Page:EB1911 - Volume 28.djvu/842

Rh press either hot or cold. After pressing dry steaming is frequently necessary to take away cakiness and a certain false lustre which sometimes develops. Final cuttling completes the finishing operations.

Worsted cloth finishing is very similar to woollen cloth finishing save that some of the operations are less severe. Mending, scouring,

milling and tendering are similar. The raising as a rule is effected by brushing, although it is by no means uncommon to raise worsteds on the gig. Cropping, crabbing, pressuring and steaming are the same as for woollen fabrics. Of course the real difference between the woollen and the worsted cloth is due to the selection of the right material, to correct roving, spinning and fabric structure: finishing simply comes as a “developer” in the case of the woollen fabric, while in the case of the typical worsted fabric it simply serves as a “clearer,” the cloth really being made in the loom. A woollen cloth as it leaves the loon is unsightly and in a sense may be said to be made in the finishing, although it is truer to say “developed” in the finishing: in the case of the worsted cloth it is altogether otherwise.

A cotton warp, lustre weft style, is treated altogether differently from either of the foregoing. It is first crabbed, then steamed, then

scoured and dried, then singed by being passed over a red-hot copper plate or through gas jets, then scoured again, and if necessary dyed. It is then washed, dried, then tentered and finally pressed. Of course these operations are applied with discrimination to the varied styles of goods made in the Bradford district. Thus, for instance, the finishing of an “Italian” may be considerably varied from the foregoing, being more complex, while other styles, such as plain all-wool goods, are treated very simply.

It will be gathered from the foregoing remarks that the varieties of wool textures are many and very different in character. This is perhaps realized best by contrasting a heavy melton cloth weighing say 24-30 oz. per yard with a fine mohair texture weighing say 2-3 oz. per yard. None the less remarkable is the difference in appearance of varieties of wool textures. A rough Harris tweed, for example, contrasts strangely with a smooth fine wool Italian. Of course these differences are not created in any one process or merely by the selection of the raw material or yarn. Every process of manufacture must be directed to attain the desired end, and it is well to realize that huge businesses have been built up upon what, by the outsider, would only be regarded as unimportant details.

The principal styles of woollen cloth are tweeds, meltons, Venetians, beavers, doeskins, buckskins, cassimeres and diagonals. The largest class is the tweed, as this ranged from very expensive coatings and trousering to the cheap styles made of the re-manufactured materials. Tweeds for ladies' wear also form a large class.

The principal styles of worsted cloths are coatings and trousering, delaines, voiles, merinos, cashmeres, lastings, crêpe-de-chines, amazons, Orleans, lustres of various types (plain and figured), alpacas, Italians, moreens, &c., &c. Many of these are made entirely of worsted yarns, but others are compound so far as material or yarn is concerned. Thus amazons are made from mule-spun worsted warp and a woollen weft. Lustres are made from fine hard spun cotton warp and English or mohair weft, and so on. Perhaps the most interesting point to note is the skill developed by English designers during recent years. Fifty years ago the continental designer ruled the market. To-day the English designer can at least claim an equality with and in some respects is already considered as superior to his continental rival.

Prior to the development of native ingenuity and skill England

was remarkable as a wool-growing country, most of the wool being shipped to the continent, so that it may be said that the wool of

England met the skill of southern Europe in Flanders, which thus became the great textile centre so far as wool was concerned. With the development of native skill under the fostering care of several of the English monarchs—notably Edward III. and James I.—it was but natural to expect that endeavours would be made to manufacture English wool at home and export the woven cloth. With the remarkable colonial developments of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, in conjunction with the invention of the spinning frame and power-loom, this expectation was most fully realized, at least so far as ordinary wearing fabrics were concerned. Latterly, however, with the development of skill in newly developed countries, the tendency has been to partially revert to the old conditions. Thus in 1850 Bradford's chief export was cloth, in 1875 the yarn trade had markedly developed, in 1900 the top trade was well established, and to-day Bradford has a large wool export trade. Fabrics are made for the home and general export trade; yarns are exported mostly to the continent; tops and wool mostly to the United States of America.

The following tables give a useful idea of (a) the sources of supply of the raw material, wool, also of the changes which have taken

place in the trade since 1800; (b) the changes in monetary value of the chief sorts of wool during recent years; (c) the number of factories and of persons employed in the textile industries during the past half-century; (d) growth of the export trade in woollens and worsteds of the United Kingdom during the past century. For further details see Hooper's admirable tables now issued by the Bradford Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to the development of the factory system and the remarkable development in textile appliances at the end of the 18th and beginning

of the 19th centuries, the textile industries were scattered all over the country, only in some few cases more or less accidental centralizing occurring. To-day it may be said that the wool industry is centralized where the coal supply of south Yorkshire meets the wool supply of north Yorkshire, i.e. in the Bradford and Leeds districts, though much of the wool dealt with in this district is imported and consequently can only be said to follow the trend already established. Of course there are wool manufacturing districts other than those mentioned. Scotland is noted for its Scotch tweeds manufactured in the Hawick and Galashiels district, the West of England still makes some magnificent all-wool cloths; Norwich guards a remnant of its once flourishing worsted industry and Leicester has developed a remarkable hosiery trade. Again, firms whose existence is due to individual enterprise are still studded up and down the country, and manage to compete fairly well with the main manufacturing districts. Since about 1856, however, there can be no doubt that the English wool trade has been centring more and more round Bradford, while the remanufactured materials and the blanket trade is centred round Batley and Dewsbury. Wales retains only a fragment of its once large flannel trade, this trade now being located in Yorkshire, with the exception of one or two individual firms elsewhere. The carpet trade is centred in Halifax, Kidderminster and Glasgow. Whether further centralization may be looked for is questionable. Specialization undoubtedly favours Bradford, as there the wool, top, yarn and fabric branches of the industry are individually developed to great advantage; but the development of means of communication and some such factor as electric or water power may radically disturb the present balance of the industry.