Part 8

Early records reveal that shortly after the year 1600 many of the colonies passed laws for the purpose of encouraging the sheep industry. In fact, some of them went so far as to prohibit the transportation of sheep or wool from one colony to another. However, our new sheep industry prospered, and well it should, for it had the backing of every prominent patriot of the early days. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Franklin all were enthusiastic advocates of sheep husbandry, for they knew that unless a people had a large domestic supply of wool they could not long remain independent or hope to gain independence from foreign countries. In fact, at one time Washington owned as many as one thousand sheep, and if he lived in the present day he would be regarded as a sheep baron. Wool, next to food, is the most vital necessity of a people, for when wars come wool becomes a contraband, and all foreign supplies are shut off. Thus, in stimulating a domestic wool supply the great wisdom of our early patriots was vindicated with the coming of the Revolutionary War. When that great struggle came our foreign wool supply was shut off, but on account of the foresight of these patriots in encouraging home production, our colonists had a supply ample for most of their needs.

We not only had the wool, but the housewife had learned the art of manufacturing wool into clothing by means of the spinning wheel, so that when our soldiers went forth in that great struggle, which was to bring to us independence, they were clad in garments made of American grown wool and manufactured by the good housewife during her hours of leisure.

When affairs became tranquil, following the close of the Revolution, settlement, which had largely been confined to the Atlantic coast, pushed westward farther and farther into the wilderness. Each of these settlers took with him his supply of sheep, for the purpose of furnishing wool for clothing and meat for food. In the early days wool was not grown for the purpose of sale, but to be used entirely by the family of the producer. However, when settlement reached the Mississippi River, conditions changed. Wool manufacturing had then been established in the land, and it became customary to raise wool to sell to these manufacturers, who had located along the Atlantic seaboard.

Why Does the Sheep Precede the Plow in Civilizing a Country?

In all countries the sheep has been the pioneer of civilization. They have settled and developed practically all new lands. In fact, so firmly established has been this rule that it seems almost necessary that the sheep should precede the plow, and thus prepare land for agriculture. The reason for this is that the sheep is a tractable animal and depends on man to guide its every step. It can endure hardships that would destroy other forms of animal life. However, the maintenance of a sheep industry requires an abundance of labor, and in this way settlement always follows the sheep. So has it been in foreign countries, and so was it in this country.

Where Does Most of Our Wool Come From?

Sheep came into our western states early in the seventies, at a time when these states were thinly settled, but following the sheep came the labor incident to its care, and thus the railroads, stores, cities and schoolhouses found their way into the land. Originally all of our sheep industry was east of the Mississippi River. Then for a time it was east of the Missouri River. To-day west of the Missouri River we have about 23,000,000 aged sheep, or more than one-half of the total in the United States. In the pioneer days the western sheep skirmished on the range for most of the food that it obtained. To-day conditions are different, and, while the sheep is on the range for a short time each year, it spends its summer in the National Forest, for which grazing a fee is paid to the Federal Government. Its winters are spent largely around the hay-stack of the farmer, and about fifty to sixty cents’ worth of hay is fed to each sheep in the West each winter. With the coming of spring the western sheep are divided into bands of about 1500, and each two bands are placed in care of three caretakers, who care for and protect the sheep either on the deeded land of the owner or on the land rented from the Federal Government.

How Much Wool Does America Produce Yearly?

So much for the history of our sheep. A few words now about wool. The total wool crop of the United States is approximately 300,000,000 pounds per year. The value of this crop is around $60,000,000 annually.

How Do We Get the Wool Off the Sheep?

With the coming of spring our sheep are driven to large central plants, where they are shorn by the use of machines driven by electricity or steam power. One man shears about one hundred and fifty sheep per day. For this he receives eight cents per head. When the wool is taken off the sheep it is gathered up and carefully tied with string made of paper. The tied fleece is then dropped into an elevator, and is carried up about ten feet, where it is dropped into a large sack about three feet in diameter and seven feet long. In this sack there is always a wool tramper, who keeps tramping the fleeces down, so that about forty fleeces are finally put into each sack, making the weight of the sack approximately three hundred pounds. As these sacks are filled they are carefully stored in a dry shed, and, when shearing is completed, are hauled to the railroad station and shipped to the great wool centers of Boston or Philadelphia. While the bulk of the wool in the United States is produced west of the Missouri River, that territory manufactures very little wool. So the western sheepman, who is thus forced to grow his wool in the western states, pays about two cents a pound freight on it back to the eastern market, where it is sold and later manufactured into cloth. A part of this same clothing is then shipped west, to be sold to the very man, in some instances, who produced the wool out of which it is made.

American wool, taken as a whole, is the best wool grown in the world. It is not as soft as some Australian wool, but all of it possesses a greater strength than foreign wools, and it has long since been determined that clothing made of American wool will give better service than that made of foreign wool. Of the wool used in the United States for the manufacturing of clothing we produce about 70 per cent and import about 30 per cent.

How Much Does the Wool In a Suit of Clothes Cost?

It is customary for the person who buys clothing made of wool to believe that the value of the wool in the cloth is what makes the clothing seem expensive. However, if we take a man’s suit made of medium-weight cloth, such as is worn in November, we find that it requires about nine pounds of average wool to make the suit. For this wool the sheepman receives an average of seventeen cents per pound, so that out of the entire suit the man who produces the material out of which the suit is made receives a total of $1.53. A suit such as is here described would be of all wool and free from shoddy or any wool substitute. It would be a suit that would be sold by the storekeeper at $25.00, and if you had it made by the tailor he would charge you $35.00. Yet the wool-grower furnished all the material out of which the suit was made, and received as his share but $1.53. Thus it will be clear to the person who buys clothing and reads these lines that no longer can the blame for the high cost of clothing be laid at the door of the wool-grower.

While the wool-using population of the world is increasing very rapidly, the number of wool-producing sheep in the world is decreasing. Ordinarily this would mean that a point would be reached where the supply of wool would be totally inadequate to meet the needs of the public. However, this unfortunate possibility is being averted by the energy and thrift of the sheepmen in breeding sheep that produce more and better wool than was the case in the past. The sheep which Columbus brought to this country, and, in fact, all the sheep of the world in that day, produced wool of very coarse, inferior quality, and but very little of it. One hundred years ago our sheep did not average three pounds of wool per head, but by careful breeding and better feeding we have brought the average fleece up to slightly more than seven pounds. Of course, some sheep produce decidedly more wool than this, but the fact that in one hundred years we have more than doubled the amount of wool that a sheep produces and increased its quality very materially speaks well for the ingenuity and determination of our sheep producers. Probably as time goes on the average fleece may be still further increased, so that in the next twenty-five years it is not too much to hope that our sheep will produce on an average of one pound more wool than they now do.

Of course, as wool comes from the sheep, it naturally contains much dirt. The sheep have run on the range or in the open pasture during much of the year, and dust and dirt has settled into the wool. Then, besides producing wool, the sheep excrete into the wool a fatty substance known as wool fat. When the fleece is taken from the sheep and sent to the market the first thing that the manufacturer does with the fleece is to wash out all this foreign matter. The foreign matter is of a considerable quantity, for 60 per cent of wool as it comes from the sheep is dirt and grease, so that only 40 per cent of the sheep’s fleece represents wool fibres.

This wool fibre is a very delicate affair, being made up of thousands of little cells, one laid on top of the other. On the surface of the fibre are a lot of scales arranged something like the scales on a fish. In the process of manufacturing the scales on one fibre lock with scales on another fibre, and in that way the fibres are held together in the piece of cloth.

When wool is received at the factory it is in fleeces, and each fleece contains different kinds of fibres--long and short--coarse and fine, and it is necessary that these should be sorted into different kinds or grades, as may be desired--perhaps six or eight different kinds, according to the particular uses to which the different qualities are to be put.

The fleece is spread out on a table, the center of which is covered with wire netting, and through this netting part of the dust and other matter from the wool falls while the sorting is going on. Sorters tear with the hands the different parts of the fleece from each other and separate them into piles, according to their different qualities.

All unwashed wool contains a fatty or greasy matter called yolk, which is a secretion from the skin of the sheep. The effect of this yolk is to prevent the fibres of the wool from matting, except at the ends, where, of course, it collects dust, and, forming a sort of a coating, really serves as a protection to the rest of the fleece while on the sheep’s back.

After the wool is sorted it is next cleansed or scoured, in order to remove all this yolk, dirt and foreign matter, and this is accomplished by passing the wool, by means of automatic rakes, through a washing machine, consisting of a set of three or four vats or bowls, which contain a cleansing solution of warm, soapy water, until all the grease and dirt have been removed.

Each bowl has its set of rollers, which squeezes out the water from the wool before it passes into the next bowl. Having passed through the last bowl and set of rollers the wool is carried on an apron made of slats on chains, to the drying chamber, called the dryer, where is taken out most of the moisture.

The wool is now blown through pipes or carried on trucks to the carding room.

~DIFFERENCE IN WOOLENS AND WORSTEDS~

From this point the wool follows one of two different processes of manufacture--that of making into worsteds or that of making into woolens.

Speaking in a general way, worsted fabrics are made of yarns in which the fibres all lie parallel, and woolens are made of yarns in which the fibres cross or are mixed. Ordinarily, worsteds are made from long staple wools, and woolens from short staple wools.

By means of the comb the fibre is still further straightened out, the short stock and noil, or nibs, are removed, and when the sliver comes from the combs most of the fibres are parallel to each other. A number of the slivers taken from the comb are then put through two further operations of gilling, and wound into a large ball, which is called a finished top.

The next process in the manufacture of worsteds is carding. In this process the wool is passed between cylinders and rollers, from which project the ends of many small wires. These cylinders revolve in opposite directions. The result is the opening, separating and straightening of the fibres; and the wool is delivered in soft strands, which are taken off by the doffer comb and wound upon a wooden roll into the shape of a large ball, known as a card-ball or card-sliver, or put into a revolving can. The sliver from a number of these balls or cans is now taken and put through what is known as the gilling machine, which to a degree straightens the fibres.

From the gilling machine the wool comes off in soft strands. Four strands are then taken to the balling machine, where is made a large ball, ready for the combing. It takes eighteen of these balls to make a set or fill up the comb.

The dyeing is done in three ways--in the top, in the thread or skein after being spun, or in the piece after it is woven. If the wool is to be stock dyed--that is, dyed in the top--it is sent to the dyehouse to be dyed the shade required, and afterwards returned to be gilled and recombed ready for the drawing.

Up to this point there has been no twist given to the wool, nor any appearance of a thread. The top, the soft untwisted end, is now run through the drawing machine, the process sometimes consisting of nine distinct operations, and is drawn and redrawn until reduced to the size required for its special purpose; and the stock is then delivered to the spinning room on spools, and is called roving.

In the spinning the process of drawing continues until the twisted thread is reduced to the size required, which, either singly or twisted together in two, three or four strands, is to be used for weaving.

The yarn is then very carefully inspected, and all imperfections which would show in the finished goods are removed, and, if it is to be dyed in the skein, the yarn is taken to a reel, where the skeins are made ready for the dyehouse.

~HOW CLOTH IS MADE FROM WOOL~

The threads must now be prepared for the loom, in order that the actual weaving may be done. The thread is used in two ways in weaving--as warp, which is the thread which runs lengthwise of the cloth, and as filling, or woof, which runs across the cloth from side to side.

The warp threads--the threads which run lengthwise of the cloth--are sized and wound upon large reels, and from these transferred to a large wooden roll called the warp beam, which holds all the warp threads, usually several thousands.

The filling threads are put on shuttle bobbins and placed in the shuttles to be refilled by the operatives as required, and as the weaving progresses.

The warp beam is then taken to the drawing-in room, where these several thousand threads are drawn through wire heddles in a frame called the harness, then drawn through a wire reed. The completed warp beam is now ready for the loom.

The harnesses are placed in the loom, and by means of what is called the “head-motion,” part of the threads are raised and part are lowered. This allows the filling shuttles to pass above some threads and below others, filling out the pattern required.

The cloth, having been made in such length as is desired, is taken from the loom, and, by what is known as burling and mending, any knots or threads woven in wrongly are removed, and any imperfections which have been discovered through a careful examination are corrected.

The web or cloth is scoured or washed and the oil and any foreign matter removed.

Undressed fabrics would now be fulled. This consists of running cloth through a fulling machine, where, moistened with a specially prepared soap, it is subjected to a great pressure and pounding, which aids in giving the required finish.

There are different kinds of finishes which require different treatments, and it would be impracticable for us to dwell in detail upon this matter here.

If dyed in the piece, the web or cloth is taken to the dyehouse and dyed. It is thoroughly rinsed, all moisture is extracted from it, and it is dried.

After drying the cloth is run through a machine by which it is brushed and sheared, the brushing lifting the long fibres, and the shearing cutting them off at even length. The cloth is put through the press, which irons it out, giving it the lustre or the finish that is desired. It is examined again for further imperfections, and if such have occurred they are corrected.

Measuring, weighing, rolling and tagging follow, and the cloth is packed and ready for the market.

Woolens are made from short staple wools, known as clothing wools, and in the finished woolens the fibres of the yarns cross or are mingled together. In the case of woolens, after the scouring, it is frequently necessary to remove burrs or other vegetable matter from the wool. To accomplish this the wool is dipped in a bath of chloride of aluminum or sulphuric acid solution, then the moisture is extracted and the wool is put through a drier, where the temperature must be at least 212 degrees. This heat carbonizes the foreign substance, but has little effect on the animal fibres of the wool.

Next, an ingenious machine called the burr picker removes the burr.

Sometimes there is to be a blend of the wool with other stocks, and in that case the several different wools are mixed together.

~HOW WOOLEN CLOTH IS DYED~

Dyeing of woolens is done in three ways--in the wool, in the thread after it is spun, or in the piece after it is woven. If the wool is to be “dyed in the wool” it is now conveyed to the dyehouse, dyed the shade required, then returned to the mixing room.

During the process of scouring, when the yolk was removed, a large part of the natural oil of the wool was also eliminated, and, in order to restore this lubricant, the wool is sprinkled with an oil emulsion, and the mixing picker thoroughly blends the wools.

From here the wool goes to the cardroom, and by means of the carding machine the fibres are carded and drawn and delivered to the finisher in a broad, flat sheet. By means of the condenser it is divided into narrow bands, and the wool--free as yet from twist--comes out in soft strands. These strands or threads are called roping.

Now comes the mule spinning. The roping passes through rolls by which it is drawn and twisted to the size required, and wound on paper cop tubes or bobbins. Such of the yarn as is to be used for warp is then spooled from the bobbins to dresser spools. It is sized and wound upon large reels: from these transferred to the warp beam, as in the case of worsteds.

The processes of drawing-in, preparation for weaving, burling and mending are practically the same as in the case of worsteds.

~HOW THE CLOTH IS MADE PERFECT~

The finishing processes of woolens, like the finishing processes of worsteds, vary with different fabrics, some fabrics being scoured and cleansed in the washers before fulling, others going to the fulling mill without cleansing. After fulling, the cloth is again washed and rinsed, and if necessary to remove any vegetable fibres it is carbonized.

Napping or gigging raises the fibres to the nap desired. Gigging is done by means of a wire napping machine or teasel gig, which raises the ends of the fibres on the face of the cloth. The teasel is a vegetable product about the shape of a pine cone, and it is interesting to note that no mechanical contrivance has ever been invented to equal it for the purpose.

The napping which has been raised by the teasel is sheared or cut to a proper length by machine. The cloth is pressed, and, if it is desired to finish it with lustre, it is wound upon copper cylinders and steam is forced through it at a high pressure.

Next the cloth is dyed, if it is to be piece-dyed--that is, dyed in the piece. If the cloth is a mixture, the wool was dyed immediately after the scouring. In worsteds the dyeing is done either just after it has been subjected to the first combing processes, or the yarn is dyed in the skein or hank.

In the dry finishing the cloth is finished with various kinds of finishes desired, and it is steamed, brushed, sheared and pressed. Another examination for any imperfections or defects follows; the cloth is measured, packed and tagged and is ready for the market.

The difference between worsteds and woolens is principally that in the threads or yarns from which worsteds are made the fibres of the wool lie parallel, one to another, being made from combed wool, from which the short fibres have been removed; and woolens are made from yarns in which the fibres cross and are matted and intermixed. When finished the effect of worsteds and woolens is materially different. Upon examination it will be found that the worsted thread resembles a wire in evenness, while the woolen thread is uneven and irregular.

A worsted fabric when finished has a clear, bright, well defined pattern, seems close and firmly woven, and is of a pronounced dressy effect; while woolen cloths are softer, they are more elastic, the colors are more blended, the threads are not so easily distinguishable and the general effect is duller.

Why Can’t We See in the Dark?