Carding Of Cotton
Description
This section is from the "A Complete Dictionary of Dry Goods" book, by George S. Cole. Also available from Amazon: A complete dictionary of dry goods and history of silk, cotton, linen, wool and other fibrous substances,: Including a full explanation of the modern processes ... together with various useful tables.
Carding Of Cotton
Carding Of Cotton is the process of disentangling and arranging in parallel rows the fibres of the cotton so as to facilitate the twisting of them together. Carding may be compared to the combing and brushing of one's hair, and the card combines the properties of the comb and brush, being a large brush with wire teeth instead of bristles. These teeth are inserted in strips of leather, which are fastened to the surface of a cylinder. Several of such cylinders are so arranged that the ends of the teeth are nearly in contact, and the cotton being brought to them is caught up, passed from one to the other and combed out, as the cylinders turn round, in the form of beautiful films or fleeces. These films, which are the width of the cylinders, are next contracted to a narrow ribbon by being passed through a funnel and drawn out in order to make them ready for the next process, called spinning.
For spinning cotton there are two kinds of machines used - "throstles" and "mules." The throstle is employed in the spinning of yarn for warps. This yarn has its fibre more closely twisted than that spun upon the mule, and is more esteemed for certain purposes, especially for making sewing thread. The mule, or mule-jenny, differs from the throstle in that it spins a yarn much finer and softer, though more woolly in texture than throstle-yarn; mule-yarn, besides forming the weft of cloths, is also doubled and used for a variety of purposes wherein a lightly-twisted, thread-like yarn is not required. The principle of attenuating the yarn is, however, the same in both machines, consisting of several pairs of rollers turned by means of machinery. The lower roller of each pair is fluted or furrowed, and the upper one is covered with leather to induce it to take hold of the cotton. If there were only one pair of rollers, it is clear that the fibre passed between them would be drawn forward by the revolution of the rollers, similar to running a string through a clothes-wringer; but the cotton would merely undergo a certain degree of compression or flattening from their action. No sooner, however, has the fibre begun to pass through the first pair of rollers than it is received by a second pair, which are made to revolve four times as fast as the first pair, thus attenuating it, and so on through several sets of rollers, drawing the thread out finer and finer. By this ingenious contrivance the mass of cotton may be drawn out into a thread of any desired length or size
Of | No. 10 | yarn, | 10 | hanks | of 840 yards | each | weigh | one | pound |
" | " 20 | " | 20 | " | " 840 | " | " | " | " |
" | " 50 | " | 50 | " | " 840 | " | " | " | " |
" | " 60 | " | 60 | " | " 840 | " | " | " | " |
" | " 70 | " | 70 | " | " 840 | " | " | " | " |
" | " 80 | " | 80 | " | " 840 | " | " | " | " |
" | " 90 | " | 90 | " | " 840 | " | " | " | " |
" | " 100 | " | 100 | " | " 840 | " | " | " | " |
Cotton after being spun is folded in hanks of 840 yards each. The number ox "size" of this cotton yarn depends upon the number of hanks, 840 yards long, that weigh one pound, as illustrated by the following table:
Cotton is never woven in its natural state, that is, as it comes from the spinning frame. It always receives a dressing or coating of some kind of liquid " size," which is allowed to dry on the yarn before the weaving begins. The object is to diminish the roughness on the surface of the threads, and to increase their tension power, thereby facilitating the weaving. A manufacturing firm in Connecticut, some years ago, produced the finest cotton yarn ever woven into muslin by machinery - 700s. The same firm has produced since yarn No. 2150, but this was merely for experimental and not for weaving purposes. A pound of the finest Sea Island cotton spun of this fineness would be a thousand miles in length. Some idea of the tenuity of cotton fibres may be formed when it is remembered that 14,000 to 20,000 individual filaments of American cotton only weigh one grain, so that there are about 140,000,000 to every pound, and each hair weighs only about the 1-17,000 part of a grain, and if the separate fibres were placed end to end in a straight line, one pound would reach 2,200 miles. The beauty or excellence of some cotton cloths consist in the closeness of their texture; that of others, in the openess and regularity of the intervals between the warp apd weft threads. Recent experiments have shown that cotton may be heated to 248° F. for three hours without apparent injury. The same is true of printed cottons. The temperature, however, if continued for a long period, will slightly alter the color of cotton, but will not otherwise injure it. According to the most reliable historical and manufacturing authorities, no cotton sheetings, shirtings, ginghams or checks were made in the United States prior to 1790. All these classes of goods were then imported, being of English manufacture, and of linen warp with cotton weft.
The accompanying table gives the number of cotton spindles in the United States in 1880 and 1890.
1880. | 1890. | |
Alabama ......................................................... | 49,432 | 96,647 |
Arkansas ........................................................ | 2,015 | 13,700 |
California ........................................................ | ... | • • • • |
England in 1890, had in operation 42,740,000 cotton spindles; European Continent 23,380,000; East India 2,490,000; Canada, Mexico aud South America 600,000, and Japan 100,000. The largest cotton mill in the world is that of Kranholm, in Russia. This colossal establishment contains 340,000 spindles, and 2,200 looms, and gives employment to 7,000 hands.
1880. | 1890. | |
Colorado ................................................. | • • • . | ... |
Connecticut ............................................ | 939,376 | 1,023,928 |
Dakota ................................................... | . • • • | • • • • |
Delaware ............................................... | 46,188 | 61,714 |
Florida .................................................... | 816 | 1,300 |
Georgia .................................................. | 198,656 | 442,148 |
Idaho ..................................................... | • • • > | ... |
Illinois .................................................. | 4,830 | 26,000 |
Indiana ................................................ | 33,396 | 61,868 |
Iowa .................................................... | ... | 6,000 |
Kansas ............................................... | ... | ... |
Kentucky .......................................... | 9,022 | 42,500 |
Louisiana ........................................... | 6,096 | 61,168 |
Maine ............................................... | 695,924 | 812,722 |
Maryland .......................................... | 125,706 | 176,800 |
Massachusetts ................................. | 4,236,084 | 5,905,875 |
Michigan .......................................... | 5,100 | ... |
Minnesota ......................................... | 1,708 | ... |
Mississippi ....................................... | 18,658 | 54,800 |
Missouri .......................................... | 19,302 | 17,500 |
Montana ............................................. | ... | ... |
Nebraska ........................................... | ... | ... |
New Hampshire ................................ | 944,053 | 1,207,312 |
New Jersey .......................................... | 232,221 | 351,068 |
New York ........................................... | 561,658 | 619,472 |
North Carolina ................................... | 92,385 | 321,070 |
Ohio............................................ | 13,327 | 26,152 |
Oregon ............................................... | ... | |
Pennsylvania ....................................... | 425,391 | 445,962 |
Rhode Island ...................................... | 1,746,539 | 1,948.958 |
South Carolina .................................. | 82,334 | 351,040 |
South Dakota .................................... | ... | ... |
Tennessee ........................................ | 35,736 | 116,788 |
Texas ............................................. | 2,648 | 17,734 |
Utah............................................ | 432 | 288 |
Vermont .......................................... | 55,081 | 62,775 |
Virginia .......................................... | 44,340 | 79,612 |
Washington .................................... | ... | ... |
West Virginia ................................ | ... | ... |
Wisconsin ....................................... | 10,000 | 32,128 |
Wyoming .......................................... | ...... | — |
Total ................................ | 10,653,435 | 14,385,024 |
Crop Of The United States For Sixty Years
YeaR. | Bales. | YeaR. | Bales. | Year | Bales. | Year. | Bales. |
1829...... | 870,415 | 1844...... | 2,030,409 ' | 1859_____ | 3,851,481 | 1877...... | 4,485,423 |
1830_____ | 976,845 | 1845_____ | 2,394,503 | 1860_____ | 4,669,770 | 1878...... | 4,811,265 |
1831_____ | 1,038,848 | 1846...... | 2,100,537 | 1861...... | 3,656,006 No record | 1879...... | 5,073,531 |
1832...... | 987,487 | 1847...... | 1,778,651 | 1862-1865- | 1880...... | 5,757,397 | |
1833...... | 1,070,438 | 1848...... | 2,347,634 | 1866.... | 2,193,987 | 1881...... | 6,589,329 |
1834_____ | 1,205,324 | 1849...... | 2,728,596 | 1867_____ | 2,019,774 | 1882...... | 5,435,845 |
1835...... | 1,254,328 | 1850...... | 2,096,706 | 1868...... | 2,593,993 | 1883...... | 6,992,234 |
1836.....- | 1,360,752 | 1851...... | 2,355,257 | 1869.... | 2,439,039 | 1884...... | 5,714,052 |
1837_____ | 1,422,930 | 1852...... | 3.015,029 | 1870...... | 3,154,946 | 1885...... | 5,669,021 |
1838_____ | 1,801,497 | 1853...... | 3,262,882 | 1871...... | 4,352,817 | 1886...... | 6,550,215 |
1839_____ | 1,360,532 | 1854...... | 2,930,027 | 1872...... | 2,974,351 | 1887...... | 6,513,624 |
1840...... | 2,177.835 | 1855_____ | 2,847,338 | 1873...... | 3,930,508 | 1888...... | 7,017,707 |
1841...... | 1,634,945 | 1856...... | 3,527.845 | 1874.... | 4,170,388 | 1889...... | 6,935,082 |
1842...... | 1,683,574 | 1857...... | 2,939,519 | 1875...... | 3,832,991 | 1890...... | 7,313,726 |
1843...... | 2,378,875 | 1858...... | 3,113,962 | 1876_____ | 4.669.288 |
The average net weight per bale is 440 pounds.
Exports And Domestic Consumption Of American Cotton
1889-90. | 1888-89. | 1887-88. | 1885-86. | 1886-87. | 1884-85. | 1883-84. | |
Export to Europe Consumption U.S., Canada, etc.. . | Bales. 4,885,326 2,431,757 7,317,083 | Bales. 4,700,198 2,372,641 | Bales. 4,602,248 2,259,606 | Bales. 4,296,825 2.087,785 | Bales. 4,414,326 2,265.324 | Bales. 3,898,905 1.764.326 | Bales. 3,880,466 2,042,867 |
Total....... | 7,072,830 | 6,861,650 | 6,384,610 | 6,679,650 5,663,231 | 5.923,333 | ||
Consumption Bales, 400 lbs. | Great Britain. | Continent. | Total Europe. | Total United States. | Total World. |
1880-81........................ | 3,572,000 3,640,000 3,744,000 3,666,000 3,433,000 3,628,000 3,694,000 3,841,000 3,770,000 4,027,000 | 2,956,000 3,198,000 3,380,000 3,380,000 3,255,000 3,465,000 3,640,000 3,796,000 4,069,000 4,277,000 | 6,528,000 6,838,000 7,124,000 7,046,000 6,688,000 7,093,000 7,334,000 7,637,000 7,839,000 8,304,000 | 2,118,000 2,197,000 2,375,000 2,244,000 1,909,000 2.378,000 2,423,000 2,530,000 2,685,000 2,731,000 | 8,640,000 |
1881-82........................ | 9,035,000 | ||||
1882-83........................ | 9,499,000 | ||||
1883-84.........______........ | 9,290,000 | ||||
1884-85_____________ | 8,597,000 | ||||
1885-86........................ | 9,871,000 | ||||
1886-87 ............. | 9,757,000 | ||||
1887-88 ......... | 10,167,000 | ||||
1888-89......................... | 10,524,000 | ||||
1889-90_____................... | 11,035,000 |
Cotton Consumption Of The Entire World. Sources Of Cotton Supply
Total. | Total. | |||
Bales. | Bales. | |||
America | 7,434,000 | Brazil, W, I., etc.............. | 290,000 | |
East India..........___________ | 1,740,000 | |||
Egypt........................— | 460,000 | Total.......................... | 9,984,000 | |
Smyrna......................... | 40,000 | Average weight.....___......... | 455.1 | |
Bales of 400 lbs................. | 11,836,000 | |||
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