Textiles and Clothing. Kate Heintz Watson
rapidly done, but there is danger of over-retting on account of the organic matter retained in the water which favors fermentation. In this case the fiber is weakened.
From the Government Bulletin, "Flax for Seed and Fiber."
In dew retting, the flax is spread on the field and exposed to the action of the weather for several weeks without any previous steeping. This method of retting is practiced in Germany and Russia. Warm water retting and chemical retting have met with limited success.
When the retting is complete, the flax is set up in sheaves to dry. The next operations consist of "breaking," "scutching," and "hackling" and are now done by machinery.
Breaking removes the woody center from the retted and dried flax by being passed through a series of fluted rollers. The particles of woody matter adhering to the fibers are detached by scutching.
Hackling
Hackling or combing still further separates the fibers into their finest filaments—"line" and "tow." The "flax line" is the long and valuable fiber; the tow, the short coarse tangled fiber which is spun and used for weaving coarse linen.
A, Unthrashed Straw; B, Retted; C, Cleaned or Scutched; D, Hackled or Dressed.
(Photograph of C. R. Dodge).
The "Tow" Is Seen at the Left and a Bunch of "Flax line" on the Bench.
(Photograph of C. R. Dodge, Special Agent U. S. Department of Agriculture.)
Characteristics of Linen
When freed from all impurities the chief physical characteristics of flax are its snowy whiteness, silky luster and great tenacity. The individual fibers may be from ten to twelve inches in length; they are much greater in diameter than cotton. It is less pliant and elastic than cotton and bleaches and dyes less readily. Linen cloth is a better conductor of heat than cotton and clothing made from it is cooler. When pure, it is, like cotton, nearly pure cellulose.
Ramie
Besides the linen, there is a great number of bast fibers fit for textile purposes, some superior, some inferior. India alone has over three hundred plants that are fiber yielding. One-third of these furnish useful fibers for cordage and fabrics. The next in importance to linen is ramie or rhea, and China grass. China grass comes from a different plant but is about the same as ramie. The staple is longer and finer than linen. The great strength of yarn made from it is due to length of the staple.
The variety and great value of the ramie fibers has long been recognized, but difficulties attending the separation and degumming of the fibers have prevented its employment in the manufactures to any great extent. The native Chinese split and scrape the plant stems, steeping them in water. The common retting process used for flax is not effective on account of the large amount of gummy matter, and although easy to bleach it is difficult to dye in full bright shades without injuring the luster of the fibers.
Jute and Hemp
Jute and hemp belong to the lower order of bast fibers. The fiber is large and is unfit for any but the coarsest kind of fabrics. Jute is mainly cultivated in Bengal. The fiber is separated from the plant by retting, beating, etc.
From Culture of Hemp and Jute, Report of U. S. Department of Agriculture.
From "Culture of Hemp and Jute."
Olona
Olona, the textile fiber of Hawaii, is found to have promising qualities. This plant resembles ramie and belongs to the nettle family also, but it is without the troublesome resin of the ramie. The fiber is fine, light, strong, and durable.
The Philippines are rich in fiber producing plants. The manila hemp is the most prominent, of which coarse cloth is woven, besides the valuable cordage. The sisal hemp, pineapple, yucca, and a number of fiber plants growing in the southern part of the United States are worthy of note. These fiber industries are conducted in a rude way, the fiber being cleaned by hand, except the pineapple.
SILK
The silk fiber is the most perfect as well as the most beautiful of all fibers. It is nearly faultless, fine and continuous, often measuring from 1000 to 4000 feet long, without a scale, joint, or a blemish, though not of the same diameter or fineness throughout its entire length, as it becomes finer as the interior of the cocoon is approached. Silk differs from all other vegetable or animal fibers by being devoid of all cellular structure.
Where Produced
Southern Europe leads in the silk worm culture—Italy, southern France, and Turkey, with China and India. Several species of moths, natives of India, China, and Japan, produce the wild silk. The most important of the "wild silks" are the Tussah. Silk plush and the coarser varieties of buff colored fabrics are made of this silk. While manufacturers do not favor the wild silk, the coarse uneven weave and softness make it a favorite with artists and it is being used for interior decoration as well as for clothing.
Silk Worm
The silk of commerce begins with an egg no bigger than a mustard seed, out of which comes a diminutive caterpillar, which is kept in a frame and fed upon mulberry leaves. When the caterpillars are full grown, they climb upon twigs placed for them and begin to spin or make the cocoon. The silk comes from two little orifices in the head in the form of a glutinous gum which hardens into a fine elastic fiber. With a motion of the head somewhat like the figure eight, the silk worm throws this thread around the body from head to tail until at last it is entirely enveloped. The body grows smaller and the thread grows finer until at last it has spun out most of the substance of the body and the task is done.
If left to itself, when the time came, the moth would eat its way out of the cocoon and ruin the fiber. A few of the best cocoons are saved for a new supply of caterpillars; the remainder are baked at a low heat which destroys the worm but preserves the silk. This now becomes the cocoon of commerce.
Reeling Silk
Next the cocoons go to the reelers who wind the filaments into the silk yarn that makes the raw material of our mills. The cocoons are thrown into warm water mixed with soap in order to dissolve the gum. The outer or coarser covering is brushed off down to the real silk and the end of the thread found. Four or five cocoons are wound together, the sticky fibers clinging to each other as they pass through the various guides and are wound as a single thread on the reels. The silk is dried and tied into hanks or skeins. As the thread unwinds from the cocoon, it becomes smaller, so other threads must be added.
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