establishments, employing 
 150,000 journeymen weavers; but this doesn't sound at all probable. 
 In the 14th century the woolen industry of the Netherlands began 
 to decline, and the religious persecutions of the 16th century prac- 
 tically ruined the industry. In the 16th and 17th centuries the chief 
 manufacturing centers were Leyden, Haarlem and Amsterdam. 
 France, owing perhaps to continued wars, was very late in taking 
 up woolen manufacture, being content to get her supplies from the 
 Netherlands. It was not until the reign of Henry of Navarre that 
 the industry began to be developed in an important way. Subse- 
 quently, the province of Languedoc, particularly the city of Nismes, 
 became famous for fine woolen cloths. 
 
 In England, the Romans are supposed to have taught the Britons 
 how to make woolens. In any case, they had a factory at Winchester, 
 which made clothing for their legionaries, and this may be said, 
 perhaps, to have been the beginning of the industry in England. Then 
 came the invading Angles and Saxons, who were relatively barbarians 
 and certainly had no organized industry of any kind. But they 
 practised spinning and weaving in their homes. 
 
 The real beginning of the woolen industry in England, however, 
 was laid by the first immigrant Flemish weavers. Some of them 
 are said to have come over with William the Conqueror; but this is 
 by no means certain. A considerable number of weavers were driven 
 from Flanders by floods, and settled in England in the reign of Henry 
 I. That they came in considerable numbers is proved by the fact 
 that during the reign of Henry I and his successor, Stephen, several 
 guilds of weavers were incorporated. Their principal headquarters 
 was the city of Norwich, which remained for centuries the chief 
 woolen manufacturing center in England. Some of them settled in 
 Worstead, in Norfolk, and specialized in fine cloths, which became 
 known as worsteds, after the city in which they were made. 
 
 The wars which disturbed the reigns of John and Henry III, 
 brought decay to the English woolen industry; but it began to revive 
 during the reigns of Edward I and IT and was put on such a flourish- 
 
22 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 ing basis by Edward III that often he is given credit for having 
 founded the industry in England. But Edward, like many another 
 man, gets a lot of credit which ought by right to go to his wife. She 
 was Philippa, daughter of the Earl of Hainault, and being a Nether- 
 lander, she had grown up with the woolen industry, so to speak. At 
 her suggestion and through her influence Edward III brought over 
 crowds of Flemish weavers, dyers and fullers, whom he encouraged 
 and protected in every possible way. During his reign the industry 
 spread all over the kingdom. 
 
 After Edward's death the woolen industry languished until the 
 reign of Henry VI, who took some steps to promote it, among them 
 being the establishment of a system of inspection to prevent short 
 measuring and misrepresentation of goods, a practice which had become 
 distressingly common among the honest craftsmen of the time. Henry 
 VII, who was a good business man, brought over more weavers from 
 Flanders and encouraged the industry energetically; but Henry VIII, 
 who was not a good business man and had other things to think of, 
 paid little attention to it, and the industry began to decline again. It 
 revived in the reign of Elizabeth, when there was a further immigra- 
 tion of weavers, following religious persecution in the Netherlands. 
 
 Thereafter, with various ups and downs, it continued to flourish 
 until the 18th century, when the invention of the fly shuttle, the 
 spinning jenny, the mule and the power loom gave it a tremendous 
 impetus. After the discovery of steam power the industry shifted 
 more and more to the North, where coal was handy. For many gen- 
 erations before this there had been considerable woolen manufacturing 
 in Yorkshire and other Northern counties; but after the application 
 of steam power the North began to thrive industrially at the expense 
 of the rest of the country, and during the 19th century the woolen 
 manufacturing industry became concentrated chiefly in the West 
 Riding of Yorkshire. 
 
 Credit for founding the industry in America seems to belong to 
 a number of Yorkshire families who settled at Rowley, Mass., about 
 1638, and built a fulling mill there in 1643, making cloths from both 
 "cotton wool" and "sheep's wool." No doubt the very first immigrants 
 
History of Wool Manufacture 23 
 
 spun and wove woolen cloths in their homes as soon as they could 
 get wool to spin and weave them with. As early as 1639 there is 
 record of home-made cloth in the records of the Probate Court of 
 Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Bay Colony offered bounties for 
 woolen cloth made from home-grown wool. 
 
 Most of the Colonial legislatures, as a matter of fact, did everything 
 possible to promote the woolen industry, and by the middle of the 
 17th century it was well established. In order to promote sheep 
 raising, an act was passed in 1654 prohibiting the importation of 
 wool from England. By 1699 the industry had grown to such propor- 
 tions that the British Parliament, fearful of the effect of such 
 competition on the home industry, prohibited the export of woolen 
 manufactures from the Colonies. By that time there were woolen 
 mills — with hand machinery, of course — at Roxbury, Watertown, 
 Andover, Ipswich, Barnstable and many other New England towns. 
 In 1695 a worsted mill was established by John Cornish at Boston. 
 
 During the first half of the 18th century woolen manufacture con- 
 tinued to flourish in the Colonies, although largely as a cottage 
 industry. This in spite of the fact that, while the Colonial legislatures 
 had not been slow in promoting the woolen industry, their most 
 energetic efforts had been devoted to the establishment of a linen 
 industry. As a sort of testimonial to these combined efforts the 
 most characteristic and widely used cloth of the period was the linsey 
 woolsey, a fabric with a linen warp and wool filling. 
 
 After the Revolution it took fresh life, not only in New England 
 but in Pennsylvania, where it had been introduced by the early Quaker 
 and German settlers. It is said that there were twelve fulling mills 
 in Philadelphia in 1760. During the Revolution, Philadelphia made 
 clothes for the Continental Army, and the industry was encouraged 
 there by the patriots. By 1810 there were three woolen mills in 
 Philadelphia and one in Germantown — that is, real woolen mills con- 
 ducting all the processes in the manufacture of cloth. The first woolen 
 mill of this kind in America seems to have been one established at 
 Hartford, Conn., in 1788, and known as the Hartford Woolen Manu- 
 factory. The first woolen mill worked by power machinery is said 
 
24 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 to have been built at Newburyport, Mass., in 1794, under the direction 
 of John and Arthur Scholfield, who came to Boston from Saddleworth, 
 Yorkshire. The former built a mill at Montville, Conn., in 1799, and 
 his brother built one at Pittsfield, Mass., in 1800. From this time on, 
 the industry developed gradually until 1845, when the city of Lawrence 
 was founded and the career of the great American woolen industry, 
 as we know it now, really began. 
 
Chapter III 
 The Wool-Bearing Sheep 
 
 IT is difficult to define the difference between wool and hair. In 
 fact, many authorities maintain that there is no real difference 
 
 between them, and that wool is simply a variety of hair. Certainly, 
 it is impossible to say exactly at what point an animal fiber ceases to 
 be hair and becomes wool. On some wild or neglected sheep, for 
 example, the wool is as much like hair as the hair of some other 
 animals is like wool. 
 
 However, wool may be differentiated from hair by the fact that the 
 latter is straight and smooth, while the former is wavy or kinky and is 
 covered with minute serratures, or saw-like teeth, varying between 
 1200 and 3000 to the inch. It is these characteristics of wool which 
 give it such value for textile purposes. The waviness of the fibers 
 gives them elasticity and their serrated surface causes them to adhere 
 closely to one another, so that they mat or felt readily. 
 
 Chemically, wool is composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen 
 and sulphur. The proportions of these substances vary in different 
 kinds of wool, some wools having a high carbon content, some a high 
 nitrogen content, and so forth. Because of its chemical content wool 
 will resist the action of most acids, but will dissolve readily in a 
 strong alkali. It is very easy, therefore, to detect the proportion of 
 wool in a cotton-mixed fabric, for instance, by immersing the fabric 
 in a solution of caustic soda, which will dissolve the wool but leave 
 the cotton intact. 
 
 Physically, wool, like hair, is a hollow tube, the medulla or hollow 
 core being Ms to ] /4 the total diameter of the fiber. This is a great 
 advantage in dyeing, since the coloring matter enters the ends of the 
 fiber, filling up the hollow core and showing through the transparent 
 outer surface like colored liquid through a glass bottle. Were it not 
 for this advantage, wool, owing to its hard, scaly surface, would be 
 very difficult to dye satisfactorily. 
 
 The quality of wool depends upon a number of conditions, the chief 
 
 1 25 j 
 
26 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 of which, perhaps, is the variety of sheep from which it is taken. It 
 can readily be understood that, among the hundreds of millions of 
 wild and domesticated sheep raised in all parts of the world under all 
 sorts of climatic conditions, with countless differences in care and 
 breeding, the varieties of wool produced are practically without 
 limit. All these varieties, it is thought, derive from a few original 
 classes of hairy sheep and have been multiplied beyond count by 
 interbreeding through thousands of years. They may be divided 
 roughly into wild sheep and domesticated sheep. The former, which 
 are still to be found in large numbers in South Africa, South 
 America, India, Thibet, our own Rocky Mountains and other 
 localities, may be passed over without comment, as they are of no 
 importance from a commercial point of view. 
 
 Domesticated sheep of all varieties, however, produce wool of 
 more or less value for commercial purposes. All of them derive 
 originally, it is presumed, from the moufflon, a rough-haired sheep 
 which roamed the plains of central Asia in prehistoric times and was 
 probably the first animal domesticated by man. Presumably it was 
 a black or brown animal with a thick covering of hair and a light 
 down of wool next the skin. It is quite likely that the development 
 of the woolly coating on sheep happened at first accidentally through 
 domestication and the inbreeding of domesticated animals; for 
 the tendency of sheep which are neglected and allowed to run wild 
 is to revert to the hairy type. Later, sheep were bred expressly 
 for their wool, and we have evidence that efforts were made to breed 
 white sheep even as early as Biblical times. 
 
 At the beginning of the Christian era there had been developed in 
 Asia and Africa a fine, white, wool-bearing sheep, and the crossing of 
 this variety with Tarentine sheep by a Spanish farmer, as noted in a 
 previous chapter, resulted in the development of the Spanish merino, 
 the ancestor of our finest wool-bearing sheep. At present the merino 
 variety is cultivated in all the sheep-raising countries of the world. 
 Naturally, it has been influenced by climatic and other conditions in 
 different countries, so that there are many different kinds of pure 
 merinos. For example, the Spanish merino introduced into Germany 
 

 
 
 
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The Wool-Bearing Sheep 29 
 
 developed into the Saxony and Silesian merino, which produces the 
 very finest wool in the world. Saxony merinos have been introduced 
 into the United States and other countries, and mixed with other 
 merinos or other varieties. 
 
 Similarly, the Spanish merino introduced into France developed 
 into the Rambouillet type, which has been specially popular in the 
 United States. Merinos also have been introduced into the United 
 States directly from Spain. So, we have in this country merino sheep 
 descended from French, German and Spanish types, and modified by 
 climatic conditions in different parts of the country and by different 
 methods of care and breeding. In Australia, to give another example, 
 merinos have been introduced at various times from South Africa, 
 England, the United States, Germany and France. These, in turn, 
 have been modified by local conditions, so that there are three distinct 
 types of Australian pure merino, varying from a small sheep with 
 very fine wool to a large sheep with comparatively coarse wool. 
 
 In general, the merino is a small sheep, very thickly covered with 
 fine, crimpy wool. Its short legs and its thick wool coating, which 
 covers practically all its body except its feet and its snout, gives it 
 rather a funny appearance, somewhat resembling those little woolly 
 lapdogs which women carry around with them. The fiber is very 
 fine and of medium staple, varying between two and four inches. 
 It contains more serratures or scales to the inch than other varieties 
 and this, together with its fineness, makes it specially valuable for the 
 production of fine fabrics. It is not so lustrous as the coarser wools 
 of other varieties. 
 
 Next to the merino, the most important wool-bearing sheep are 
 the so-called long-wool sheep, which are of English origin. As the 
 name indicates, the chief characteristic of these sheep is a wool 
 of long staple, ranging from four to twelve inches. The wool, as a 
 rule is coarse and highly lustrous. Because of its coarseness it is 
 not desirable for most kinds of fabrics. But the weight and length 
 of their fleece, and the fact that they are suited for mutton as well 
 as for wool, makes the long-wool sheep very desirable for crossing 
 with merinos, and they are used principally for this purpose. The 
 
30 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 best-known varieties of long-wool sheep are the Leicester, Lincoln, 
 Cotswold and Romney Marsh. 
 
 Leicester sheep are considered to be the oldest of the English long- 
 wool breeds. They produce a clean wool of good quality and excep- 
 tional luster. Because of its small head, the Leicester is especially 
 suitable for crossing with small-framed merino ewes, and the result 
 is one of the finest of cross-bred wools. It is also used to a considerable 
 extent for crossing with other breeds, especially with Lincoln and 
 Romney Marsh sheep. The wool of the pure Leicester is very long 
 in staple, often over twelve inches, but it is too coarse for general use. 
 except in braids, linings and certain lustrous dress goods. 
 
 The Lincoln is a large-framed sheep producing a very heavy fleece 
 of long-staple wool. The average Lincoln will yield from 12 to 15 
 pounds of wool. This wool is slightly less lustrous than that of the 
 Leicester, and somewhat coarser. The Lincoln is excellent for cross- 
 ing with pure merino and cross-bred merino ewes, and is used exten- 
 sively for this purpose, especially in South America and the western 
 United States. 
 
 Cotswold and Romney Marsh sheep yield what are frequently re- 
 ferred to as semi-luster wools, that is, wools which are not so lustrous 
 as those from the Lincoln or Leicester breeds, but more lustrous than 
 merinos. The Cotswold bears a general resemblance to the Leicester, 
 and has been found useful for crossing with merino ewes. It is per- 
 haps the favorite breed for this purpose on the western ranges of 
 the United States. Crossed with the merino, it produces an abundance 
 of good wool and fairly good mutton. The Romney Marsh is a hardier 
 breed, especially suited to a wet climate and to poor country. Crossed 
 with the merino, it produces a hardy sheep with a bright, fine, long- 
 staple wool. It is little known in the United States, but is used a 
 good deal for crossing with merinos in South America and New Zea- 
 land. The latter country also uses Leicester sheep to a considerable 
 extent for crossing with merinos. 
 
 Both in South America and New Zealand, and on an increasing 
 scale in the United States, sheep are being bred more and more for 
 mutton, and this has led to the frequent crossing of merino and 
 
The Wool-Bearing Sheep 31 
 
 long-wool sheep with the mutton varieties. The mutton sheep as a 
 class are small and easily fattened. They run to fat rather than to 
 wool, and yield a light fleece of fairly fine, soft, short-staple wool. Since 
 both wool and mutton have a commercial value, it is a common practice 
 to cross the mutton sheep with other varieties, especially long-wool 
 breeds. Probably the best of these mutton sheep is the Shropshire, 
 which produces a thick fleece of tolerably good wool, as well as excel- 
 lent mutton. For this reason, and because it needs comparatively little 
 care, it is the most useful type for the general farmer. In Australia 
 it is used often for crossing with small-framed merinos. 
 
 As a mutton producer, the Southdown sheep is without a rival; but 
 it is not much as a wool grower. It yields a light fleece of short, curly 
 wool. Other familiar mutton sheep are the Suffolks, Hampshires, Ox- 
 fords and Dorsets, all of which share the same general characteristics. 
 In addition to these there are several other varieties of British sheep 
 which produce wool of special value for certain purposes. Among 
 them are the Shetland and Cheviot sheep, both Scottish breeds. Cheviot 
 wool is especially in demand for tweeds and Shetland wool for hosiery 
 and knit underwear. Some Welsh and Irish wools also are highly 
 valued by British manufacturers. The best of the Irish sheep is the 
 Roscommon, which is a cross between the Leicester and a native breed. 
 
 It may easily be imagined that between the different classes of 
 sheep mentioned above, and their multitudinous crosses, the different 
 varieties of wool are beyond number. While, strictly speaking, the 
 wool from any crossbred sheep is properly described as crossbred wool, 
 the term crossbred as used in the wool trade refers only to wool from 
 crosses between the merino and other breeds. Such wool is usually 
 described according to the proportion of merino blood in the breed. 
 A pure merino crossed with a pure long-wool sheep, for example, 
 would produce a V-rblood, and a V-rblood crossed with a long-wool 
 would produce a V^-blood, and so on. The terms y 2 -blood, Vi-blood, 
 etc., are frequently used, however, to describe wool of a certain quality, 
 without reference to the proportion of merino blood. In Australia 
 there is a common variety of sheep known as "comebacks," which result 
 from breeding crossbreds back to the merino side. 
 
32 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 Besides the various classes of sheep already mentioned there is 
 still another class which produces low-grade wools, known in the trade 
 as carpet wools. These wools come from native sheep which have not 
 been improved by breeding. Nowadays most of the carpet wools come 
 from Asia Minor, Mongolia, India, China and Russia, as well as from 
 certain mountainous districts, such as the Pyrenees and the Scottish 
 Highlands. Although, in this country at least, such wools are used 
 chiefly for carpets, they are also used largely for low-grade woolens, 
 coarse blankets, felt, carriage robes and various other purposes. 
 
Chapter IV 
 The World's Wool Production 
 
 EXACT estimates have never been made of the total wool pro- 
 duction of the world. Such estimates, in fact, have always 
 been impracticable, as sheep raising is carried on in many 
 regions where there is no official census in existence. However, the 
 bulk of the wool used in the world's commerce is raised in countries 
 from which official returns are available and in which conditions 
 have not been disturbed greatly by the war, so that it is possible at 
 least to arrive at an approximate estimate of the world's supplies. 
 
 All authoritative estimates give the total production of wool as 
 about 2,800,000,000 pounds annually. Of this about 40 per cent is 
 produced in the British Empire, about 15 per cent in South America 
 and Russia, respectively, and about 10 per cent in the United States. 
 Most of the remaining 20 per cent is produced in Continental Europe 
 and Asia Minor. There is reason to believe that the wool production 
 of China and Mongolia is large; but no estimates of its amount are 
 available, and only a comparatively small volume of low grade or 
 carpet wools from these countries find their way into the world's 
 commerce. 
 
 Easily the most important of the wool producing countries is 
 Australia, which produces annually about G50,000,000 pounds, or 
 more than one-fifth of the total world supply. Over 80 per cent of 
 the Australian wool is merino, although there is being produced an 
 increasing quantity of crossbred wools, obtained chiefly by crossing 
 the merino with the Leicester and Lincoln. This tendency to substi- 
 tute crossbreds for merinos seems bound to develop rapidly in 
 Australia, owing to the profits of the mutton trade and the encroach- 
 ment of small squatters on the big ranches. The principal merino 
 wools of Australi-a^are classed as Port Phillip or Victoria, Sydney or 
 New South Wales, Queensland, West Australian or Swan River, and 
 Adelaide or South Australian. 
 
 Port Phillip is recognized as one of the best wools in the world, 
 
 [33] 
 
34 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 ranking almost as high as the best Saxony merino. It is used for the 
 finest woolens and worsteds, and it is especially in demand by 
 makers of very fine woolen yarns, because of its exceptional felting 
 qualities. Sydney wools also have excellent felting qualities and 
 are very soft and elastic, but they are inferior in color and strength 
 to the Port Phillip sorts. Queensland wools are soft and of good 
 color, but are inferior in strength and elasticity. West Australian 
 wools are comparatively coarse, while Adelaide wools, although of 
 good quality, are very dirty, with sand and excessive yolk or grease. 
 
 In addition to these varieties, there is a very good merino wool 
 produced in Tasmania, which is commonly known as Van wool. It 
 is a very clean white in color, and is therefore especially suitable 
 for goods which are to be dyed in light shades. Australian cross- 
 breds are classed as comebacks or extra fine, fine, medium and 
 coarse. The first-named, as mentioned in the preceding chapter, 
 is a variety obtained by breeding a crossbred back to the merino 
 side. It is practically equivalent to merino wool in quality, although 
 averaging somewhat longer in staple. 
 
 New Zealand produces annually about 117,000,000 pounds of 
 wool. Fully 80 per cent of this is crossbred wool, obtained by cross- 
 ing merinos with Romney Marsh, Leicester or mutton breeds. The 
 New Zealand pure merino wool is somewhat coarser than the finest 
 Australian, but otherwise equal to it in quality. South Africa (in- 
 cluding Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, the Transvaal and 
 Natal) produces about 200,000,000 pounds of wool annually. Most 
 of the South African product is a cross between the merino and 
 native breeds, and is inferior to Australian wool in strength, wavi- 
 ness, elasticity and felting quality. But the best variety of South 
 African merino v/ool, known as Cape Snow White, is of exceptionally 
 good color and is equal in quality to the finest Australian. 
 
 Among the other wool producing areas of the British Empire 
 are India, Canada and the Falkland Islands. The production of 
 British India is estimated at about 60,000,000 pounds annually. This 
 includes some of the best known varieties of carpet wools, such as 
 Joria, Vicanere and Kandahar. Canada produces about 11,000,000 
 
This Is How Wool Looks When Received at the 
 
 Mill. It Comes in Bags in Which the Fleeces 
 
 Are Tied Together, Waiting to Be Sorted Into 
 
 Their Various Qualities 
 
The World's Wool Production 37 
 
 pounds annually, mostly from sheep of the mutton varieties. The 
 production of the Falkland Islands is comparatively small, about 
 4,000,000 pounds annually; but most of it is Cheviot wool of good 
 quality and especially suitable for the making of tweeds and similar 
 fabrics. In the United Kingdom the annual production of wool 
 amounts to between 120,000,000 and 125,000,000 pounds. Most of 
 this comes from sheep of the Down and Cheviot breeds or from 
 crosses between these and the Lincoln and Leicester breeds. 
 
 In South America the total annual production of wool amounts 
 to about 400,000,000 pounds, most of which is produced in Argentine 
 and Uruguay. In Uruguay about 80 per cent of the wool is 
 from fine merinos, chiefly of the French Rambouillet breed. The 
 remainder, for the most part, is from crossbreds of merino ewes 
 with Lincoln or Romney Marsh rams. About 75 per cent of the 
 Argentine wools are crossbreds of merino with Lincoln or mutton 
 breeds, the rest being pure merino. Generally speaking, the 
 South American merino wool is much more burry, greasy and 
 dirty than the Australian varieties. The wools from Uruguay 
 are usually referred to as Montevideo wools, while those from 
 the Argentine are usually referred to as Buenos Ayres wools. 
 The former, on the whole, are the more desirable. There is in addi- 
 tion a considerable production of wool in Tierra del Fuego, known 
 as Punta Arenas wool, from the port of shipment. This is some- 
 what coarser, more tender and more kempy than the Montevideo and 
 Buenos Ayres varieties. 
 
 In the United States the annual production of wool averages 
 between 250,000,000 and 300,000,000 pounds. Little more than half 
 of this is merino. The chief wool growing states, in the order of 
 their importance, are Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Idaho, Ohio, 
 Oregon, Utah, California, Michigan, Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania, 
 Wisconsin, Missouri, Nevada, Indiana, Iowa, Arizona, New York, 
 Illinois, South Dakota, Washington, Kentucky, West Virginia, Minne- 
 sota, North Dakota, Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas, Maine, Tennessee 
 and Vermont. Of these, Wyoming and Montana produce between 
 them about 70,000,000 pounds annually. 
 
38 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 It is generally taken for granted that the production of wool in 
 the United States is declining, but this assumption is not borne out 
 by the records. Figures of production covering the last thirty years 
 show, on the whole, a fluctuating tendency. For example, from a 
 high point of over 348,000,000 pounds in 1893, production declined to 
 about 259,000,000 pounds in 1897. Then it gradually rose to more 
 than 316,000,000 pounds in 1902, slumping suddenly to about 287,- 
 500,000 pounds in 1903, rising again steadily to 328,000,000 pounds 
 in 1909, and again declining to about 229,000,000 pounds in 1919. 
 Production in 1920, which amounted to about 259,000,000 pounds, 
 was practically the same as the production for 1897. 
 
 Among the other wool producing countries of the world, the most 
 important is Russia, which yields nearly 400,000,000 pounds an- 
 nually — or did before the revolution. A large proportion of this is 
 carpet wool. The Russian carpet wool imported into this country 
 is generally known as Donskoi wool, although strictly speaking 
 Donskoi is the name of a special variety of Russian wool. It is used 
 for the best domestic velvet and Axminster carpets. Russia pro- 
 duces also a considerable amount of good clothing (merino) wools, 
 the best of which are known as Odessa wools. These are strong, 
 fairly fine wools, of exceptionally good color. Georgia, which for 
 convenience may be included in Russia, produces some of the finest 
 carpet wools imported into this country. The production of Turkey 
 and Asia Minor is practically all carpet wool. Outside of Turkey 
 and Russia, Continental Europe produces altogether about 265,000,- 
 000 pounds of wool annually. 
 
 More than half the total world production of wool is consumed 
 by Great Britain and the United States. Consumption of wool in the 
 United States in recent years has averaged around 700,000,000 
 pounds, while consumption in the United Kingdom averages between 
 800,000,000 and 850,000,000 pounds. It is worth noting that con- 
 sumption of wool in the United States is more than twice the domes- 
 tic production, while consumption of wool in the United Kingdom is 
 considerably less than the total production of the British Empire. 
 This exactly reverses the situation existing in cotton. The other 
 
The World's Wool Production 39 
 
 chief consuming countries are France, Germany, the former empire 
 of Austria-Hungary and Italy. The precise figures for these coun- 
 tries are not available, but they may be estimated as approximately 
 480,000,000 pounds for France, 400,000,000 pounds for Germany, 
 60,000,000 pounds for Italy, and 140,000,000 pounds for the countries 
 comprising the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. 
 
Chapter V 
 Classification and Marketing of Wool 
 
 MOST of the world's sheep are raised either on large ranches or 
 on small farms in connection with dairy or other produce. The 
 former is the prevailing method in Australia, South America 
 and the western United States, while the latter prevails in such regions 
 as the Middle West, England and Continental Europe. In addition, 
 large numbers of sheep are raised by primitive pastoral methods in 
 remote mountain districts, such as the Highlands of Scotland, the 
 Pyrenees, and the plateaus of Central Asia. These, as a rule, are un- 
 improved native varieties, and their wool comes under the general head- 
 ing of carpet wool. 
 
 The gradual reduction of great sheep runs by the increase of pop- 
 ulation in sparsely settled territories creates a serious problem as 
 to the world's future wool supplies. A farmer raising from 20 
 to 100 sheep cannot do it as cheaply as a rancher raising 20,000 to 
 30,000 sheep. In fact, the small profits of sheep raising, as compared 
 with other farm products, is the main reason for its decline in farming 
 districts. For this reason alone the disappearance of the big ranches 
 will in all probability mean much higher prices for wool. Besides, the 
 necessity of obtaining a given quantity of wool from 200 to 300 farmers 
 instead of from one rancher will increase the difficulty of marketing 
 and classifying wool. 
 
 On the other hand, there may be a great saving through the better 
 care which farmers, properly instructed in scientific methods, can give 
 to small flocks. At present sheep raising is, in a financial sense, an 
 extremely hazardous occupation, for the loss of sheep through various 
 causes, especially on the large ranches, is very high. In Australia 
 and the Southwest of the United States, for example, there are fre- 
 quent and heavy losses through drought. In states such as Montana 
 and Wyoming thousands of sheep may be killed in a blizzard. ' At 
 lambing time, particularly if the weather is bad, there is a great loss 
 of lambs. The loss on ranches from this cause alone averages over 
 
 [40] 
 
Classification and Marketing of Wool 41 
 
 10 per cent. Then there is loss through wild animals, poisonous plants, 
 disease and other causes. 
 
 Generally speaking, the raising of wool for market involves little 
 effort except that involved in the care of the sheep. A periodical 
 disinfectant dip, for the purpose of killing ticks and other parasites, 
 is about the only treatment necessary before shearing. In some lo- 
 calities, particularly in England, it is customary to wash the sheep 
 before shearing. This washing removes some of the dirt and grease 
 from the wool and makes it lighter for shipment, but as a subsequent 
 scouring is always necessary this preliminary washing of sheep is not 
 generally considered worth while. Wool from sheep which have been 
 washed before shearing is known in the markets as washed wool. 
 
 Originally wool was obtained from the sheep's back by the simple 
 process of pulling it out, as feathers are obtained from a dead bird, 
 and this barbarous custom still survives in many isolated parts of the 
 world. But almost universally nowadays the wool is sheared off 
 either with a hand shears or by machine. The hand shears naturally 
 is the method employed on small farms, but on the ranches machine 
 shearing is the rule. Shearing time varies in different parts of the 
 world— April and May in the United States, for instance, September 
 and October in Australia, November in New Zealand, January in Tas- 
 mania, June and July in Great Britain, and so on. 
 
 When the shearing is properly done the whole fleece from the 
 sheep holds together in one sheet. This is skirted to remove the stained 
 britch wool and the dirty wool round the edges of the fleece. It is then 
 rolled up, tied, and packed in bales for shipment. In most countries 
 the sheep farmers, especially the small farmers, make no attempt to 
 classify their wool, the classification being done by the wool dealers. 
 But in Australia it is customary to classify the wool on the ranch 
 before shipment, because the ranchers as a rule can afford to employ 
 expert sorters and because sheep breeding in Australia is sufficiently 
 standardized to permit some approach to an exact classification. 
 
 The accurate classification of wool presents almost insurmountable 
 difficulties. The qualities of wool vary not only with the different 
 breeds of sheep but with the health of the sheep, with variations in 
 
42 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 soil and climate, and with innumerable other conditions. Pure bred 
 merino sheep from South Australia, Tasmania, Uruguay and Mon- 
 tana, for example, will present so many differences as to be practically 
 different varieties. The wool of sheep raised in the rich pastures of 
 Ohio, to give another instance, will differ altogether from wool of 
 exactly the same variety of sheep raised on the arid lands of New 
 Mexico. And when it is remembered that farmers in the same locality 
 will cross and intercross different breeds of sheep without reference to 
 any accepted standard, it can readily be understood that anything 
 like an accurate classification of wool is next to impossible. When the 
 New York Wool Exchange was established some years ago it defined 
 two hundred grades of American wool, but found after a time that 
 this number of grades was not nearly sufficient. 
 
 A rough classification, generally adopted for convenience, divides 
 all wools into combing, clothing and carpet wools. At one time this 
 classification was loosely accurate, as only long staple wools could be 
 combed. But nowadays it is possible to comb both short staple and 
 long staple wool. However, the term combing wool is generally under- 
 stood to mean a long staple wool of good quality. All shorter staple 
 wools suitable for clothing are grouped under the heading of clothing 
 wools. These terms are particularized by adding the breed of the 
 sheep and the locality in which the sheep was raised. 
 
 In Australia, where the classification of wool is more nearly on 
 a scientific basis than in any other country, merino wools are classified 
 as super combing or supers, first combing, second combing, and cloth- 
 ing. Crossbreds are classified as comebacks or super crossbreds, first 
 crossbred combing, second crossbred combing, and third crossbred 
 combing. Pure bred long wool sheep are classified as extra luster 
 hoggs and luster wethers. In other countries there are no such defi- 
 nite classifications, and wools from these countries are quoted on the 
 market in some such loose manner as Argentine high quarter blood or 
 Argentine Lincoln. 
 
 In the United States there is a great variety of classifications, but 
 none that is accurate or comprehensive. There are a number of terms, 
 however, which are in general use in the trade and have a fairly definite 
 
Here Is Shown a Series of Carding Machines. 
 
 Wool Is Being Fed Into the Nearest One, to Be 
 
 Straightened Out by Thousands of Small Teeth 
 
 on Revolving Drums 
 
Classification and Marketing of Wool 45 
 
 meaning. For example, Eastern and Middle Western wools are com- 
 monly classified as fine delaine, XX, half blood, three-eighths blood 
 and quarter blood. Both fine delaine and XX are pure merino wools. 
 The other terms, although meaning strictly the proportion of merino 
 blood, are used to indicate the quality of the wool without reference 
 to the amount of merino blood in the sheep. Wools from the Northwest 
 are known as Territory wools and are classified as fine staple, fine 
 medium staple and fine medium clothing. Texas wools are classified 
 as fine fall, medium fall, twelve months and eight months. California 
 wools are classified as spring, northern and fall ; New Mexico wools as 
 Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. 
 
 The British method of classification ignores all these subtleties 
 and describes wool according to the number of the yarn it will spin, 
 such as 40's, 60's, 70's and so on. The meaning of these yarn numbers 
 will be described in a later chapter. All wools are quoted on the Eng- 
 lish market in this way, without any other qualification except, as a 
 rule, the name of the region from which the wool comes, as for 
 example, Geelong 60's or Sydney 80's. The 60's wool is taken as a 
 standard for purposes of comparison, like Middling Upland cotton or 
 Sinshiu No. 1 silk. As the working and spinning qualities of wool are 
 the really important things to know about it, this system of classifica- 
 tion is about as useful and accurate as any that it is possible to devise. 
 
 All wools sheared from the sheep are known as fleece wools. Most 
 of them are sheared from full-grown sheep at regular seasons, but a 
 certain proportion of them are obtained at special times and are known 
 by special names. Lamb's wool, for instance, is wool sheared from 
 sheep less than a year old; hogg or hogget wool is from a year-old 
 sheep which has not previously been sheared; wether wool is a term 
 applied frequently in the United States to wool from a castrated male 
 sheep, but is used elsewhere to mean the wool of any sheep from which 
 the hogget fleece has been sheared previously. 
 
 In addition to fleece wools there is a large class of wools obtained 
 from the skins of slaughtered sheep and known as pulled wools. Us- 
 ually these wools are loosened from the skin by means of sodium sul- 
 phate or lime, although in Mazamet, in the South of France, which is 
 
46 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 the center of the world's trade in sheepskins, they are loosened by a 
 rotting process. The increasing custom of breeding sheep for mutton 
 as well as for wool is leading naturally to an increase in the production 
 of pulled wool. On the whole this class of wool is decidedly inferior to 
 fleece wool grade for grade. 
 
 In judging the market value of wool the most important considera- 
 tions are condition, quality, strength and length of staple, and color. 
 The condition of wool refers to the amount of grease and dirt it con- 
 tains. All wool contains a certain amount of fatty matter from the 
 sheep's skin, as well as dust, burrs, seeds, excrement and other dirt. 
 The amount of fatty matter — known as grease or yolk — contained in 
 a fleece depends upon the breed of the sheep and the conditions under 
 which it has been raised. Wool, therefore, is described as light con- 
 ditioned or heavy conditioned, and the percentage of weight it loses 
 when it is scoured is known as the shrinkage. The shrinkage of dif- 
 ferent classes of wool may vary anywhere from 10 to 75 per cent. 
 The average shrinkage of pure English long wools is about 30 per 
 cent, of medium crossbreds about 40 per cent, and of pure merinos 
 about 50 to 60 per cent. When the price of wool is quoted on a 
 scoured basis it means a price based on the estimated shrinkage of 
 the wool in scouring. Thus a price of $1 a pound scoured basis for 
 merino wool that shrinks 50 per cent would mean a price of 50 cents 
 a pound for the same wool in the grease. Quality, as the term is 
 used in the raw wool trade, refers to the fineness of the fiber. 
 
 Wool is marketed in a wide variety of ways. In Australia and 
 New Zealand the prevailing method of marketing wools is by public 
 auction, and this too is the method followed in England for all except 
 domestic wools. The auctioning system is followed to a limited extent 
 in South Africa, South America and the ranching country of the United 
 States, but the method usually practised in these countries is private 
 sale by growers to local dealers, manufacturers, or large merchants or 
 commission houses in the central markets. London is perhaps the 
 world's greatest wool market. Auctions of wool are held there in 
 January, March, May, July, September and November. For a long 
 time the bulk of Australasian wools were sold at these London auctions, 
 
Classification and Marketing of Wool 47 
 
 but in recent years the auctions at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gee- 
 long and Adelaide in Australia and at Wellington, Napier and Christ- 
 church in New Zealand have been accounting for most of the Aus- 
 tralasian clip, although a considerable amount of the wool sold at 
 these auctions is eventually resold in London. 
 
 Liverpool is a great market for South American wools, as well as 
 for carpet wools, mohair and alpaca. The auctions are held there in 
 the same months as the London auctions, and are timed to start when 
 the London auctions close. Antwerp and Bremen are the chief Conti- 
 nental wool markets, the former dealing principally in South American 
 wools and the latter chiefly in Australian wools. Havre also is of some 
 importance as a wool market. In South Africa and South America 
 foreign buyers or their representatives purchase the wool direct from 
 growers or local dealers, or else do their buying in the open 
 markets of Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, Buenos Ayres, Monte- 
 video or other centers. Some of the big growers consign their wool 
 unsold to the auctions at Antwerp, Liverpool or London ; but this is 
 not a common practice. 
 
 Whether wool is marketed by the auction system, as in Australia, 
 or by private treaty, as in the United States, the bulk of it finds its 
 way into the hands of big wool merchants in important trading centers. 
 These merchants have buying representatives in the principal wool 
 markets of the world and often in all the woolgrowing regions as well. 
 Not infrequently they finance growers wholly or in part. Sometimes 
 they buy the wool outright and sometimes they act merely as com- 
 mission agents, buying and selling the wool on commission. There are 
 some cases in which mills buy direct from growers and some cases in 
 which co-operative organizations of growers act as selling agents for 
 their members, but the amount of wool handled in this way is com- 
 paratively small. Wool sales all over the world are usually spot trans- 
 actions for cash. 
 
 In England there is a class of merchants, called topmakers, who are 
 an intermediate step between the wool merchant and the manufacturer. 
 Tops is a name applied to wool from which the short and broken fibers 
 have been combed out. The topmakers as a rule have the combing 
 
48 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 done for them by firms which make a specialty of such work, and they 
 deal only in combed wool. The short and broken fibers rejected in 
 the combing are known as noils. The uses of these will be dealt with 
 in a later chapter. English dealers and manufacturers for the 
 most part buy combing wools on the basis of the yield of tops and noils. 
 American and Continental European manufacturers and dealers buy 
 wool on the basis of the clean scoured yield. Thus, for example, a price 
 of 40 cents a pound for grease wool on the spot would be estimated to 
 work out at, say, $1.15 a pound clean landed basis. 
 
 Boston is the principal wool market of the United States. It owes 
 this position to its proximity to the woolen manufacturing industry, 
 which is centered in New England. Philadelphia and Chicago come 
 next in importance. New York also is of some importance because of 
 its position as a shipping point and its proximity to many large mills. 
 
Chapter VI 
 Preparatory Manufacturing Processes 
 
 WOOL reaches the mill in fleeces packed in bales of 100 to 
 500 pounds each. As the wool from different parts of a 
 sheep varies in quality, each fleece contains a number of 
 different qualities, and the first process necessary after the wool 
 reaches the mill is to sort it out. This is a job requiring not only 
 expert knowledge of wool, but an intimate acquaintance with the 
 requirements of the mill. Any two equally expert sorters are apt 
 to sort the same fleece differently. Again, a mill may sort a fleece 
 into four classes, while another mill, making a different type of 
 goods, may sort the same fleece into ten classes. Furthermore, 
 fleeces from different markets must be sorted differently. An Aus- 
 tralian merino fleece, for example, which has been skirted and 
 britched before shipment and in which the wool is fairly uniform, 
 requires very little sorting, while a dirty, unskirted domestic fleece 
 may need a good deal. 
 
 Generally speaking, the best wool is that which comes from the 
 shoulders and sides of the sheep. Next in the order of value is that 
 from the lower part of the back, the loin and back and the upper 
 part of the legs. Wool from the neck, britch, belly, chest, head, 
 throat and lower part of legs is all inferior. When the fleece is 
 deeply skirted before being shipped to market, as is customary in 
 Australia, practically all this inferior wool is removed. A light 
 skirting may leave a certain amount of it in the fleece, while an 
 unskirted fleece contains all of it. Apart from this rough-and-ready 
 classification, the wool sorter has no guide except his own judgment 
 and his familiarity with the manufacturer's requirements. 
 
 In the operation of sorting the fleece usually is spread out on a 
 table, the center of which is covered with wire netting. Working 
 inward from the edges of the fleece, the sorter tears out different 
 parts with his hands and places them in separate piles, according to 
 the different qualities. The fleece is banged and shaken on the table 
 
 [49] 
 
50 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 so that a good deal of the dust and loose dirt in it falls through the 
 wire netting. In addition the sorter removes from the fleece with 
 his hands all lumps of dirt, matted fibers, large burrs and other 
 roughage which can be removed in this way without too much ex- 
 penditure of time and labor. Low grade wools, especially carpet 
 wools from Asia and Southeastern Europe, are likely not only to be 
 excessively dirty but to contain the germs of anthrax and other 
 infectious diseases, so that the sorter has to take great precautions 
 in handling them. 
 
 Besides dust, burrs, fodder and other foreign matter, all wools 
 contain a considerable proportion of suint or yolk, usually known as 
 grease. The latter is partly perspiration and partly a fatty exuda- 
 tion from the sheep's body, which seems to serve the purpose of 
 protecting the wool on the sheep's back from injury by the weather. 
 All dirt and grease must be removed before the wool can be worked 
 properly. This is done as a rule by scouring the wool in warm 
 water, soap and a mild alkali, such as ammonium carbonate or some 
 similar substance. In the process of scouring the wool passes 
 through three or four vats filled with the scouring liquid. Each vat 
 is equipped with automatic rakes, which stir the wool in the liquid, 
 and with a set of rollers which squeeze the liquid from the wool 
 before it passes to the next vat. 
 
 Great care and skill are necessary to avoid injury to the wool in 
 scouring, as the fibers may easily be injured by too much stirring, by 
 water that is a little too hot or an alkali that is a little too strong. 
 Some big manufacturers employ what is known as the solvent system 
 of scouring. By this system the wool is treated with some chemical 
 agent, such as ether, naphtha, benzine, alcohol or carbon bisulphide. 
 This system has the advantage of being economical, for the chemical 
 solvent, after being distilled, can be used over again and the by- 
 products of the scouring can be easily recovered. It also avoids the 
 danger of injury to the wool fibers from the stirring about which is 
 necessary in the ordinary scouring bath. But it is advantageous 
 only to big mills which handle great quantities of wool. 
 
 After the scouring the wool is carried on a belt to the drying 
 
This Is Part of the Spinning Process. The Wool 
 
 Has Been Straightened and Twisted Into Yarn, 
 
 Which the Picture Shows Being Wound on 
 
 to Bobbins 
 
Preparatory Manufacturing Processes 53 
 
 chamber, where most of the moisture is removed by bringing it into 
 contact with warm air. Sometimes the drying is done by a cen- 
 trifugal machine known as a hydro-extractor. Wool is never made 
 absolutely dry, for absolutely dry wool tends to kink and curl and 
 break in the working. A certain amount of moisture is always 
 allowed to remain, the standard allowance being 16 per cent. But 
 merino wools, which are comparatively short and curly, are allowed 
 to retain more than 16 per cent of moisture, and, in fact, are not 
 usually put through any drying process at all. 
 
 When the wool contains large burrs and other matter which does 
 not come out in the scouring it is put through a burring machine, 
 which picks out the larger impurities. (AVhen the burrs are small 
 and numerous and there is a large amount of other vegetable matter 
 present, the burring process is not sufficient and the wool must be 
 put through a supplementary process known as carbonizing.^' This 
 consists of steeping the wool in a solution of sulphuric or hydro- 
 chloric acid and subsequently drying it in an oven heated to about 
 160 or 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The acid attacks all the vegetable 
 matter and reduces it to a state resembling charcoal. Sometimes the 
 carbonizing is done with hydrochloric acid gas instead of with an 
 acid solution. This method is known as dry carbonizing. The car- 
 bonized matter easily crumbles into dust, which may be shaken or 
 blown out of the wool. 
 
 After being burred and carbonized the wool is blown through 
 pipes or carried on trucks into the carding room. The subsequent 
 processes depend largely upon whether it is to be made into woolen 
 or worsted goods. Fundamentally the difference between woolens 
 and worsteds is that in woolen yarns the fibers intercross and are 
 mixed up with one another in a more or less haphazard way, while 
 in worsted yarns the fibers all lie parallel to one another. Formerly 
 it was practicable to comb only long staple wools, and worsteds con- 
 sequently were made only from such wools. But some modern comb- 
 ing machines can comb wools of any length, and as a result worsteds 
 can be and are made from both long and short staple wools, although 
 long staple wools are most commonly used. 
 
54 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 In the woolen trade, and to some extent in the worsted trade, it 
 is a common practice to dye the wool after scouring. Yellow-tinted 
 and discolored wools, especially if they are intended for goods which 
 are to be finished white or dyed in light colors, are sometimes sub- 
 mitted to a blueing or bleaching process before dyeing. The blueing 
 process for yellow-tinted wools consists in treating them with a 
 dilute solution of an acid blue or violet coloring matter, which is 
 complementary to the yellow and unites with it to form a neutral 
 tint. Wool is bleached usually with sulphur fumes. Sulphurous 
 acid and hydrogen peroxide are used also to some extent. 
 
 Whether the wool is dyed in the stock or not, the next process is 
 the mixing or blending. This is practised chiefly in the woolen 
 trade. Its object is either to obtain a certain quality of yarn from 
 certain blends of raw stock or else to produce certain colors. Every 
 manufacturer finds by experiment that various blends of wool will 
 produce characteristic results, and he develops his own formulas for 
 achieving the effects in which he specializes. For certain kinds of 
 goods the raw wool is mixed with cotton or shoddy. Sometimes a 
 small percentage — as little as 5 per cent — of strong long-staple 
 cotton, such as Peruvian cotton, is blended with the woo l in orde r 
 to lend strength to warp yarns. / By blending different colors in the 
 raw stock, various plain and mixed color effects are obtained in 
 the finished goods. 
 
 Either before or after mixing — but usually before — the wool is 
 sprayed lightly with oil, so that it will work more smoothly and 
 evenly through the machines. Olive oil is used as a rule for this 
 purpose. The cotton is then fed to the carding machine. This con- 
 sists essentially of two revolving cylinders, both of which are cov- 
 ered with fine wire teeth. The wool is fed to these cards automati- 
 cally from hoppers. The cylindrical cards revolve in opposite direc- 
 tions, so that some of the wool fibers are drawn forward while others 
 are drawn back. As a result the mass of wool fed to the carding 
 machine is brushed out into a thin flat sheet, resembling a sheet of 
 cotton batting. This sheet is condensed into a soft, narrow band or 
 
Preparatory Manufacturing Processes 55 
 
 rope, known as a roving. It is then wound on large spools or bobbins 
 and taken to the spinning room to be spun into yarn. 
 
 For worsted yarns the wool has to go through even more pre- 
 paratory processes before it is ready to be spun. As a rule it goes 
 first through the various processes already described, including 
 carding but excluding blending and dyeing. Long wools of seven 
 inches or more in staple are prepared for combing by being placed 
 in a preparing box which opens up the wool, combs the fibers apart 
 and lays them parallel or nearly so. Shorter wools are carded. In 
 either case the wool is fed next to the gilling machine, which 
 straightens out the fibers still more. It comes from this machine in 
 soft strands, which are taken to the balling machine and made up 
 into large balls, each containing four strands. Eighteen of these 
 balls make a set for the combing machine. Sometimes before the 
 gilling process the wool is submitted to a second scouring operation, 
 known as backwashing, in order to remove any dirt that may remain 
 after the carding. This is done frequently by topmakers to improve 
 the color of the tops. 
 
 The operation of combing consists simply of straightening out 
 the fibers and removing the short, broken and knotted ones. Al- 
 though it sounds simple in theory, it is a very complicated operation 
 in practice, and requires highly specialized machinery. The most 
 widely used combing machines are the Noble comb and the French 
 or Heilmann comb. The latter is especially adapted for combing 
 short wools, and, in fact, it can be adjusted to any length of staple. 
 As already mentioned, it is usual to use long staple wool for worsted 
 yarns, but for certain purposes, such as knit goods or soft dress 
 goods, where a soft, thick yarn is desired, wool of very short staple 
 can be used to advantage. The chief object of combing, therefore, 
 is to straighten out the fibers and make them clean and uniform. 
 From the combing machine the wool comes in the form of a fine 
 sliver known as a top. The broken, short, knotted and otherwise 
 imperfect fibers removed by the comb are known as noils. These 
 are sold to woolen spinners and mixed with raw stock to be spun 
 into woolen yarns. 
 
56 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 A number of slivers from the combing machine are combined into 
 one and run through gill boxes, where they are combed again and 
 reduced to strands of uniform size. These strands are wound into 
 large balls, which are known as finished tops. They are then ready 
 for the spinning room. Sometimes the wool is dyed before being 
 sent to the spinning room — or dyed in the top, as it is called in the 
 trade. In this case it comes back to be gilled and recombed before 
 it is ready to be spun. 
 
 
Chapter VII 
 Spinning Woolen and Worsted Yarns 
 
 SPINNING is the process by which the wool is drawn out and 
 twisted into thread. In the modern mill, however, the drawing 
 and twisting are done for the most part by separate machinery, 
 so that the term spinning is applied merely to the twisting part of 
 the process. The amount of drawing given to the wool before it is 
 spun depends upon the size and nature of the yarns required. Gen- 
 erally speaking, a lot of drawing is done for worsted yarns and very 
 little for woolen yarns. The strand or sliver of wool from the 
 finished worsted top may be subjected to as many as nine drawing 
 processes, each of which draws it out a little finer. In the final 
 drawing process, it is given usually a very slight twist; although 
 when a soft worsted yarn is to be produced this twist is omitted. 
 After it has come through the drawing machine the worsted strand 
 is known as a roving. For woolen yarns the sheets of wool which 
 come from the carding machine are reduced, by means of a machine 
 called a condenser, into soft strands, known also as roving. 
 
 Woolen yarns, and some worsted yarns, are subjected to a further 
 drawing in the spinning process proper. The original method of 
 spinning, presumably, was to draw out the wool into strands with 
 the fingers and twist it into thread. If one will do this with a piece 
 of cotton wool, for example, one will have a practical illustration 
 of the fundamental principle of spinning. This method of course 
 was extremely tedious, and eventually somebody hit upon the idea 
 of using a stick instead of the fingers for twisting the thread. The 
 stick was operated by twirling it with the palm of the hand against 
 the thigh. In order that it might revolve more easily and rapidly a 
 piece of stone, metal or other heavy substance was attached to the 
 top of it. Such was the primitive spindle, used the world over until 
 comparatively modern times. 
 
 The first important improvement was the invention of the spin- 
 ning wheel. This originated in India probably — at what period is 
 not known — and it made its first appearance in Europe toward the 
 
 [57] 
 
58 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 end of the fifteenth century. It consisted of a spindle to twist the 
 thread, a wheel to turn the spindle and wind the finished yarn, and a 
 distaff to hold the raw material. At first the distaff was held in the 
 hand or stuck in the belt of the spinner, but later it was attached to 
 the machine. Eventually the machine was operated by a treadle 
 instead of by hand. No further improvement in the art of spinning 
 was made until 1764, when James Hargreaves of Blackburn, Eng- 
 land, invented a machine known as the spinning jenny. In principle 
 this machine was the same as the old spinning wheel, except that it 
 twisted several threads at one time. 
 
 So far the operations of drawing and twisting had always been 
 conducted simultaneously, and this principle was adhered to in the 
 Hargreaves spinning jenny. But in 1769 a spinning machine on a 
 totally different principle was invented by a man named Arkwright 
 in Preston, England. In the Arkwright water frame, as it was 
 called, the material was first drawn out to the required fineness by 
 a series of rollers, each running faster than the one behind it, and 
 was then twisted to the required degree. It is important to remem- 
 ber that worsted yarns are spun on the new principle embodied in 
 the Arkwright machine, while woolen yarns are spun on the old 
 principle embodied in the Hargreaves machine. In other words, 
 worsted yarns are first drawn out and then spun, while woolen yarns 
 are drawn and spun at the same time. 
 
 In 1779 Samuel Crompton of Bolton, England, gave to the world 
 a new machine called the Crompton mule, which combined the best 
 features of both the Hargreaves and the Arkwright machines — hence 
 its name. The spindles of the mule are mounted on a movable 
 carriage which works back and forth, drawing the strands of wool 
 as they are paid out by the rollers, twisting them into yarn and 
 winding the yarn on bobbins. All woolen yarns, and some soft 
 worsted yarns, are spun on the mule type of machine. For spinning 
 woolen yarns the machine is equipped with only one set of rollers, 
 which merely feed the roving to the spindles. The drawing is done 
 by the spindles as they move away from the rollers, twisting the 
 roving into yarn. 
 
This Picture Shows Part of a Mule Spinning 
 Room. The Part of the Machine in the Fore- 
 ground Moves Back and Forth, Drawing Out and 
 Twisting the Yarn. 
 
Spinning Woolen and Worsted Yarns 61 
 
 In spinning worsted yarns the roving is drawn out through a series 
 of rollers, as in the Arkwright machine, and then twisted into yarn. 
 Nowadays, however, the mule is used for worsted spinning only when 
 soft yarns are desired, such as yarns for fine knit goods and certain 
 fine dress goods. Most worsted yarns are spun on a type of machine 
 known as a cap-frame or ring-frame spinner. It was invented by 
 Richard Roberts in 1835 and has since been subjected to various 
 improvements which have made it the most rapid and economical 
 type of spinning machine. The essential- difference between this 
 type of spinner and the mule is that the spindles of the former are 
 stationary. The cap-frame is faster than the ring-frame, but pro- 
 duces a somewhat rougher yarn. Both spin a much harder yarn than 
 the mule. 
 
 Woolen and worsted yarns, like cotton yarns, are numbered ac- 
 cording to size, but unfortunately there are various systems of 
 numbering used in different countries and there is no standard 
 system which is generally recognized. In the United States woolen 
 yarns are numbered, as a rule, either according to the "American 
 run" system or the "Philadelphia cut" system. The former is based 
 on the number of runs of 1600 yards that weigh a pound. Thus, if 
 a run of 1600 yards weighs one pound the yarn is known as a No. 1, 
 while if ten runs of 1600 yards, or 16,000 yards, weigh one pound, the 
 yarn is known as a No. 10. The Philadelphia system is based on 
 the number of cuts of 300 yards that weigh one pound. Thus a yarn 
 weighing ten cuts, or 3000 yards, to the pound would be a No. 10 
 yarn. According to the English system the number of a woolen 
 yarn is the number of skeins or hanks of 1520 yards each that weigh 
 six pounds. There are also French, Prussian, Viennese and other 
 systems of numbering woolen yarns. 
 
 For worsted yarns there is a nearer approach to a standard 
 system of numbering. The accepted system in England and the 
 United States is based on the number of hanks of 560 yards that 
 weigh one pound. Thus, if one hank of 560 yards weighs a pound 
 the yarn is known as a No. 1, while if it takes ten hanks, or 5600 
 yards, to weigh a pound the yarn is known as a No. 10 — and so on. 
 
62 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 Obviously the higher the number the finer the yarn. Worsted yarns 
 have been spun as high as 140's, but it is practically impossible 
 nowadays to find wool that will spin higher than 100's. 
 
 Worsted yarns below 40's are described as coarse; yarns from 
 40's to 60's as medium, and yarns from 60's to 100's as fine. But 
 the number of the yarn does not strictly define its quality, as some 
 very fine, soft, mule-spun worsted yarns are of comparatively low 
 count. In England, yarns spun from Australian merino wool are 
 commonly known as Botany yarns, from the fact that the first 
 English colony in Australia was known as Botany Bay. Frequently 
 two or more worsted yarns are twisted into one yarn, which is called 
 a ply yarn. Ply yarns are designated according to the number of 
 the single yarn, prefixed by a sub-number indicating the ply. For 
 example, two 60's yarns twisted into one would be designated as 
 2/60's, three 60's yarn twisted into one as 3/60's, and so on. 
 
 Woolen and worsted yarns come from the spinning machines 
 wound on cops, tubes or spindles. In this form they are ready for 
 the weaver. To a certain extent spinning and weaving are separate 
 divisions of the wool goods industry, but the division is not exact. 
 Some mills do spinning only; some do weaving only, getting their 
 yarns on contract from spinners or in the open market; some do 
 both spinning and weaving; while many mills which do both spinning 
 and weaving may sell some of their yarn output to other mills or may 
 buy extra supplies or special qualities from outside spinners. There is 
 consequently an open market for yarns, and the fluctuations of this 
 market furnish a fair index of the trend of demand for goods. 
 
Chapter VIII 
 The Weaving Processes 
 
 IT is probable that weaving is the oldest of all textile processes, 
 and that it began with the first attempts of primitive man to 
 
 weave twigs into mats or baskets. In handling twigs it was easy 
 enough to interlace them with the fingers and without the aid of any- 
 other device. But when an attempt was made to weave soft fibers, 
 like wool, it became necessary to stretch a certain number of them 
 between fixed objects, so as to form a groundwork through which 
 other threads could be interwoven. Thus was born the first loom 
 and, crude as it was, it embodied the basic principle upon which all 
 subsequent looms have been built. Essentially weaving is based on 
 the principle of a fixed groundwork of threads, known as the warp, 
 through which by various devices are interwoven other threads, known 
 as the weft or filling. 
 
 At first the filling threads were interlaced alternately with the 
 warp threads by hand, much like the method used in darning stock- 
 ings. This was a painfully slow process. Eventually, however, some- 
 body hit upon the idea of attaching alternate warp threads to a 
 movable piece of wood, by which the set of warp threads attached to 
 it could be raised and lowered, while the remaining warp threads 
 remained stationary. This device, which is known as a heddle, made 
 it possible to pass the filling thread much more rapidly through the 
 warp threads. In addition, the invention of the heddle made it pos- 
 sible to attach the filling thread to some heavy object and throw it 
 through the warp, instead of pulling it through by hand. After each 
 filling thread had been shot through the warp it was pushed into 
 place beside the preceding one by means of a stick. 
 
 In the course of time various improvements were made in this 
 original loom. The heddles were developed so that they could be 
 worked by foot treadles. The filling threads were wound on bobbins 
 and placed inside hollow shuttles which were thrown through the warp, 
 unwinding the thread as they moved. The warp threads were wound 
 
 [63] 
 
64 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 on a beam placed at one end of the loom, while another beam at the 
 opposite end of the loom took up the finished cloth as it was woven. 
 This made it possible to weave various lengths of cloth on the one 
 loom. The stick for beating up the filling threads into place was 
 developed into a comb-like affair, called a reed, which did the work 
 more surely and evenly. All the movements of this loom were 
 controlled by hand, except the raising and lowering of the heddies, 
 which were controlled by foot treadles. 
 
 An important innovation, which seems to have been developed in 
 the East during the early centuries of the Christian era, and which 
 was brought to Europe; from Damascus by the Crusaders, was what 
 is known as the draw loom. This was a device for facilitating the 
 repetition of a pattern. The number of threads in the warp was 
 divided into as many sections as there were repetitions of the 
 pattern. The similarly numbered threads from each section were 
 combined and fastened to a cord. When this cord was drawn it 
 lifted all the corresponding threads of every section. 
 
 No further important improvements were made in the loom 
 until the middle of the eighteenth century, when its mechanism was 
 revolutionized by a number of inventions. The first of these was the 
 flying shuttle, a device for driving the shuttle through the warp 
 mechanically instead of by hand, which was invented in 1738 by 
 John Kay, a native of Bolton, Lancashire. His son, Robert, invented 
 in 1760 a device known as a drop box, to hold several shuttles 
 with threads of different colors, Which made possible quicker 
 changes in weaving cloths of more than one color. In the latter 
 year a new kind of loom, known as the swivel loom, was introduced 
 into England from Holland. This made possible the weaving of 
 several narrow pieces of cloth at the same time. Soon afterward 
 came the harness-loom containing several sets of heddies, each set 
 attached to a frame called the harness, by which they could be raised 
 and lowered. 
 
 In the harness loom the heddies consist of cords or wires suspended 
 in a frame. Each heddle is fitted with an eyelet or loop, and through 
 each of these eyelets or loops a warp thread is passed. For a plain 
 
The Weaving Processes 65 
 
 weave only two harness frames are used, the warp threads being 
 passed alternately through the heddle eyelets of each frame. For 
 twill and satin weaves three, four or five harness frames may be used, 
 so that one speaks of three- or four-harness twills, or five-harness 
 satins, etc. For fancy weaves a large number of harness frames may 
 be used. The harness loom is used for weaving all kinds of plain and 
 fancy fabrics, except those embodying very intricate and elaborate 
 patterns, which are woven usually on a Jacquard loom. 
 
 The latter machine was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard, of 
 Lyons, France, and was first exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 
 1801. Essentially it is a development of the draw loom, already 
 mentioned. Every thread in the warp is drawn through an independent 
 heddle eyelet. A number of heddles containing one thread from each 
 repeat in the pattern are gathered together into what is known as 
 a lash. Each lash is fastened to a hook by which it is raised or lowered. 
 The raising or lowering of the hooks is controlled by means of holes 
 punched in cards, after the manner of a player piano. 
 
 It was well into the nineteenth century before either water-power 
 or steam-power was applied to weaving on any considerable scale. 
 Actually, the power loom was invented by Edmund Cartwright, an 
 English preacher, toward the end of the eighteenth century; but 
 partly because of imperfections in the mechanism and partly because 
 of opposition from the textile industry it made its way very slowly. 
 The idea of dressing the warp with a sizing before placing it in the 
 loom and the invention of a mechanism for taking up the slack of 
 the cloth in weaving — both introduced by William Radcliffe in 1803 — 
 made the power loom more practical, and by the year 1815 it was 
 being used generally in the cotton industry, although it was not 
 adopted to any considerable extent in the woolen and worsted in- 
 dustry until about twenty years later. Since then the loom has been 
 improved by the addition of various devices until it has become an 
 almost completely automatic machine of high efficiency. The modern 
 loom stops automatically when a thread breaks or the filling in the 
 shuttles is exhausted, so that it requires practically no attention and 
 involves the use of very little labor. 
 
66 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 But while little labor is involved in the weaving of cloth, a good 
 deal is involved in preparing the yarns for the loom. The manner 
 in which yarns are prepared for the loom depends upon whether they 
 are to be used as warp or filling. Warp yarns are wound on spools 
 by means of a machine called a spooler. As many of these spools 
 as there are to be warp threads in the proposed fabric are placed in 
 a large frame, called a creel, where the yarn is unwound from them 
 and wound regularly and evenly on a beam, known as the warp beam. 
 This process is known as warping. Before the warp yarns are placed 
 in the loom they are usually immersed in a sizing solution in order 
 to give them more strength, stiffness and smoothness. In passing 
 through this solution they are unwound from the warp beam and re- 
 wound on another beam, known as the weaver's or loom beam. This 
 beam is taken to the drawing-in room, where the threads are drawn 
 through the heddles in the harness frames and through the wire teeth 
 of the reed. The beam and harness are then placed in position in 
 the loom, and the ends of the warp are attached to a roller at the 
 front of the loom, which takes up the cloth according as it is woven. 
 In the meantime, the filling yarns have been wound on bobbins 
 which are placed in the shuttles on the loom. The loom is now readj 
 to start weaving. 
 
 The variety of operations performed by a loom in weaving a piece 
 of cloth depends upon the nature of the weave. In the case of a 
 fancy weave, these operations are often bewilderingly intricate, as 
 a large number of harnesses may be used, all of which move up and 
 down in varied groupings and at varied intervals, according to a pre- 
 conceived pattern. Reduced to its simplest terms, however, the process 
 of weaving may be described briefly as follows: The shuttles fly back 
 and forth, weaving the weft threads over and under the warp threads 
 as the latter are raised and lowered by the harnesses. After each 
 passage of the shuttle the reed is carried forward, pushing the weft 
 thread into place — thus tightening up the weave, so to speak. Ac- 
 cording as the cloth is woven it is drawn off and rolled by the taking- 
 up roller. 
 
 It can easily be understood that the nature of the weave may be 
 
The Weaving Processes 69 
 
 varied greatly according to the number of harnesses used and accord- 
 ing to the groupings in which the harnesses are raised and lowered. 
 While the possible variations in weave are practically unlimited, they 
 may all be classified under six main headings: Plain weaves, twill 
 weaves, satin weaves, figured or fancy weaves, pile weaves and double 
 cloth weaves. Any one of these classifications may include many dif- 
 ferent qualities of cloth, and any one of them may be varied so as to 
 produce a large number of different effects. 
 
 The most important and the most common of all textile weaves 
 is the plain weave, commonly referred to as a one-and-one weave, 
 because the weft or filling thread is passed at right angles over and 
 under alternate warp threads. This produces a smooth, plain cloth 
 of fairly open texture. The closeness of the texture and the smooth- 
 ness of the surface depend to a large extent upon the size of the 
 yarns used, as well as on the nature of the finish. Woolen cloths, as 
 a rule, are fulled or felted in the finish, so that the texture is not 
 so readily discernible. A variety of patterns can be produced with 
 the plain weave by using yarns of different sizes or dyed yarns of 
 different colors. For instance, corded effects in stripes and checks 
 may be produced by varying the size of the yarns in the warp or 
 weft, or both. Colored stripes are produced by using bands of dyed 
 yarns in the warp, and checks and plaids are produced by using dyed 
 yarn in the warp and filling. Obviously, it is possible by using dyed 
 yarns to obtain an almost unlimited number of different colors. The 
 plain weave is used to a considerable extent in the making of staple 
 woolens, such as broadcloths, homespuns, meltons and kerseys. 
 
 The most important worsted weave is the twill weave, of which 
 serge is the outstanding example. It may be distinguished by the fact 
 that it produces fine lines or ribs running diagonally across the cloth. 
 In weaving a twill the filling threads do not pass at right angles over 
 and under the warp threads at regular intervals, as in the plain weave, 
 but at irregular intervals of two, three, four, five or more threads. 
 For instance, the filling threads might pass over one warp thread and 
 under three, four, five or six, or they might pass over two and under 
 one, two, three or four. Every time the filling shuttle goes through 
 
70 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 it passes over and under a different set of warp threads. This is 
 what gives the diagonal rib effect. The combinations of this weave 
 can be varied almost indefinitely, so as to produce not only diagonal 
 rib effects but curved, waved and zig-zag ribs, such as herringbones. 
 Additional effects can be introduced, as in the plain weave, by using 
 yarns of different sizes or dyed yarns of different colors. 
 
 The satin weave is really a variation of the twill weave, except 
 that it is done in such a way as to conceal the twill structure and 
 produce a very smooth surface. This effect is obtained by passing 
 the filling threads over or under a large number of warp threads — 
 anywhere from six to twelve. If, for example, the filling threads are 
 passed under one warp thread and over eight or ten warp threads, 
 the result is that most of the filling is on the face of the cloth. If, 
 on the other hand, the filling threads are passed over one warp 
 thread and under eight or ten warp threads, the result is that most 
 of the warp is on the face of the cloth. The satin weave is used 
 to a very limited extent in the manufacture of wool goods, except 
 for fabrics like cotton-warp serges, in which only the worsted 
 filling is meant to show on the face of the cloth. 
 
 Figured or fancy weaves are the most intricate of all, and are 
 susceptible of endless variations. As the name indicates, they are 
 used to achieve figured patterns on the cloth. The most elaborate 
 and complicated patterns are woven usually on a Jacquard loom, and 
 are often referred to as Jacquard weaves. Brocades are woven in 
 this way. Less intricate patterns are woven on dobby looms, while 
 the more simple patterns, such as stripes and herringbones, are woven 
 on plain looms in plain or twill weaves. The difference between a 
 dobby loom and a plain loom is that the former has a larger number 
 of harnesses, which are operated in a somewhat different way. Also 
 the dobby loom may be equipped with several shuttles, each holding 
 yarn of a different color, the proper shuttle being selected automat- 
 ically according to the pattern by means of a device known as the 
 box motion. 
 
 The pile weave is not, strictly speaking, a separate weave, but 
 is a variation of the plain weave. There are several ways of weaving 
 
The Weaving Processes 71 
 
 a pile fabric, the most common being what is known as the terry 
 motion (from the French tirer, meaning to draw or pull). In weaving 
 pile fabrics by the terry motion an extra set of warp threads is 
 introduced. These are left slack in the loom, so that the reed in beat- 
 ing up the filling threads draws the slack warp threads into loops. 
 Subsequently the loops are cut open at the top, or else are left uncut. 
 The same result is sometimes obtained by carrying the extra warp 
 threads across wires laid parallel to the filling threads. Still another 
 method of weaving a pile fabric is by using extra filling threads in 
 the shuttles. These are not carried all the way across the cloth, like 
 the regular filling threads, but are floated to the surface at intervals, 
 making a loose pile. 
 
 Finally, pile fabrics may be produced by means of the double- 
 cloth weave. This is done by weaving two cloths on the loom at the 
 same time and combining them into one by interlacing some of the 
 warp and filling threads of one into the other during the process of 
 weaving. When pile fabrics are being made in this way the two 
 cloths are cut apart by a sharp knife as fast as they are woven, 
 leaving a pile on one side of each cloth. The double-cloth weave is 
 used also to produce a double-faced cloth, or a cloth with different 
 patterns on either side, or a heavy cloth with a cheaper material on 
 the back than on the face. In such cases, of course, the cloths are 
 closely interwoven, and are not cut apart subsequently. Pile weaves 
 are not much used for wool goods, the pile effect being obtained 
 usually by a finishing process known as napping. The double-cloth 
 weave is used for beavers, chinchillas and the like. 
 
Chapter IX 
 Dyeing and Finishing 
 
 WHILE variations in weave constitute the chief method of 
 varying the appearance of cloth, there is a wide range of 
 different effects which may be produced by variations in 
 color and finish. Color is applied to wool goods chiefly by dyeing. 
 Printing is used to a very limited extent. Both dyeing and printing 
 mean, in principle, the application of a coloring substance which 
 will combine with the textile in such a manner as to produce a 
 certain shade and remain fast under certain conditions. 
 
 Wool differs greatly from cotton in its affinity to dyestuffs. Gen- 
 erally speaking, it takes dyestuffs more readily than cotton. Again, 
 some dyes that will give a good, strong color to wool will give only 
 the faintest tint to cotton and vice versa. The kind of dye used for 
 any given fabric depends upon the effect desired, the conditions 
 under which the fabric is to be used and, finally, the ideas of the 
 dyer as to what is the best dye for these purposes. The variety of 
 dyestuffs used in the wool goods industry, therefore, is practically 
 unlimited. It may be said, however, that a large proportion of them 
 come under the general classification of acid dyes. 
 
 Mordant and vat dyes also are used to a considerable extent. A 
 mordant is a substance which has an affinity for both the coloring 
 matter and the textile material, and consequently serves to unite 
 them closely. Tin and chromium are the mordants used chiefly in 
 dyeing wool goods. Mordant dyes, as a rule, are very fast. Vat 
 dyes are so called because they are insoluble in water and must be 
 specially prepared in large vats, where they are made soluble by 
 the addition of some chemical such as hyposulphite. After the 
 material has been dyed the colors must be made insoluble again — 
 or, in other words, fixed — by the addition of other chemicals. These 
 dyes, too, are very fast as a rule. 
 
 Wool goods may be dyed either in the raw stock, in the top, in 
 the slubbing, in the yarn or in the piece. The principal reason for 
 dyeing wool before it is spun into yarn is that the coloring matter 
 
 [72] 
 
Dyeing and Finishing 73 
 
 penetrates all the fibers more thoroughly and is more likely to 
 remain fast under very trying conditions. For woolen mixtures, the 
 raw wool is dyed immediately after scouring, so that mixed color 
 effects can be obtained in the yarn. For worsteds the dyeing is 
 done for the most part either in the top or the slubbing rather than 
 in the raw stock. The chief reason for dyeing yarns is to permit the 
 achievement of woven color effects. Cotton warp goods also are 
 dyed usually in the yarn, because the cotton and wool take the color 
 differently. 
 
 For all solid colored goods piece dyeing is the cheapest and most 
 convenient method. Piece-dyed goods are woven with yarns in their 
 natural colors and then are passed over rollers through vats con- 
 taining the dye liquor. Cross dyeing and speck dyeing are varia- 
 tions of the piece-dyeing method. The former is used for cotton 
 warp goods which have been woven with undyed wool yarns. Such 
 goods are woven usually with colored cotton yarns and white wool 
 yarns. They are then piece dyed in a stuff that will color the wool 
 without affecting the cotton. Speck dyeing is done to goods which 
 contain burrs. If wool contains a large amount of burrs they are 
 removed, before the wool is carded or combed, by a chemical process 
 known as carbonizing, described in a previous chapter. Otherwise 
 they are picked out. But sometimes, when the wool is not carbo- 
 nized, a number of burrs remain which are too deeply imbedded in 
 the fiber to be picked out without injury to the fiber. These, being 
 vegetable matter, take the dye differently than wool and cause 
 specks in the cloth. When this happens the cloth, after the regular 
 dyeing, is treated to another dye that will color the burrs without 
 affecting the wool. 
 
 All dyeing is done by soaking the material to be dyed in the 
 coloring liquid. Subsequently the material is rinsed and dried. 
 Printing is used instead of dyeing as a more convenient method of 
 applying designs in color. Colored designs on cloth, as we have 
 already seen, can be obtained by weaving yarns of different colors 
 and, thanks to the Jacquard loom, very intricate designs may be 
 achieved in this way. But the printing method is much more simple. 
 
74 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 By this method a series of rollers are engraved with the proposed 
 design. There is a separate roller for each color, engraved only with 
 the part of the design which carries that particular color. The col- 
 oring matter applied to each roller is scraped off with a close-fitting 
 knife as fast as the roller revolves, remaining only in the engraved 
 parts. The cloth is passed over these rollers by means of a revolving 
 cylinder, receiving the color impressions as it passes. Printing is 
 not used very much for wool goods. In making certain kinds of 
 worsteds, however, the combed sliver is sometimes printed before 
 it is twisted into yarn. This is known as vigoureux printing. 
 
 If the natural color of the wool is not a clean white, or if the 
 wool has acquired stains in the preliminary manufacturing proc- 
 esses, it must often be submitted to a bleaching process. This is 
 especially true if the goods are to be finished white or dyed in light 
 colors. Wool usually is bleached with sulphurous acid. The gen- 
 eral method is to pass it in a damp state through a closed chamber 
 filled with the fumes from burning sulphur. Sulphurous acid appar- 
 ently does not destroy the coloring matter in the textile, but simply 
 changes it to white, so that a cloth bleached in this way may even- 
 tually revert to its original color. Consequently it is not an ideal 
 bleach for white goods. Oxygen, on the other hand, destroys the 
 coloring matter entirely, and for this reason some oxygen agent, 
 such as hydrogen peroxide, sodium peroxide or potassium permanga- 
 nate, often is used instead of sulphurous acid. 
 
 In addition to bleaching and dyeing, wool goods must be put 
 through a number of other finishing processes. The nature of these 
 processes, of course, depends to a large extent on the nature of the 
 finish desired. Generally all wool goods are divided, according to 
 finish, into clear-finished goods and face-finished goods. Clear- 
 finished goods are those which receive little or no fulling, and which 
 therefore show the texture clearly. Most worsteds come in this 
 class. Face-finished goods are those which are fulled so that the 
 texture of the cloth is not apparent. Broadcloth is a typical example 
 of the latter. But whether the cloth is to be fulled or not, it goes 
 first through the processes of perching, burling and mending. 
 
Drawing Warp Threads Through the Heddles in 
 the Harnesses, Which Control the Appearance 
 of the Weave, as They Move Up and Down Ac- 
 cording to the Pattern 
 
Dyeing and Finishing 71 
 
 Perching is really a method of inspection. The perch consists of 
 two horizontal rollers about four feet apart, suspended from the 
 ceiling near a window. The cloth is stretched over these rollers and 
 the inspector stands between them, so that he can pull down the 
 cloth bit by bit and examine it against the light for defects. These 
 defects are marked with chalk, and the cloth then goes to the burlers, 
 who spread it out on stands and remove knots, bunches and loose 
 threads by means of burling irons and scissors. Any defects which 
 may have escaped the inspector are likely to be discovered by the 
 burlers and these, too, are marked with chalk for the menders. Fine 
 cloth usually is submitted to an additional inspection after the 
 burlers get through with it. Then it goes to the menders, who repair 
 any remediable defects by darning. In case the goods are not to be 
 fulled they are then singed, in order to remove any fuzz which may 
 appear on the surface. Subsequently the goods are scoured, in order 
 to remove the oil with which the wool was treated before spinning, 
 the sizing applied to the warp before weaving, and any other foreign 
 matter which the fabric may have acquired during the process of 
 manufacture. Sometimes, however, this scouring is omitted, as a 
 certain amount of securing is included in the fulling process. 
 
 Fulling is a process peculiar to the wool industry, and it owes 
 its origin to the characteristic felting or matting quality of the wool 
 fiber. The wool fiber is covered with minute scales, so that when a 
 number of fibers are pressed together they tend to interlock. This 
 interlocking is intensified by the application of moisture and heat, 
 which causes the fibers to shrink. Fulling is merely a process by 
 which the fibers in a piece of cloth are made to mat or felt by the 
 application of moisture, pressure and heat. Obviously, it gives 
 the fabric greater strength and body, and this is primarily the 
 purpose for which it is used. It is used, too, to give the fabric a 
 certain characteristic feel and appearance. Also, unfortunately, it 
 may be used to give good body, feel and appearance to inferior 
 fabrics and to cover up defects in the texture. 
 
 The fulling process consists of saturating the cloth with hot 
 water and soap and passing it between slowly revolving rollers. 
 
78 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 Heat is generated by the friction of the rollers. The cloth may 
 remain in the fulling mill anywhere from two to eighteen hours, 
 depending upon the amount of fulling required. Worsteds receive 
 comparatively little fulling, whereas broadcloths, or cloths which 
 are to get a napped finish, are very closely fulled. Cloth will shrink 
 in this process anywhere from 10 to 25 per cent, according to the 
 amount of fulling it receives. 
 
 In order to make up for this shrinkage, and also in order to lend 
 body to inferior goods, flocks are sometimes fulled into the goods. 
 Flocks are small bits of wool fiber obtained either by shearing the 
 nap off goods in the finishing room or else by cutting up or grinding 
 up rags. When they are employed to obtain a closer felt in goods 
 of sound quality their use is not open to criticism; but when they 
 are used to give body and the appearance of superior wearing qual- 
 ity to inferior fabrics, they are, of course, misleading, since they do 
 not add to the wearing quality of cloth. Their presence in a piece 
 of cloth may be detected by brushing the back of it vigorously with 
 a stiff brush. Some of them will come out in the brushing. 
 
 After the fulling has been completed the goods are washed, 
 stretched and dried. Subsequently some goods, chiefly dress goods, 
 are put through a process known as crabbing, the purpose of which 
 is to set the goods. In the crabbing process the cloth is wound tight 
 on a cylinder which revolves in hot water. Then it is taken out for 
 one or two hours, after which it is returned to the machine for 
 about twenty-five minutes, during which it is boiled and pressed. 
 Next comes the process of gigging or napping. The cloth in a tightly 
 stretched condition is passed over revolving cylinders equipped 
 with teasels or wire teeth which scratch up the short fibers to the 
 surface and produce a nap. The teasels used in the gigging machine 
 are the dried flower heads of a plant of that name, and are about the 
 shape of pine cones. Strictly speaking, the term gigging is applied 
 only to the process of raising a nap with the teasel gig, while the 
 term napping refers to the process of raising a nap with the wire- 
 toothed napping machine. The teasel gig is generally considered 
 superior to the napping machine for this purpose. 
 
Dyeing and Finishing 79 
 
 The amount of napping given to the cloth depends upon the kind 
 of finish required. Some get a superficial napping and some a deep 
 napping. Where a very soft nap is required, the cloth may be put 
 through the gig or napping machine several times, part of the nap 
 being cropped or sheared after each napping. After the napping is 
 completed the nap is brushed up and sheared to make it even. If a 
 smooth, lustrous finish is desired, the cloth is pressed between heated 
 calender rollers, and subsequently steam is forced through it at 
 high pressure. This process is applied chiefly to men's wear goods. 
 Women's wear goods usually get a water finish. This consists of 
 brushing the face of the goods with water by means of a machine 
 known as a wet gig, after which they are stretched and pressed. 
 There are various other kinds of special finishes used for different 
 kinds of goods. They are too numerous to be described here. But 
 in general, the processes already described are those applied to the 
 great majority of woolen and worsted fabrics. 
 
 Before the cloth is ready for shipment it is subjected to a final 
 inspection for defects. All remediable defects are then remedied, 
 and the cloth is marked firsts or seconds, according to the number 
 of defects it contains. There is no hard and fast rule as to what 
 constitutes firsts and seconds. Every manufacturer has his own 
 standard. But on the average six defects are allowed in a piece of 
 goods classifiable as firsts, while a piece containing more than six 
 defects is classified as seconds. Subsequent to this final inspection 
 the goods are measured, rolled and packed for shipment. 
 
Chapter X 
 Manufacture and Use of Shoddy 
 
 SHODDY is a term so widely used and misused that the average 
 person, even the average wool goods buyer, has a very loose 
 notion of what it really is. But for a long time the question 
 of shoddy versus virgin wool has been the subject of so much 
 discussion and agitation in the public prints and the halls of Con- 
 gress that a clear understanding of the meaning of the term has 
 become important. Especially is it important for the buyer and user 
 of wool goods to know in what way the use of shoddy impairs the 
 wearing quality of a fabric. 
 
 Originally, shoddy means anything that is shod or shed, and, 
 strictly speaking, it covers all wool fibers that are shed in the 
 process of manufacture. Thus it would properly include noils and 
 the various forms of waste broken off by or entangled in the comb- 
 ing, drawing and spinning machinery. In modern trade usage, 
 however, the term shoddy is used to describe reworked wool; that is 
 to say, wool which previously has been manufactured into yarns or 
 fabrics. Virgin wool, on the other hand, is wool which never has 
 been submitted to any manufacturing process. 
 
 Obviously, there are many different grades of shoddy, according 
 to the variety and quality of the stock from which it has been 
 reworked. Contrary to a widespread impression, fostered by the 
 propaganda of those who, for one reason or another, are opposed to 
 the use of shoddy, it is not a product obtained by grinding up an 
 indiscriminate mass of rags. The raw material of shoddy consists 
 of waste yarns, clippings of new wool fabrics gathered in mills and 
 clothing factories and old wool rags. Shoddy obtained from very 
 hard woven woolens and worsteds is inferior to that obtained from 
 soft woven or knit goods — everything else being equal — and it is 
 often referred to as mungo. Shoddy obtained by untwisting waste 
 yarns or yarns from knit goods is often referred to as garnetted 
 stock. 
 
 [80] 
 
Manufacture and Use of Shoddy 81 
 
 All the materials from which shoddy is made are sorted accord- 
 ing to the quality of the fiber that may be obtained from them. 
 Roughly speaking, four conditions are observed in the sorting: The 
 purity of the material, the length of the fiber, the structure of the 
 weave and the color. The purity of the material refers to whether 
 it is all pure, virgin wool or contains a percentage of reworked wool, 
 cotton or silk. The length of fiber is an important consideration 
 because it helps to determine the quality of wool in the material. 
 The structure of the weave is important because a loosely spun and 
 loosely woven material is easier to rework without injury to the 
 fiber than a hard-woven or felted material. Finally, the colors 
 have to be considered because some of them are fast and some will fade 
 in the process of reworking; some of the materials can be redyed and 
 some cannot. 
 
 Generally speaking, the best materials for reworking are knit 
 goods, all wool merinos, worsteds, serges and flannels — in about the 
 order named. Most of these are made exclusively from virgin wool 
 of good quality, and none of them will contain more than a small 
 percentage of shoddy. Next in value come woolen cloths, jerseys, 
 cloakings and felted woolens. These will contain a considerable 
 percentage of reworked wool, and some of them a large percentage. 
 In the lowest category are included unions, delaines and carpets. 
 These classifications, of course, are modified according to whether 
 the materials are new or old and according to the kind of fiber used 
 in them. 
 
 Shoddy materials are sorted according to grade by dealers who 
 make a specialty of this work, and are sold in graded lots to con- 
 verters. The converter is the man who turns them into fiber suit- 
 able for spinning and weaving. The different processes used in the 
 conversion of these materials are known as carbonizing; baking and 
 dusting; washing, stripping and dyeing; conditioning; picking and 
 shredding. These processes vary somewhat in different plants; but 
 in general, the progress of the materials through the converting 
 plant may be described as follows: 
 
 After being cleaned, wherever necessary to remove dirt or grease, 
 
82 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 the materials are subjected to a chemical bath in order to disin- 
 tegrate the cotton or silk which may be mixed with the wool. In the 
 case of cotton fiber, which is most often present, the carbon in the 
 cotton is released by the application of an acid, and the process 
 consequently is known as carbonizing. The chemicals generally 
 used are sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, or bisulphate of soda. 
 In the case of a silk mixture, a caustic alkali is used. The percentage 
 of silk-mixed wool fabrics, however, is very small. 
 
 After carbonizing, the acid which the materials have absorbed 
 is removed by means of a centrifugal machine known as a whizzer. 
 The materials are then baked at a very high temperature, which 
 reduces the carbonized cotton to a condition of dust, and this dust 
 is taken out by a machine known as a duster, or willow. Subse- 
 quently, the materials are washed in a mild solution of soda ash in 
 order to neutralize whatever acid may remain in them. This wash- 
 ing has the further effect of removing any dirt or dust that may be 
 left after willowing. The materials then are wrung out and dried 
 at a moderate temperature. 
 
 By this time the fugitive colors have been faded by the acid bath 
 and the baking. So it is necessary to sort out the faded materials 
 and further reduce the color in them so that they can be redyed to 
 uniform shades. This reducing process is known as stripping and 
 is accomplished by the application of a chemical. Soda hydralite, 
 bichromate of potash and sulphuric or oxalic acid are most generally 
 used for this purpose. The materials then are dyed in the usual 
 manner. White and fast-dyed materials, of course, do not need 
 stripping or dyeing. 
 
 The next process in the conversion of shoddy is known as condi- 
 tioning. It consists of lubricating the fibers so as to make them 
 soft and supple, and consequently in better condition for carding 
 and spinning. The materials are spread out in thin layers, sprinkled 
 liberally with oil or an oil emulsion, and left to soak for twenty-four 
 to forty-eight hours. The materials now are loose and pliable, free 
 from foreign matter, and ready to be teazed out or shredded. This 
 is done by a picking machine similar to that used on raw cotton or 
 
Close-Up of a Shearing Machine in a Great 
 
 Woolen Establishment. Note the Piles of 
 
 Cloth Where It Has Left the Machine 
 
Manufacture and Use of Shoddy 85 
 
 raw wool. Sometimes, the process of shredding is carried further 
 by putting the materials through a carding machine, known in the 
 shoddy industry as a garnetting machine. 
 
 All the processes to which shoddy is subjected are the same as 
 those used in the preparation of virgin wool, except that the virgin 
 wool is scoured and does not have to be stripped before dyeing. 
 After the shoddy has come through the picking and garnetting proc- 
 esses it is all pure wool fiber, varying in length and strength accord- 
 ing to the material from which it has been recovered and the extent 
 to which this material has previously been worn. The shoddy now 
 is in a spinnable state. Usually it is mixed with virgin wool before 
 being spun into yarn; but sometimes it is mixed with cotton and 
 sometimes it is spun into yarn without being mixed with any other 
 material. 
 
 The quality of a shoddy fabric depends, as already remarked, 
 upon the grade of shoddy used, the grade of virgin wool used, the 
 percentage of shoddy to virgin wool in the fabric and the skill with 
 which the manufacturer manipulates the shoddy. Because of the 
 shortness of fiber it is difficult to work shoddy satisfactorily, but by 
 careful experimentation many mills have overcome the technical 
 difficulties of manipulating shoddy and are able to produce shoddy 
 materials that compare favorably with the best materials made from 
 virgin wool. 
 
 Of course it is important to remember that a given grade of 
 shoddy is not by any means as valuable as a corresponding grade 
 of virgin wool. But it is important also to remember that the 
 amount of shoddy or virgin wool in a fabric does not of itself indi- 
 cate the quality of the fabric, since some grades of shoddy are very 
 much superior to some grades of virgin wool. Experiments con- 
 ducted some time ago with three grades of wool by the Bureau of 
 Standards of the U. S. Department of Commerce demonstrated the 
 fact that a fabric made from reworked wool of the first grade was 
 superior to a fabric made from virgin wool of the second grade and 
 very much superior to a fabric made from virgin wool of the third 
 grade. It was demonstrated also that wool of the first grade could 
 
86 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 be reworked four or five times before it would be as low in quality 
 as virgin wool of the third grade. 
 
 As to the amount of shoddy consumed in this country, opinions 
 differ. The most reliable estimates indicate that about 20 per cent 
 of the wool fiber used by the domestic woolen and worsted industries 
 is shoddy. Practically all of this is consumed by the woolen indus- 
 try. The amount of shoddy consumed by the worsted industry is 
 little more than one per cent. The lower grades of shoddy are used 
 to a very slight extent in the United States. 
 
 Shoddy is used for the most part in felted woolens and blankets. 
 Some overcoatings, such as meltons and chinchillas, are made largely 
 or entirely of shoddy, and some of these have excellent appearance 
 and wearing quality. It is unquestionable that many shoddy fabrics 
 are practically worthless, and that shoddy is used sometimes by 
 unscrupulous manufacturers to make an inferior fabric which can 
 be palmed off on unwary buyers as a good one. But as a rule shoddy 
 is used legitimately to make a good, warm, durable fabric which can 
 be sold at a much lower price than a fabric of equal quality made 
 altogether from virgin wool. On i;his subject a special report on 
 the shoddy industry of England and France, published some years 
 ago by the Department of Commerce, makes the following comment: 
 
 "A hundred years ago, wool waste and old rags were disposed of 
 by burning or by being used as fertilizers; but now they enter 
 largely into the clothing requirements of the world, and by their 
 cheapening effect have done much to popularize woolen clothing for 
 the masses. The increasing use of waste materials and of the by- 
 products of manufacture is a sign of the increasing economic effi- 
 ciency of mankind, and as the world is rapidly becoming more and 
 more crowded, the economic use of all available fibers will become 
 of more and more importance." 
 
Chapter XI 
 Mohair, Alpaca and Other Fibers 
 
 WHILE wool generally is understood to mean the hair of 
 sheep it has a much wider meaning scientifically. Strictly 
 speaking, all animals are provided with a covering either 
 of feathers or of hair. There are various kinds of hair, such 
 as bristle hair, beard hair and wool hair. Beard hair is the main 
 covering of aboriginal sheep and goats. In addition to beard hair, 
 these animals have a certain amount of soft, downy hair, or wool 
 hair, and by careful breeding through many generations, as in the 
 case of domesticated sheep, this wool hair has been developed until 
 it has supplanted the beard hair largely or altogether. 
 
 In chemical composition wool hair and true hair are alike; but 
 they have certain physical differences. • The essential difference is 
 that wool hair, viewed microscopically, is covered with a number of 
 miniature scales, while these scales are lacking in true hair. All 
 scaly hairs, therefore, are strictly classifiable as wool. In addition 
 to the hair of domesticated sheep, this classification includes the 
 hair of certain goats, of camels and dromedaries, and of a species of 
 South American animal known scientifically as auchcnia and popu- 
 larly as camel sheep. 
 
 The wool of sheep differs from the wool of other animals in the 
 same classification chiefly by the fact that it is more wavy and that 
 the scales on the fiber have distinctly raised or serrated edges, 
 whereas in the wool of other animals the scales tend to fit smoothly 
 into one another, with comparatively slight serrations or no per- 
 ceptible serrations at all. This distinction, of course, is not exact, 
 since certain kinds of sheep's wool, such as the luster wools from 
 pure bred Lincolns and Leicesters, approach in character the wools 
 of the goat family, just as some of the latter are virtually indistin- 
 guishable from true hair. 
 
 Generally, however, it may be said that sheep's wool is more 
 wavy and serrated than other wools, and it is these qualities which 
 
 [87] 
 
88 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 give it its superior value for textile purposes. Next in value come 
 the wools of certain cultivated varieties of goat, chiefly the Angora, 
 Cashmere and Thibet goats. Apparently, goat's hair has been used 
 for textile purposes from very ancient times. We find it among the 
 materials which Moses commanded his followers to take with them 
 in the flight from Egypt, and we learn from Exodus (XXXVI, 14) 
 that "the wise workmen wove eleven curtains of goat wool, thirty 
 ells long, four ells broad, all of the same size." In later times, as 
 we gather from Aristotle and other ancient writers, goats were culti- 
 vated expressly for their wool, notably in that part of Asia Minor 
 known as Phrygia. 
 
 The ancient Phrygia included the modern Turkish province of 
 Angora, which has become famous as the home of the Angora or 
 mohair goat. Fabrics made from mohair were introduced to West- 
 ern Europe during the sixteenth century and grew so steadily in 
 popularity that the Turkish Government, in order to retain a 
 monopoly of this valuable trade, forbade the export of raw mohair, or 
 tiftik, as it is called in Turkey. This embargo was maintained until 
 1820, when it was lifted through the influence of the British Govern- 
 ment. During the ensuing years the manufacture of mohair fabrics 
 became an important industry in Western Europe, and the increas- 
 ing demand for mohair led to the crossing of the original pure 
 Angora with the common Kurd goat. 
 
 As a result, the production of mohair spread from the province 
 of Angora throughout Asia Minor generally, and was introduced 
 into Cape Colony, Australia, South America and the United States. 
 At the present time Asia Minor and Cape Colony are the two chief 
 sources of the world's supply of mohair. The United States is next 
 in importance, although its production is not nearly sufficient for 
 the needs of the domestic industry. American mohair, on the whole, 
 is inferior to the foreign product, because it contains a larger 
 amount of kempy fiber (beard hairs) which will not dye, and because 
 most of it must be shorn twice a year, so that it is shorter in staple. 
 Texas produces the finest fleeces, but unfortunately the wool of 
 Texas Angora tends to fall off if it is allowed to grow an entire 
 
Close-Up of a Loom in a Big Weaving Mill, Show- 
 ing the Woven Cloth Being Wound on the Roller 
 at Bottom, as It Is Finished 
 
Mohair, Alpaca and Other Fibers 91 
 
 year, and consequently it must be shorn before it has reached its 
 full length. Oregon fleeces grow for a full year and are very long 
 in staple, but are not as fine as the best Texas grades. 
 
 Mohair is a hard, fine fiber, of very long staple (sometimes as 
 long as 12 inches), with a high, silky luster and with little or no 
 curl. It is of a hard, wiry nature; the scales on its surface are 
 thin and flat, and it will not felt to any considerable extent. Length 
 and luster are the chief considerations in judging its value. The 
 natural color of mohair is a pure white, but sometimes it is gray. 
 It does not take dyes as readily as sheep's wool, and dyestuffs, fur- 
 thermore, are apt to give it a harsher feel. The finest mohair dress 
 goods, therefore, usually are woven with undyed mohair filling and 
 dyed cotton warp. Mohair is used for plushes and other upholstery 
 fabrics, imitation furs, dress goods, summer suits for men, carriage 
 robes, rugs, braids and various other purposes. 
 
 Cashmere wool is obtained from the Cashmere goat, a small, 
 elegant animal bred from very ancient times in the Himalayas. The 
 term, however, is used generally to include also the wool of the 
 Thibet goat. The latter is a larger and stronger animal than the 
 genuine Cashmere goat, but produces a wool that is somewhat 
 similar in nature, although not so fine and beautiful. It is some- 
 times referred to as the Thibet Angora. Cashmere wool is compara- 
 tively short in staple (1^4 to 3^ inches) and has visible scales with 
 fairly pronounced serrations. Its spinning and felting qualities, 
 therefore, are somewhat akin to those of pure merino wool. It is 
 used for fine Oriental shawls (Cashmere shawls) and for fine fabrics 
 requiring a very soft nap. 
 
 The species of animals known as the auchenia, or camel sheep, 
 include the auchenia paco (or alpaca), the auchenia llama and the 
 auchenia vicuna, all of which are native to the South American Cor- 
 dilleras. The name alpaca is applied commonly to the wool from 
 both the auchenia paco and the auchenia llama, although strictly it 
 is applicable only to the former. The llama is a wild goat about the 
 size of a deer and produces a long, coarse and inelastic wool of a 
 white or brown color. The true alpaca is obtained from the domesti- 
 
92 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 cated auchenia paco. It averages about 6 to 8 inches in staple, is 
 slightly wavy, has very faint serrations and is rather fine in feel. 
 The natural colors are white, red, brown and black. Alpaca is used 
 for linings, summer suits and dress goods. Alpaca dress goods have 
 a cotton warp and alpaca filling. 
 
 The auchenia vicuna is a wild goat about the size of a sheep. It 
 is now very rare, and little true vicuna wool is obtainable. The 
 genuine vicuna is a fine, silky wool with a high luster, a beautiful 
 reddish brown color and considerable felting quality. Commercially, 
 the term vicuna is used to describe a yarn spun from a mixture of 
 sheep's wool and cotton or an all-cotton yarn finished in imitation 
 of a woolen yarn (often referred to as vigogne yarn). It is used 
 also to mean a slightly napped fabric made of soft wool, sometimes 
 mixed with cotton, in imitation of a genuine vicuna fabric. 
 
 Camel hair is obtained from the camel or the dromedary. It is a 
 very fine, rather curly hair, of great strength and softness, averag- 
 ing about 4 inches in staple. Its natural color is yellow, red or 
 brown. It is used either alone or mixed with sheep's wool for 
 natural color camel cloth, dress goods, shawls, hosiery, blankets, 
 carpets, felt hats and other purposes. The camel hair cloth of 
 commerce is not always made from genuine camel's hair, as the 
 name is used to mean a fine, soft dress fabric, with a glossy and 
 slightly hairy finish, made from long staple sheep's wool. 
 
 Various true hairs, such as those of the cow and the horse, are 
 used to a limited extent for textile purposes. Cow hair (mostly 
 from Siberia) often is employed in the coarser carpets, blankets and 
 cheap felted goods. Horsehair cloth is used for upholstery, as stiff- 
 ening and underlining for coats and for other purposes. But true 
 hair has little value as a textile material, since it lacks the scaly 
 surface of wool hair and the fibers consequently will not hold to- 
 gether when twisted into yarn. Thus, horsehair must be glued to 
 a binding thread of cotton or hemp before it can be spun, and cow 
 hair must be mixed with wool. In fact, the hair cloth of commerce 
 has usually a warp of cotton, linen or worsted, and a weft consisting 
 of single horsehairs (from the mane or tail) which have not been 
 
Mohair, Alpaca and Other Fibers 93 
 
 twisted into yarn. Sometimes it is made altogether from hard-spun 
 cotton yarns treated with a heavy sizing in imitation of real horse- 
 hair. 
 
 Many attempts have been made to produce artificially a fiber 
 with the characteristic qualities of wool. The most common method 
 of doing this is to treat vegetable fibers, such as jute and dha (Sene- 
 galese hemp), with certain chemicals which give them the physical 
 appearance of the wool fiber. Another method is to dissolve the 
 fibers recovered from old rags and to evolve threads from the result- 
 ing solution — a process similar to that used for making artificial 
 silk. But none of the substitutes for natural wool has any particular 
 value and their commercial importance is of the slightest. 
 
Chapter XII 
 Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 
 
 JN the strict sense, it is impossible to define exactly what consti- 
 tutes any given woolen or worsted fabric. This is true even of 
 the most familiar staples, such as tweeds or serges. The nature 
 of even such staples varies greatly according to the kind of raw 
 material used, the manner in which the raw materials are blended, 
 and the skill, care and equipment employed in the manufacturing 
 processes. One mill may make a handsome and durable fabric out 
 of low grade stock, while another may make an inferior fabric out of 
 comparatively high-grade stock. 
 
 When it comes to fancies, of course, the variety of results is much 
 greater. A modern loom is like a chess board, on which the possible 
 combinations of moves are almost unlimited. If one adds to these 
 variations in weave the innumerable variations obtainable in yarns, 
 colors and finishing processes, it can easily be imagined that the 
 different results obtainable are beyond count. As a matter of fact, 
 every season sees a flood of novelty fabrics. Some of these find a 
 limited acceptance, some of them last for a season or two, while 
 some of them win a permanent place and eventually become staples. 
 
 Naturally it would be impracticable to compile a comprehensive 
 dictionary of such fabrics, and for this reason the following list 
 attempts to include only the most familiar staples. Even these, as 
 we have remarked, are susceptible of unlimited variations. But 
 generally speaking, every staple fabric has certain typical charac- 
 teristics, and it is merely these typical characteristics which the 
 ensuing descriptions attempt to define. 
 
 Widths and weights are not given, since these, too, may vary a 
 good deal in any given fabric. But, as a rule, dress fabrics weigh 
 from 8 to 14 ounces to the yard and measure 54 to 56 inches in width. 
 Coatings may weigh anywhere from 16 to 36 ounces to the yard. 
 
 ASTRACHAN. A woolen fabric with a curled pile, made in imi- 
 tation of astrachan fur. The best grades are woven, while the in- 
 
 [94] 
 
Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 95 
 
 ferior grades are knitted. The woven fabric is made with a warp 
 pile, obtained by running a set of warp threads over wires (see 
 PILE FABRICS). The warp yarns used for the pile usually are 
 either luster wool or mohair, while the ground warp may be either 
 cotton or wool. Woolen yarns, very often spun from mill waste, are 
 used for the filling. After it leaves the loom the fabric is crabbed, 
 scoured, dyed and finished without pressing. The cheaper grades are 
 woven without a pile and get a napped finish. Astrachan is used for 
 coats and trimmings. 
 
 BANNOCKBURN. (See TWEED.) 
 
 BEAVER. A soft, heavy woolen fabric napped on the face or on 
 both sides. It is made either with a plain weave, using one set of 
 hard-twist warp yarns and two sets of filling yarns, or else with a 
 double-cloth weave. For the yarns which show on the face, it is 
 customary to use a fine wool of good felting quality, such as Aus- 
 tralian merino or Ohio fine delaine. These yarns are spun to fine 
 counts. After it leaves the loom the fabric is closely felted, wet 
 napped on one or both sides, shorn, steamed, dyed, wet brushed, 
 shorn again to even the nap, and pressed. It is used for overcoats. 
 BEDFORD CORDS. A strong, heavy woolen fabric with a warp- 
 wise cord. The warp yarns are either single or two-ply, and are spun 
 with a hard twist from fine crossbred wool of long staple. The 
 fabric may be dyed either in the yarn or the piece. It is finished by 
 being fulled, steam brushed, closely shorn and pressed. It is used 
 mostly for sports skirts and costumes. 
 
 BROADCLOTH. There are so many different qualities and 
 weights of this fabric that it is difficult to define. Generally it may 
 be described as a fine, full-bodied woolen cloth with a very smooth 
 finish. Sometimes it is made with a worsted warp. The filling for 
 the better qualities is spun from fine wool of good felting property, 
 such as Ohio delaine or Australian merino, while for the medium 
 qualities merino noils or fine shoddy may be used. Since the fabric 
 is thoroughly fulled an inferior cloth of deceptively good appear- 
 ance may be made with low grade wool or shoddy. Broadcloth is 
 plain woven, and after leaving the loom it is well fulled, napped, 
 
96 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 closely shorn, steamed, pressed and dyed. Subsequently it is wet 
 brushed, shorn again, and again steamed and pressed. It is used 
 for suits and coats. 
 
 CASSIMERE. A twilled woolen or worsted fabric made in a 
 variety of weights, qualities and designs. Many different grades of 
 wool, waste and shoddy are used in its composition. As a rule it is 
 closely woven from hard-spun yarns and receives what is known as 
 a clear finish, or, in other words, a finish which does not obscure 
 the weave. This consists of a light, dry napping and a close shear- 
 ing. Subsequently, the fabric is brushed, sprayed and heavily 
 pressed. It is used mostly for men's suits. 
 
 CHEVIOT. A rough, coarse, twilled woolen fabric, originally 
 made from the coarse, curly wool of the Cheviot sheep, whence it 
 gets its name. Nowadays, it is made usually from crossbred wool, 
 and in the lower grades it is likely to be heavily adulterated with 
 cotton, shoddy and flocks. As a rule it is made with warp and 
 filling yarns of contrasting colors, and novelty yarns (q. v.) are used 
 sometimes to produce special effects. The yarns are spun from wool 
 dyed in the raw stock. Cheviot is closely fulled and is finished with 
 a rather thick, curly nap. It is lightly sheared to even the nap and 
 subsequently is steamed. It is used for suits, coats and dresses. 
 
 CHINCHILLA. A soft, heavy woolen fabric with a curled pile. 
 It is loosely woven, generally as a double cloth; but sometimes as a 
 three-ply cloth. As a rule, it is felted and wet napped, but some 
 fine chinchillas are made with a long pile formed by floats of filling 
 thread, and are not felted. The distinguishing feature of chinchilla 
 is the close curl given to the pile in the finishing process. This is 
 done by means of a special machine. In this machine the fabric is 
 pressed between two flat surfaces, of which the lower one is sta- 
 tionary while the upper one moves with a rotary motion, rubbing the 
 pile into little curly nubs. Chinchillas seldom are shorn or pressed, 
 although a slight shearing may be necessary sometimes to even the 
 pile. They are made usually in solid colors, or with fancy backs 
 from stock-dyed wool. They are used for overcoatings. 
 
 CLAY WORSTEDS. (See WORSTEDS.) 
 
Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 97 
 
 COVERT CLOTH. This name commonly is applied to a class of 
 woolen fabrics which are properly described as Venetians (see 
 VENETIAN). The genuine covert cloth is made with a twill weave 
 from ply yarns of mixed colors. The yarns are mule-spun from dyed 
 wool of fine quality, and two yarns of different colors are twisted 
 together for the warp, while two-ply or single yarns of one color are 
 used for the filling. The color of the filling yarns corresponds, as a 
 rule, to the darker color of the mixed warp yarns. Covert cloth 
 receives a clear finish. It is lightly fulled and napped, closely 
 sheared, brushed, sprayed and pressed. It is used for coats and 
 dresses — chiefly sports costumes. 
 
 CREPE. A soft, drapy fabric with a crinkled surface. As a rule 
 the crepe effect is produced by using yarns with an extra twist, 
 which makes them crumple up when they are unwound off the bob- 
 bins in the weaving. Crepe yarns have twice or three times the 
 amount of twist given to yarns for other fabrics. Sometimes the 
 crepe yarns are given both a regular and reverse twist. Occasion- 
 ally the crepe effect is produced by means of a fancy twill weave. 
 Crepes are made in a variety of weights and qualities, and with either 
 woolen or worsted yarns. After coming from the loom they are 
 crabbed, piece-dyed, brushed, sheared and pressed. Crepe is a dress 
 fabric. 
 
 DUVETYN. A soft, twilled fabric with a fine, silky nap. It is 
 made, as a rule, with single or two-ply worsted yarns for warp and 
 mixed wool and waste silk or tussah yarns for filling. Some duve- 
 tyns have an all-woolen filling, while some are made entirely of silk. 
 The latter are properly described as all-silk duvetyns. The regular 
 duvetyn has a good, long-staple crossbred wool for warp and a fine, 
 soft, merino wool mixed with waste silk for filling. It is stock-dyed. 
 After being fulled it is wet napped, wet brushed, shorn to even the 
 nap, steamed, tentered, dried and brushed. It is used for coats and 
 dresses. 
 
 EPONGE. A soft, spongy cloth, made with novelty yarns of 
 coarse sizes. (See NOVELTY YARNS.) As a rule it has either a 
 novelty yarn warp and plain filling or a plain warp and novelty 
 
98 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 yarn filling. It is woven with a plain weave, and may be either stock- 
 or piece-dyed. It receives practically no finishing, except for a 
 slight shearing. Eponge is used for dresses, trimming and drapery. 
 
 See Ratine. 
 
 FRIEZE. A coarse, heavy, harsh-feeling woolen fabric with an 
 irregular nap. The name was applied originally to a rough fabric 
 made in Friesland, and later came to be identified with an overcoat- 
 ing fabric made in Ireland from coarse native wool. Ordinarily, 
 frieze is made from coarse wool, wool waste and shoddy. The lower 
 grades contain a very large percentage of shoddy. It is dyed in the 
 stock, woven with a plain or twill weave, well fulled, napped, sheared 
 and pressed. It is used for overcoats. 
 
 GABARDINE. A strong worsted fabric made with a twill weave, 
 and showing fine, diagonal cords. The better grades have a hard- 
 spun two-ply warp and a coarser two-ply filling, while the lower 
 grades have a two-ply warp and coarse single filling. As a rule, it 
 is very closely woven, showing about twice as many warp yarns 
 as filling yarns to the inch. After coming from the loom it is 
 scoured, crabbed, dyed, brushed, sheared, brushed again, sprayed 
 and pressed. Gabardine is used for suits and dresses, and also, to 
 a large extent, for raincoats. For the latter purpose the fabric must 
 be waterproofed. There are many different processes for water- 
 proofing fabrics, most of which are patented and confined to indi- 
 vidual manufacturers. Among the substances used are rubber, wax, 
 oils, varnishes, acids, oxides and metallic salts. 
 
 HOMESPUN. The original homespun, as the name implies, was 
 made from yarns spun on the old spinning wheel. Such yarns were 
 rough and irregular, and the fabric woven from them had, conse- 
 quently, a rough, nubby appearance. The homespun familiar to 
 commerce is an imitation of the original article. The yarns are spun 
 into coarse sizes from medium-grade wool of fairly long staple, 
 which is dyed in the stock and blended to produce mixed color 
 effects in the yarn. Sometimes camel's hair tops, mohair or alpaca 
 are blended in with the wool. The weave may be either plain or 
 twill. After leaving the loom, the fabric is fulled, washed, dried and 
 
Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 101 
 
 brushed, lightly sheared, steamed and pressed. Homespun is used 
 for suits and dresses. 
 
 KERSEY. A strong, smooth fabric somewhat similar to broad- 
 cloth, except that it is much heavier. Originally, in fact, the name 
 described simply an inferior grade of broadcloth. The filling yarns 
 in kerseys are spun usually from fine wool of good felting quality, 
 merino noils or fine shoddy being most often used. The fabric is 
 woven, as a rule, with a twill weave, and often it is woven as a 
 double cloth. It is very thoroughly fulled, wet napped, sheared, 
 brushed and dyed. Then it is dried, brushed again, steamed, sheared 
 again, brushed once more, sprayed and pressed. It may receive 
 either a dull or a lustrous finish, the latter being obtained by a heavy, 
 hot pressing. Like all closely fulled fabrics kersey may contain a 
 large proportion of low grade shoddy and flocks. It is used mostly 
 for coats. 
 
 MACKINAW. A soft, heavy woolen cloth, usually napped on 
 both sides and made up in fancy plaids in high colors. The name 
 was applied originally to the heavy, colored blankets purchased by 
 the Indians of the Great Lakes region from Fort Mackinaw, which 
 was then the most remote trading post in that territory. Later the 
 cloth was used for coats by lumbermen and hunters in Michigan, and 
 eventually it became generally popular for winter sports wear. It 
 comes in many different qualities. Usually it is made altogether 
 from coarse wool or a mixture of coarse wool and shoddy. Sometimes 
 it is made with a cotton warp and a shoddy or wool waste filling. The 
 yarns used are soft and heavy. It is thoroughly fulled, scoured, 
 napped on both sides and sometimes waterproofed. When it is woven 
 as a double cloth — as is frequently the case — it receives only a slight 
 fulling. 
 
 MELTON. A strong, heavy, semi-finished woolen fabric, used 
 chiefly for overcoats. The stock used for making meltons, as a rule, 
 is a mixture of medium-staple crossbred wool and short-staple fine 
 wool or fine merino noils. The heavy weights are woven usually 
 with a double warp, while the lighter weights sometimes have a cot- 
 
102 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 ton warp. It is heavily fulled, napped on the face and closely shorn 
 to show the texture. 
 
 MONTAGNAC. A soft, fleecy fabric with a thick, curly nap. 
 It is made with a twill weave from fine, soft wool. After leaving the 
 loom it is fulled, washed, napped, cropped to even the nap, and dried. 
 Then it is put through a whipping machine, which makes the nap 
 stand up straight. Subsequently it goes through a machine which 
 wets the nap without dampening the cloth, and is dried by hot air, 
 which causes the nap to curl back. It is finished without shearing 
 or pressing. Montagnac is used for overcoats. 
 
 MOUSSELINE DE LAINE. A fine, light, plain-woven worsted 
 fabric of open texture. The name is French for wool muslin. It 
 was originated by a man named Jourdain at Troixvilles, France, in 
 1826. It is made with fine, clear worsted yarns or with a cotton 
 warp and fine worsted filling. It receives a clear worsted finish and 
 is either printed or dyed. It is a dress fabric. 
 
 NOVELTY YARN FABRICS. There is a great variety of fancy 
 fabrics made altogether or in part with novelty yarns, and frequently 
 novelty yarns are used to produce nubs and spotted color effects 
 on certain staple fabrics, such as cheviots. These yarns are made 
 in a number of ways. Generally they are made by twisting two or 
 more yarns into one. For instance, a coarse yarn may be twisted 
 with a fine yarn or a colored yarn with one or more bleached yarns. 
 The coarse yarn or the colored yarn may be delivered at intermittent 
 speed to the spindles, with the result that it forms small loops which 
 appear as coarse or colored nubs in the finished fabric. Sometimes 
 the same effect is produced by using worsted filling yarns with a 
 spiral twist, which curl up into loops or nubs when the fabric is 
 fulled. Imitations of novelty yarns are produced also by methods 
 of carding and spinning which result in coarse uneven woolen yarns. 
 Frequently nubs are made from short, curly wools in the carding 
 process, and are subsequently dyed, mixed with raw stock and spun 
 into nubby yarns. The genuine novelty yarns, as a rule, are either 
 all worsted or mixed worsted and cotton. Typical examples of nov- 
 elty yarn fabrics are eponge and ratine. Imitations of novelty yarn 
 
Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 103 
 
 effects are sometimes obtained by means of the terry weave (see 
 PILE FABRICS). 
 
 OUTING FLANNEL. A soft, twilled, slightly napped fabric 
 used for outing clothes. It is made from fine-spun woolen yarns or 
 from mixed cotton and woolen yarns. It is stock-dyed, twill-woven, 
 fulled, washed, dried, brushed up to raise a slight nap, sheared and 
 pressed. The name is often applied to a cotton flannelette with the 
 same surface characteristics. 
 
 PILE FABRICS. This name is used to designate a large class 
 of fabrics in which a certain proportion of the yarns or fibers are 
 raised from the body of the cloth so as to produce a napped or furry 
 surface. When this is done by a napping machine in the finishing 
 process the fabric usually is known as a napped fabric although 
 sometimes, as in the case of velours, it is included under the heading 
 of pile fabrics. Strictly speaking a pile fabric is one in which 
 the pile effect is obtained in the weaving process. There are a 
 number of different ways in which this is done. A common way is 
 by means of a variation in the twill weave, known as the terry 
 motion (from the French tirer, meaning to draw or pull). Two sets 
 of warp threads are used, one of which is very slack. As the filling 
 threads are beaten up by the reed in the weaving they draw the slack 
 warp threads into loops. Sometimes the same result is obtained 
 by inserting wires weft-wise in the cloth, over which the warp threads 
 pass in the weaving, leaving loops when the wires are withdrawn. 
 Fabrics produced by either of these methods are known as warp- 
 pile fabrics. When the loops are left uncut the fabric is known as 
 a loop-pile fabric. When they are cut the fabric is known as a cut- 
 pile fabric. Cut-pile fabrics are made also by using an extra set of 
 filling threads which are not carried all the way across the cloth, 
 like the regular filling threads, but are floated to the surface at 
 intervals and subsequently sheared to even the pile. This is known 
 as a weft-pile. Another method of making a pile fabric is by means 
 of the double-cloth weave. By this method two pieces are woven at 
 the same time, face to face, and subsequently cut apart by a knife. 
 The pile is formed by the interlacing of threads between the two 
 
104 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 cloths. Imitations of novelty yarn fabrics, such as eponge and 
 ratine (q. v.) sometimes are made by means of the terry motion, 
 above mentioned, the loops being left uncut. 
 
 POPLIN. A strong, durable fabric with fine cross-ribs, made 
 originally with an organzine warp and woolen filling, but now made 
 of all worsted, silk and worsted, or cotton and worsted. The average 
 poplin is made with worsted yarns spun on the French system from 
 medium grade crossbred wool. The rib is produced by using a 
 larger size yarn for the filling than for the warp. All-wool poplins 
 are piece-dyed; but silk or cotton-mixed poplins are yarn-dyed. The 
 goods are not felted, but are scoured, crabbed, brushed, sheared, 
 sprayed and pressed, resulting in a clear, somewhat lustrous finish. 
 
 PRUNELLA. A strong, warp-face fabric made in a satin weave, 
 usually with a worsted face and cotton back. As a rule it comes 
 in black and white stripes. The worsted yarns are spun from a 
 fairly coarse, long-staple, crossbred wool of y 2 -blood or lower. 
 After being woven it is scoured, crabbed, dyed, dried, brushed, 
 sheared, sprayed and pressed. It is used chiefly for skirts and shoe 
 tops. 
 
 RATINE. A rough, spongy cloth similar to eponge (q. v.). The 
 name describes an effect rather than a fabric. The effect is obtained 
 either by the use of novelty yarns (q. v.) or by means of the terry 
 weave (see PILE FABRICS). Ratine fabrics are used chiefly for 
 dresses and coatings. 
 
 SERGE. The name was applied originally to a twilled worsted 
 fabric made from medium-count, 2-ply yarns (about 32's) with a 
 very distinct twill and a somewhat harsh feel. Nowadays the name 
 covers almost every variety of clear-finished twilled worsteds, espe- 
 cially piece-dyes in navy and black. Usually it is made with a 2-ply 
 warp and single filling, while the best grades are made with 2-ply 
 yarns in both warp and filling. The lower grades are made with 
 single warp and filling. All kinds of raw stock are used in serges, 
 from low crossbred wool in the cheaper grades to fine Australian 
 merino in the best grades. There also is a large production of 
 cotton-warp serges. Serge is not fulled after weaving, but is 
 
Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 105 
 
 crabbed, dyed, closely sheared, sprayed and pressed. It is used for 
 suits and dresses. Storm serge is a name applied to a light serge 
 (about 7 ounces to the yard), made with single yarns in warp and 
 filling, and used for women's coats. 
 
 TRICOTINE. Originally this name was applied to a fairly fine- 
 gauge knitted fabric. Nowadays it is used to describe a fine twilled 
 worsted fabric, with a warp-wise rib effect, obtained by groupings of 
 two single ends with a distinct space between each group. It is 
 made with single yarns in warp and filling. 
 
 TWEED. A somewhat rough woolen fabric similar to cheviot 
 (q. v.). It originated' in Scotland, where it was made from homespun 
 yarns of coarse cheviot wool. Later the Scottish tweed makers be- 
 gan to copy the colors of the heather, bracken and grasses on the 
 moors, and produced the heather mixtures which are characteristic 
 of Scotch tweeds. This range of colors was enlarged by Sir John 
 Lovat, who copied the blends of colors in the rocks of the Highlands 
 during the hunting season (in the fall), and originated the famous 
 Lovat shades. Tweeds are made, as a rule, from fairly coarse, 
 medium-grade wools (usually about ^-blood grade), and are 
 stock-dyed. Some qualities are made from Saxony or fine Australian 
 merino. They are woven either in a plain or twill weave, with 2-ply 
 warp and heavy single filling or 2-ply yarns in both warp and filling. 
 In the so-called Bannockburn tweeds the ply yarns contain two single 
 yarns of different colors. Most tweeds are woven with checks, twills 
 or herringbone patterns. The goods are slightly fulled after weav- 
 ing, and subsequently are scoured, dried, steam-brushed, lightly 
 shorn and pressed. Tweed is used for dresses, suits and coats. 
 
 VELOURS. A variety of woolen fabrics, all of which are char- 
 acterized by a soft, velvety nap. They are included frequently under 
 the heading of pile fabrics, although strictly they are napped fabrics. 
 They are made, as a rule, from medium-staple fine wool of good 
 felting quality. They are stock-dyed and plain-woven. Subsequently 
 they are well fulled, napped (usually with a teasel gig), wet-brushed, 
 dried, brushed, steamed, sheared, brushed again, sprayed and pressed. 
 They are used for coats, suits and dresses. 
 
106 Wool, the World's Comforter 
 
 VENETIAN. A light, strong woolen fabric with a fine, diagonal 
 twill. It is made from various grades of wool and shoddy, with single 
 yarns in warp and filling. Sometimes the yarns are spun from 
 mixed colored stock and sometimes the fabric is piece-dyed in solid 
 colors, usually black. Mixed-colored Venetians frequently are sold as 
 coverts (q. v.), but the genuine covert cloth is woven with 2-ply 
 yarns. Venetians are fulled and slightly napped, and may be given 
 either a clear or a face finish. Used mostly for coats and skirts. 
 
 WHIPCORD. A strong worsted fabric with round, diagonal ribs 
 on the face. It is made, as a rule, from coarse wool of about %- 
 blood, with a 2-ply warp yarn which is floated over a number of 
 single filling yarns, thus forming the raised ribs. Sometimes these 
 warp yarns are of a different color from the foundation yarns, and 
 the ribs consequently differ in color from the body of the cloth. 
 Usually, however, the cloth is yarn- or piece-dyed in solid colors. 
 It is finished with a polishing machine, which gives it a smooth 
 gloss, and subsequently is sheared and pressed. It is a dress fabric. 
 
 WOOL CRASH. A light, coarse, plain-woven woolen fabric made 
 in imitation of linen crash. It is woven with rough, hard-twisted 
 yarns spun from low-grade wool. Usually it is stock-dyed in mixed 
 colors, but frequently it is piece-dyed. It receives very little fulling, 
 and is finished by shearing and pressing. Wool crash is used mostly 
 for summer suits. 
 
 WORSTED. Any fabric made from worsted yarns. The dis- 
 tinguishing feature of worsted yarns is that they are spun from 
 combed wool, usually long-staple wool and receive a good deal of 
 drawing before they are twisted. Most worsted yarns are spun on 
 a cap frame or a ring frame machine, and are smooth, even and 
 firm. Sometimes they are spun on a mule frame, which produces 
 softer and more spongy yarns than the cap or ring frames. Mule- 
 spun worsted yarns are commonly described as French-spun or spun 
 on the French system. Worsteds differ from woolens in having a 
 clear finish and a somewhat harder and stiffer feel. They are not 
 fulled, like woolens, but are finished by being crabbed, closely 
 sheared, sprayed and pressed. Sometimes they are very lightly 
 
Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 107 
 
 sheared, so as to leave a slight nap, and receive comparatively little 
 pressing. Such fabrics are known as unfinished worsteds. Clay- 
 worsteds are made from high-grade stock spun into rather soft- 
 twisted yarns and woven with a 6-harness twill weave, producing a 
 very distinct round rib effect. They receive a clear finish. 
 
 ZIBELINE. A thick woolen fabric with a long, straight, flat- 
 tened-down nap and a high luster. It is made with a coarse, heavy 
 yarn, spun usually from a mixture of wool and mohair. Frequently 
 it is woven as a double cloth, with a backing of worsted or cotton. 
 It is fulled, scoured, wet-napped, brushed, steamed, dyed, brushed 
 again and pressed. It is used for coats.