CARDING.
The extremely valuable substance, called Cotton, which is now raised in such abundance as to furnish the cheapest and most extensively-used clothing, is produced in the seed vessels of the cotton plant, of which there are many varieties; some are herbaceous annual plants, growing from eighteen to twenty-four inches high; others, shrubs about the size of our currant bushes, and of from two to ten years’ duration; whilst a third kind attain the growth of small trees, with a height of from twelve to twenty feet.
The leaves of the cotton plant are of a bright dark green colour, deeply divided into five lobes; the flowers are large and showy, of a bright sulphur or lemon colour, and closely resemble in appearance and botanical structure those of the single hollyhock; each flower is succeeded by a triangular three-celled seed vessel, which attains the size of a small walnut, and when ripe bursts open from the swelling of the cotton contained in the three cells; the seeds, which are rather larger than those of grapes, are inclosed in the cotton wool, which adheres very firmly to them. One variety of cotton, cultivated in China, and some parts of America, has a yellow tint; this tint it preserves when woven into the fabric called “nankeen.”
Cotton Plant. Bale of Cotton.
The cotton plant is largely cultivated in India, China, United States, West Indies, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and, in short, in almost all the warmer parts of the world; it flourishes readily in soils too poor for the growth of grain, and other crops, and succeeds perfectly well in dry seasons.
The cotton, when perfectly ripe, is gathered by women and children, the seeds and wool being picked out of the pod; it is dried in the sun, and is then ready for the removal of the seeds. In India this operation is performed by means of two parallel rollers, which are fixed in a frame at a small distance apart, so that when they are turned round the cotton is drawn through whilst the seeds, which from their size are unable to pass, are torn off and separated. With this simple machine a man can separate the seeds from about fifty pounds of cotton in a day.
In America a still more rapid process is adopted: the cotton is placed in a box, one side of which is formed of stout parallel wires, placed about one-eighth of an inch apart; by the side of this box is a roller, carrying a number of circular saws with curved teeth, which project through the wires into the box. On the roller being made to revolve, the teeth of the saws drag the cotton through the wires, the seeds remaining behind; after being thus separated, the cotton is powerfully compressed into bags, and is ready for transport to this and other manufacturing countries.
The cotton is seldom unpacked until it arrives at the mill, the purchases being all managed by samples. When it is unpacked, the first thing to be done is the sorting, and in this much care and skill are required; for the different bags furnish different qualities of cotton, and it is necessary to produce yarn of uniform quality at the cheapest rate.