Cotton grows in warm climates, and the seed is sown in
March or April, and early in June the plant begins to bloom.
The blossom resembles the hollyhock, and changes its color
in twenty-four hours from pale straw color to a clear pink.
After the flowers fall the pods, or bolls, grow rapidly, and
burst open when ripe, showing the fleecy cotton ready for
picking.
After the cotton is gathered it is exposed to the sun until
quite dry, and the seeds are separated from the fibres of the
cotton. The fibres are next separated from each other, and
freed from dust as nearly as possible.
It is now in the form of a very clean, light, downy sub-
MENDING 371
stance, but the fibre is not parallel. To effect this it is
carded or combed straight. After the carding the cotton
leaves the carding engine in a small, delicate roll called a
"sliver, which has to be changed into rovings," or still
more delicate threads, which are so thin that they have a
slight twist given them, which converts them into a loose
kind of spongy thread, which is spun into yarn. In making
thread the yarn is doubled and twisted more than for weav-
ing into cloth, as greater strength is required. It is washed,
bleached, dyed, and reeled on to bobbins, and finally spooled.
In spooling, after the machine tender has set the spool on
the spindle, and attached the end of the thread from the
bobbin, the machine does the rest. It runs on evenly, just
two hundred yards, and at the right time and place cuts the
fine slit in the edge of the spool, fastens the thread in it,
cuts it off, and drops it in a tray, after which the spools are
labelled and packed.
When the yarn is to be woven into cotton cloth, there are
many intermediate steps to be taken after the spinning is
completed, such as dressing, beaming, winding, and warping.
Besides the dressing, there are many curious machines
employed to prepare the yarn for the loom, and many of
these operations are nearly alike in all the manufacture of
textiles, whether cotton, wool, silk, or linen.
The yarn for the warp and woof threads are prepared on
different machines, the warp thread being made the stronger,
as it is subject to a greater strain.
White cotton cloth is bleached after weaving.
Flax. — The linen cloth and linen thread we have is made
from flax, which in turn is gotten from the flax plant.
This plant is from twenty to forty inches high, with long,
narrow leaves branching only at the top, with bright blue
flowers. The seeds of the flax are known as linseed, and
are much used for oil.
372 HANDBOOK OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE
The stalks are to be pulled before the capsules are quite
ripe, when the stalks of the plant have become yellow, and
are about two-thirds their height. The stalks are pulled
from the roots, not cut ; the seeds are then separated from
the stalks, and the stalks are sunk in water and kept down
by weights, as nothing is lighter than flax, until the fibre,
which is to be used, is partly separated from the woody
core. It is then taken out, and by a method known as
scutching the fibre is entirely freed.
The spinning and weaving is the same as for cotton.
Page 181
Presented as published in 1900. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Cotton grows in warm climates, and the seed is sown in March or April, and early in June the plant begins to bloom. The blossom resembles the hollyhock, and changes its color in twenty-four hours from pale straw color to a clear pink. After the flowers fall the pods, or bolls, grow rapidly, and burst open when ripe, showing the fleecy cotton ready for picking.
After the cotton is gathered it is exposed to the sun until quite dry, and the seeds are separated from the fibres of the cotton. The fibres are next separated from each other, and freed from dust as nearly as possible.
It is now in the form of a very clean, light, downy substance, but the fibre is not parallel. To effect this it is carded or combed straight. After the carding the cotton leaves the carding engine in a small, delicate roll called a "sliver, which has to be changed into rovings," or still more delicate threads, which are so thin that they have a slight twist given them, which converts them into a loose kind of spongy thread, which is spun into yarn. In making thread the yarn is doubled and twisted more than for weaving into cloth, as greater strength is required. It is washed, bleached, dyed, and reeled on to bobbins, and finally spooled. In spooling, after the machine tender has set the spool on the spindle, and attached the end of the thread from the bobbin, the machine does the rest. It runs on evenly, just two hundred yards, and at the right time and place cuts the fine slit in the edge of the spool, fastens the thread in it, cuts it off, and drops it in a tray, after which the spools are labelled and packed.
When the yarn is to be woven into cotton cloth, there are many intermediate steps to be taken after the spinning is completed, such as dressing, beaming, winding, and warping.
Besides the dressing, there are many curious machines employed to prepare the yarn for the loom, and many of these operations are nearly alike in all the manufacture of textiles, whether cotton, wool, silk, or linen.
The yarn for the warp and woof threads are prepared on different machines, the warp thread being made the stronger, as it is subject to a greater strain.
White cotton cloth is bleached after weaving.
Flax. — The linen cloth and linen thread we have is made from flax, which in turn is gotten from the flax plant.
This plant is from twenty to forty inches high, with long, narrow leaves branching only at the top, with bright blue flowers. The seeds of the flax are known as linseed, and are much used for oil.
The stalks are to be pulled before the capsules are quite ripe, when the stalks of the plant have become yellow, and are about two-thirds their height. The stalks are pulled from the roots, not cut ; the seeds are then separated from the stalks, and the stalks are sunk in water and kept down by weights, as nothing is lighter than flax, until the fibre, which is to be used, is partly separated from the woody core. It is then taken out, and by a method known as scutching the fibre is entirely freed.
The spinning and weaving is the same as for cotton.