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,
Worsted cloth finishing.
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
Lustre finishing.
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
Varieties of woollens and worsteds.
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
Wool tops, yarns and fabrics.
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
Statistics.
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
Centres of industry.
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. (A. F. B.)
Imports of Wool into the United Kingdom from the Principal Countries, Foreign and Colonial.
