Thomas Woodhouse

“ Many different vegetable fibres are used for rope-making, but for the combined qualities of strength, flexibility and durability, none can compete with the common hemp, which is consequently the staple of the rope-maker. Cotton ropes are, however, much more flexible, and in addition are strong and durable; they are, therefore, much preferred for power transmission in textile and other works. Manila hemp is a fibre of remarkable tenacity, of unapproached value for heavy cordage, but too stiff for small cords and twines. ”

“ The linen manufacture by degrees ceased to be a domestic industry, and began to centre in and become the characteristic factory employment of special localities, which depended, however, for their supply of raw material primarily on the operations of small growers, working, for the most part, on the poorer districts of remote thinly populated countries. The cultivation of the plant and the preparation of the fibre have therefore, even at the present day, not come under the influence (except in certain favoured localities) of scientific knowledge and experience. ”

“ The fibre is decidedly inferior to flax and hemp in strength and tenacity; and, owing to a peculiarity in its microscopic structure, by which the walls of the separate cells composing the fibre vary much in thickness at different points, the single strands of fibre are of unequal strength. Recently prepared fibre is always stronger, more lustrous, softer and whiter than such as has been stored for some time—age and exposure rendering it brown in colour and harsh and brittle in quality. ”

“ The primary object of twisting fibres together in a rope is that by mutual friction they may be held together when a strain is applied to the whole. Hard twisting has the further advantage of compacting the fibres and preventing, to some extent, the penetration of moisture when the ropes are exposed to water; but the yield of rope from a given length of yarn diminishes in proportion to the increase of twist. ”

“ The modern manufacture of linen divides itself into two branches, spinning and weaving, to which may be added the bleaching and various finishing processes, which, in the case of many linen textures, are laborious undertakings and important branches of industry. The flax fibre is received in bundles from the scutch mill, and after having been classed into various grades, according to the quality of the material, it is labelled and placed in the store ready for the flax mill. The whole operations in yarn manufacture comprise (1) hackling, (2) preparing and (3) spinning. ”

“ There are very few hand-made fabrics which can compete with the machine-made article, but the very best type of hose-pipe is certainly one of the former class. The cloth can be made much more cheaply in the power-loom than in the hand-loom, but, up to the present, no power-loom has been made which can weave as substantial a cloth as the hand-loom product; the weak part in all hose-pipes is where the weft passes round the sides from top to bottom of the fabric or vice versa, that is, the side corresponding to the selvages in an ordinary cloth ”

“ The immersion itself is a simple matter; the difficulty lies in deciding when the process is complete. If allowed to remain under water too long, the fibre is weakened by what is termed “over-retting,” a condition which increases the amount of codilla in the scutching process; whilst “under-retting” leaves part of the gummy or resinous matter in the material, which hinders the subsequent process of manufacture. As the steeping is such a critical operation, it is essential that the stalks be frequently examined and tested as the process nears completion. ”

“ Machine or Factory Rope-Making.—The most modern methods of rope-making are far superior to the foregoing, which, as stated, have been introduced to show the principle. One of the greatest drawbacks in the formation of a strand from a haul or chain, even for a small number of yarns, is the irregularity of the tension of the yarns at different parts of the strand. If a large number of yarns be required for each strand, it would be almost impossible to make a satisfactory rope by the above system. ”

“ The principal difficulty arose through the hardness and inelasticity of the linen yarns, owing to which the yarn frequently broke under the tension to which it was subjected. Competition with the hand-loom against the power-loom in certain classes of work is conceivable, although it is absolutely impossible for the work of the spinning wheel to stand against the rivalry of drawing, roving and spinning frames. To the present day, in Ireland especially, a great deal of fine weaving is done by hand-loom. ”

“ The agricultural department of the government of Bengal are now fully alive to the importance of fostering the jute industry by showing conclusively that attention to scientific agriculture will make two maunds of jute grow where only one maund grew before. ”

“ The two valuable commercial products of the flax plant, the seeds and the stalk, are separated at this point. We have here to do with the latter only.
Retting or rotting is an operation of the greatest importance, and one in connexion with which in recent years numerous experiments have been made, and many projects and processes put forth, with the view of remedying the defects of the primitive system or altogether supplanting it. From the earliest times two leading processes of retting have been practised, termed respectively water-retting and dew-retting ”

“ As the spinner proceeds down the walk, he throws the spun yarn into one of these partitions, thus relieving himself of the weight and keeping the yarn off the ground. When a sufficient length of yarn has been spun, he breaks off the fibres and fastens the yarn to a convenient peg or hook until he has spun a sufficient number (usually three) to form a small rope or cord. The person at the wheel hangs these three yarns one on each of the three hooks B, C and D, while the spinner attaches the other ends to a revolving hook termed a “looper.” ”

“ In the British navy the largest size of rope sewn on to a sail is 6 in; sizes above this are used for foot and clew ropes of top-sails and courses, being first wormed, parcelled (that is, wound round with strips of worn canvas) , tarred and served over with spun yarn; the foot of the sail is then secured to it by being marled in. Where two sizes of bolt-rope used in roping a sail have to be connected, it is effected by a tapered splice. ”

“ The sectional view (fig. 2) , although indicating the crossings of the warp and the weft, is quite different from an actual section through the threads: the warp is almost invariably two or three ply, and in addition two or more of these twisted threads pass through the same heddle-eye in the camb; moreover, they are set very closely together—so closely, indeed, that the threads entirely conceal the weft; it is, therefore, impossible to give a correct sectional view with satisfactory clearness, as the threads are so very rank, but fig. 3 gives some idea of the structure of the fabric. ”

“ Flax prospers most when grown upon land of firm texture resting upon a moist subsoil. It does well to succeed oats or potatoes, as it requires the soil to be in fresh condition without being too rich. Lands newly broken up from pasture suit it well, as these are generally freer from weeds than those that have been long under tillage. It is usually inexpedient to apply manure directly to the flax crop, as the tendency of this is to produce over-luxuriance, and thereby to mar the quality of the fibre, on which its value chiefly depends. ”

“ Characteristics.—The characters by which qualities of jute are judged are colour, lustre, softness, strength, length, firmness, uniformity and absence of roots. The best qualities are of a clear whitish-yellow colour, with a fine silky lustre, soft and smooth to the touch, and fine, long and uniform in fibre. When the fibre is intended for goods in the natural colour it is essential that it should be of a light shade and uniform, but if intended for yarns which are to be dyed a dark shade, the colour is not so important. ”

“ The rapid strides made by electricity have furnished another large branch of what may be termed wire rope manufacture. The ropes used for electrical purposes are almost invariably termed cables, and there are many different kinds and sizes of them. The wire must necessarily possess good conducting power, and be comparatively cheap. ”

“ Linen thread is prepared from the various counts of fine bleached line yarn by winding the hanks on large spools, and twisting the various strands, two, three, four or six cord as the case may be, on a doubling spindle similar in principle to the yarn spinning frame, excepting, of course, the drawing rollers. A large trade in linen thread has been created by its use in the machine manufacture of boots and shoes, saddlery and other leather goods, and in heavy sewing-machine work generally. ”

“ A really good chemical, mechanical or other method would probably be the means of reviving the flax industry in the remote parts of the British Isles.
Scutching is the process by which the fibre is freed from its woody core and rendered fit for the market. For ordinary water-retted flax two operations are required, first breaking and then scutching, and these are done either by hand labour or by means of small scutching or lint mills, driven either by water or steam power. Hand labour, aided by simple implements, is still much used in continental countries ”

“ The weeders, faces to the wind, move slowly on hands and knees, and should remove every vestige of weed in order that the flax plants may receive the full benefit of the land. When flax is cultivated primarily on account of the fibre, the crop ought to be pulled before the capsules are quite ripe, when they are just beginning to change from a green to a pale-brown colour, and when the stalks of the plant have become yellow throughout about two-thirds of their height. ”

“ In certain districts of Bengal it is the practice to stack the crop for a few days previous to retting in order to allow the leaves to dry and to drop off the stalks. It is stated that the colour of the fibre is darkened if the leaves are allowed to remain on during the process of retting. It is also thought that the drying of the plants before retting facilitates the separation of the fibre. Any simple operation which improves the colour of the fibre or shortens the operation of retting is worthy of consideration. ”

“ The hackle stocks on each separate sheet are of one size and gauge, but each successive sheet in the length of the machine is furnished with stocks of increasing fineness, so that the hackling tool at the end where the flax is entered is the coarsest, say about four pins per inch, while that to which the fibre is last submitted has the smallest and most closely set teeth. ”