Textiles and Clothing | Page 5

and sea island cotton.
[Illustration: UPLAND COTTON PLANT WITH FULLY
DEVELOPED BOLES
From Bulletin No. 31, Georgia Experiment Station.]
[Illustration: COTTON BOLE FULLY DEVELOPED
From Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 1903.]
[Illustration: BOLE OPENED, COTTON READY FOR PICKING
Year Book of 1903.]
The Brazilian and Peruvian cotton yields a long staple and is
sometimes used to adulterate silk and other fibers. Some varieties of
this cotton are harsh and wooly and are prized for use in mixing with
wool.
[Sidenote: Nankin Cotton]
The Nankin cotton grown in China and India and in the southwestern
part of Louisiana is characterized by its yellow color. It is used in
weaving cloth of various kinds in the "fireside industries" which have
become popular in the United States and England.
[Illustration: COTTON FIBERS
A A--Unripe Fibers; B B--Half-ripe Fibers; C C--Ripe Fibers.]

[Sidenote: Spinning Qualities]
Very fine yarn can be spun from cotton because of the spiral character
of the fibers. This twist of the fibers is peculiar to cotton, being present
in no other animal or vegetable fiber. On account of this twist, cotton
cloths are much more elastic in character than those woven from linen,
the fibers of which are stiff and straight.
After the removal of the seed, no other fiber is so free from
impurities--5 per cent is the loss sustained by cleaning and bleaching.
In its natural condition, cotton will not dye readily because of a waxy
substance on the surface of the fibers. This must be removed by
washing.
[Sidenote: Picking and Ginning]
Cotton should be picked only when it is fully ripe when the pods are
fully burst and the fibers expanded. The unripe fiber is glassy, does not
attain its full strength and resists the dye. After picking, the cotton is
sent to the ginning factory to have the seed removed. It is then pressed
into bales by hydraulic presses, five hundred pounds being the standard
bale in the United States.
[Illustration: COTTON BALES]
[Sidenote: Physical Characteristics]
Purified bleached cotton is nearly pure cellulose. It resists the action of
alkalis well, but is harmed by hot, strong acids, or if acid is allowed to
dry on the fabric. It is not harmed by high temperature, and so may be
ironed with a hot iron.
[Illustration: WOOL FIBER AND SUBSTITUTES
1. South American Wool; 2. Noil from the Same; 3. Tangled Waste; 4.
Waste Combed Out; 5. Lap Waste; 6. Shoddy.]
WOOL

[Sidenote: Character of Fiber]
Wool is the most important animal fiber. Strictly speaking the name
applies only to the hairy covering of sheep, but the hair of certain goats
and of camels is generally classified under the same terms. The wool
fiber is distinguished by its scale-like surface which gives it its felting
and spinning properties. Hair as distinguished from wool has little or no
scaly structure being in general a smooth filament with no felting
properties and spinning only with great difficulty. Fur is the
undergrowth found on most fur-bearing animals and has in a modified
way the scaly structure and felting properties of wool.
[Illustration: MICROSCOPIC APPEARANCE OF WOOL FIBERS]
[Sidenote: Value for Clothing]
The great value of wool as a fiber lies in the fact that it is strong, elastic,
soft, very susceptible to dye stuffs and being woven, furnishes a great
number of air spaces, rendering clothing made from it very warm and
light.
[Sidenote: Quality of Wool]
Climate, breed, and food influence the quality of the wool. Where the
pasturage is barren and rocky, the wool is apt to be coarse.
[Illustration: MERINO RAMS
The Variety of Sheep Giving the Finest Wool.]
[Sidenote: Varieties of Sheep]
There are supposed to be about thirty distinct varieties of sheep, nearly
half of which are natives of Asia, one-third of Africa, and only four
coming from Europe, and two from America. Wool is divided into two
general classes--long and short staple, according to the average length
of fiber. The long fiber wool is commonly carded, combed and spun
into worsted yarn. The short fiber is usually carded and spun into

woolen yarn. The short fiber obtained in combing long staple wool is
called "noil." It is used for woolens.
[Sidenote: Goat Wools]
Alpaca, Vicuna and Llama wools are obtained from animals which are
native to the mountains of Peru and Chile. The Angora goat, originally
from Asia Minor, furnishes the mohair of commerce. This fiber does
not resemble the hairs of common goats in any respect. It is a very
beautiful fiber of silky luster, which constitutes its chief value.
[Illustration: ANGORA GOATS]
[Sidenote: Fur]
The fur of beavers and rabbits can be and is used in manufacture, either
spun into yarn or made into felt. The fibers of both animals enter
largely into the manufacture of felt hats.
[Sidenote: Sorting Wool]
The fleece