FIG. 9 BALE OPENER
By permission of Messrs. Charles Parker, Sons, & Co.
The driving side, the feed cloth, and the delivery cloth in this machine are placed similarly to the corresponding parts of the machine illustrated in Fig. 8, a machine which also gives good results in practice.
In both cases the large heads are delivered in such a condition that the operatives can split them up into pieces of a suitable size quite freely.
The men who bring in the bales from the store take up a position near the end of the delivery cloth; they remove the heads of jute as the latter approach the end of the table, and then pass them to the batchers, who split them. The most suitable size of pieces are 2-1/2 to 3 lbs. for a piece of 7 feet to 8 feet in length, but the size of the pieces is regulated somewhat by the system of feeding which is to be adopted at the breaker-card, as well as by the manager's opinion of what will give the best overall result.
After the heads of jute have been split up into suitable smaller pieces, they are placed in any convenient position for the batcher or "striker-up" to deal with. If the reader could watch the above operation of separating the heads of jute into suitable sizes, it would perhaps be much easier to understand the process of unravelling an apparently matted and crossed mass of fibre. As the loosened head emerges from the bale-opener, Figs. 8 or 9, it is placed over the operative's arm with the ends of the head hanging, and by a sort of intuition acquired by great experience, she or he grips the correct amount of fibre between the fingers, and by a dexterous movement, and a simultaneous shake of the whole piece, the handful just comes clear of the bulk and in much less time than it takes to describe the operation.
As the pieces are thus detached from the bulk, they are laid on stools or tables, or in stalls or carts, according to the method by means of which the necessary amount of oil and water is to be added for the essential process of lubrication; this lubrication enables the fibre to work freely in the various machines.
[CHAPTER VI. BATCHING]
Softening and Softening Machines. Two distinct courses are followed in the preparation of the jute fibre after it leaves the bale opener, and before it is carded by the breaker card. These courses are designated as--