The French system of numbering Cotton Yarns is as follows:—
| 1,000 | metres | weighing | 500 | grammes | = | No. 1's. |
| 1,000 | " | " | 250 | " | = | No. 2's. |
| 1,000 | " | " | 50 | " | = | No. 10's. |
| 1,000 | " | " | 25 | " | = | No. 20's. |
The count is therefore arrived at by dividing the number of metres reeled by twice the number of grammes they weigh.
Counts.—The size of yarn is technically called the "count," and it is based upon the number of hanks, "cuts," or "runs" of a given length which are required to weigh 1 pound. The standard length of the hank varies according to the nature of the yarn. Cotton Yarn measures 840 yards per hank; Worsted Yarn measures 560 yards per hank; Woollen Yarn measures 256 or 300 yards per "cut," "run," or hank, according to district; Linen measures 300 yards per lea; and Spun Silk, 840 yards per hank. The number of such "cuts," "runs," hanks, or leas required to weigh 1 pound avoirdupois equal the number of the count. When Woollen Yarn is in gala cuts of 300 yards the number of such cuts required to weigh 24 ounces equal the count: this becomes equivalent to the number of 200 yards required to weigh 1 pound.
Coutil.—French for Drill. A strong three-thread twill cloth with herring-bone stripes dyed drab or French grey and used for corset-making.
Covert.—A wool or worsted cloth, usually in fine twill weave, in small mixture effect. There are various grades of Coverts and they all have as a distinctive feature neutral tones of colour. The real Covert cloth is always made from double and twist warp yarns and single fillings. The weave is such that the filling yarn does not show on the face of the cloth, therefore almost any shade similar in general tone to the warp may be used as filling. Cheap grades are made as a piece-dyed union mixture containing up to 30 per cent. cotton. They are also known as Venetian Coverts when they have a pronounced whipcord effect. The weave is a sateen weave of the warp-face variety.
Crabbing.—One of the many processes through which cloth goes from the time it leaves the loom on its way to being turned out as a finished fabric. The object of crabbing is to fix or set the cloth at the width it has to be as a finished fabric. The actual operation of crabbing consists of running the cloth at a tension on to a steaming or boiling roller. The axle or core of the roller is hollow and perforated; the cloth having been tightly wound round, steam is forced through the perforations and right through the mass of tightly wound cloth. The superheated steam sets the cloth.