dust and impurities fall. The cotton, thus beaten or batted, is called batting. Other qualities are passed through a hollow conical machine called a willow, or machines with other names that answer the same purpose, in which the cotton is pulled about and shaken by the action of spikes upon a revolving axis, the dust and impurities as they separate falling through a grating, and being blown through a shoot by a strong current of air created by a fan blower. The cotton at the same time is passed through another shoot to be subjected to the succeeding operations of further cleaning, or to be delivered to the carding machine. The further cleaning, called scutching, is similar in principle to the willowing, the operation being more thoroughly accomplished by beating with blunt knives upon an axis revolving with great rapidity. The cotton is regularly fed to the machine by being spread in equal quantities upon the feeding apron, which carries it on in a broad layer till it is taken up by a pair of rollers, and thus presented to the beating knives; in a second part of the machine the same operation is repeated, and as the cotton passes out it is received by the spreading or lapping machine, in which it is flattened into a filmy sheet of uniform thickness and then wound upon a roller. As one roller is filled it is taken away to the carding machine, and an empty one is set in its place. This process is conducted with such perfect regularity, that the weight of the cotton fed to the machine determines the fineness of the thread twist was sold to the weavers, who made use of hand looms to convert it into cloth. In England also, though the power loom, the remarkable invention of a clergyman unskilled in mechanics, was in use, its employment was in establishments distinct from those in which | the cotton was spun into yarn. The construction of this loom was unknown in the United States, and it was impossible to obtain any plan of it. In 1812 Francis C. Lowell of Boston, lately returned from England and Scotland, determined to introduce the weaving of the cloth in this country, and in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Patrick T. Jackson, set about the invention of a power loom. After numerous attempts, they succeeded in producing in the autumn of 1812 a satisfactory model; and procuring the services of a skilful mechanic, Paul Moody, afterward well known as the head of the machine shop at Lowell, they decided upon building a mill to work it. Finding it would be more profitable to combine the operation of spinning with the weaving, they built at Waltham, Mass., in 1813, a factory for about 1,700 spindles, and furnished it with looms also for weaving. This factory was probably the first in the world that combined all the processes necessary for converting the raw cotton into finished cloth. The first cotton mill in Lowell was erected in 1822.-The operations of preparing cotton for the loom are too numerous and complicated to admit of more than a very general description. As the bags or bales are opened at the mills, the first process is to mix thoroughly the cot-afterward produced. The carding process has ton of the same staple and general qualities, that the result may be of perfectly uniform character. This is sometimes done in the following manner: The contents of a bale are spread uniformly over a space upon the floor prepared for it, and upon the layer thus made another bale is emptied and spread, and upon this another, and so on, the whole being continually trodden down by men and boys. The pile thus made is called a bing, and as the cotton is required for the mill it is raked down from the top to the bottom on one side of the pile, thus securing a mixture of the contents of all the bales. The mixing should be made with reference to the kind of yarn required, whether for warp or weft, coarse or fine, &c., and the sorting of the cotton for this purpose requires experience and good judgment. Some cottons, particularly those of long and short fibres, cannot be made to draw, rove, or spin well together. The cotton taken from the bing is too impure for spinning until it has been passed through several processes, by which the dirt is winnowed out and the matted lumps are opened and the fibres loosened and cleaned. Different methods are employed to effect this result, according to the quality of the fibre. The finest, which are intended for the most delicate yarns and laces, are beaten by hand with twigs upon a frame; the surface of the frame is a sort of network through which the already been referred to as perfected by Arkwright. It is one of the most ingenious of the operations of this manufacture. The improved machines consist of a large drum covered with cards of wire teeth revolving in a box, which is lined with cards of teeth that come nearly in contact with those upon the drum; or four small cylinders covered with cards are placed within the same box, and made to revolve in an opposite direction to the large cylinder and at a different velocity. Stationary cards are also fixed to a part of the upper lining of the box. The machine is fed by a pair of rollers, which unwind the sheet of cotton from the roller of the spreading machine, and pass it into the cards. These lay out the fibres in one direction, and leave behind upon the stationary cards lumps and imperfections that have escaped the other cleaning operations. As the fibres are carried over on the large cylinder, they are gathered and taken in a fine fleece by the teeth of another cylinder called a doffer, which revolves slowly in a contrary direction. When this has made half a revolution the cotton is stripped from it by a rapidly vibrating toothed knife or comb, that extends the whole length of the doffer. It removes the cotton in a fleecy ribbon, and this, called a card-end or sliver, is drawn through a small funnel which consolidates it, and then between rollers which compress and elongate it, and finally deliver it into a tin cylinder. Cards are of various degrees of fineness according to the quality of yarn required; and for fine spinning two machines are used, the one coarse, called a breaker, succeeded by another called a finishing card. But the finest work of this kind accomplished by machinery is done by the combing machine of Heilman, patented in France. With this the short fibres and all impurities are separated from the long-stapled cotton, and the most perfect wool is prepared suitable for the manufacture of the finest muslins and laces. The principle of drawing out the sliver and repeatedly doubling this to produce a uniform roving has already been explained. Various machines have been introduced for twisting this roving and winding it upon bobbins. The fly frame, which came into use in 1817, is one of the most ingenious and efficient, and has taken the place of the old roving machine of Arkwright. In this frame spindles are set vertically in one or two rows at equal distances apart, each passing through a bobbin which is loosely attached to it, and has a play equal to its length up and down the spindle. At the top of the spindle is suspended a fly with two dependent legs, one of which is solid, and merely a counterpoise to the other, which is hollow, and admits through it the roving, which enters the fly by an eye in the centre, immediately above the top of the spindle. As the spindle revolves it carries the fly with it, thus twisting and winding the roving at the same time around the bobbin. The supply by the rollers is exactly proportioned to the speed of the spindles, which is uniform, and thus the twist is even in equal lengths; but as the fly winds the roving around the bobbin, and this consequently increases in circumference, the loosely twisted yarn would be more and more strained in the winding, were it not for ingenious contrivances which give a varying revolution to the bobbin exactly adapted to the circumference it has attained. It has moreover an alternating motion up and down the spindle, by which the roving is wound upon it in perfectly even layers. This machine, in the perfect adaptation of its parts to each other, and the mathematical accuracy of its operations, furnishes a most instructive study in this department of mechanics. The rovings are next to be spun into yarn, and this is accomplished either by the mule jenny, already partially described, or by the throstle machine. This is similar to the bobbin and fly frame in principle. As the roving is unwound from the bobbins, it is again elongated by passing between three pairs of rollers which revolve at different velocities, and it then passes through an eye in the foot of another flyer, which carries it around another bobbin as it also twists it. This bobbin has no motion adjusted to that of the spindle, but revolves with some friction upon the spindle, being drawn round by the thread, as the pull becomes sufficient to overcome the friction. The revolutions of the spindle in some machines are 5,000 in a minute, and its production in a week is then estimated about 27 hanks of No. 32. In consequence of the uncertain strain in winding up on the bobbin, the yarns are more likely to break than when they are spun by the mule, and this machine has consequently proved best adapted for the finer qualities of yarn. On account of the extra attention it required, and the time lost in the interruption to the spinning, as the carriage was run back and the yarns spun in the drawing out were wound upon the cops, the throstle frame was regarded as the most economical for spinning the coarse qualities as low as No. 32; but the improved self-acting mule has proved so much more economical to attend that it is now advantageously employed for spinning even the coarser yarns. As long ago as 1792 yarns were spun with the mule in Manchester, of the fineness of 278 hanks to the pound of 840 yards each. It was sold to the muslin manufacturers of Glasgow at 20 guineas the pound. These hanks are prepared by the next process, called reeling. The cops from the mule, or the bobbins from the throstle frame, are set in a frame so that they can be wound off upon a large six-sided reel, extending along the top of the same frame. With a reel of the circumference of 14 yard, 560 revolutions give the length of a hank. Many of these are wound along the length of the reel at the same time. When taken off they are weighed separately, and the weight of each designates the fineness of the yarn. The number expresses the number of hanks required to weigh a pound. The coarsest yarns weigh about half a pound to the hank; but the common qualities for coarse spinning run from 10 to 40 to the pound. The finest spinning seldom exceeds 300 hanks to the pound. No yarn finer than No. 350 was made in England previous to 1840. It has since been made as fine as No. 2,150, but even No. 600 is too delicate to be handled or to serve any useful purpose. The finer yarns are singed by being run through a gas flame; they are then passed over a brush, and run through a hole in a piece of brass just large enough to admit the yarn. Any knot or bulge stops the yarn, and the defect is immediately remedied. The hanks are made up into cubical bundles of 5 or 10 lbs., and pressed and tied, when they are ready for the loom or for being twisted into thread, properly so called. Of this there are several kinds, as sewing thread, lace thread, stocking thread, &c. They are all produced by doubling and twisting together two yarns or more, and by machines very similar to the throstle frame; the yarns as they are twisted are passed through water or a weak solution of starch, which gives more firmness and strength to the thread. For further data connected with this manufacture, see the articles CALICO, CALENDERING, and LOOM.-Cotton is distinguished from linen by the peculiar structure of its fibre when seen under a powerful microscope, the form being flattened, crooked, and | Missouri, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, or the District of Columbia. The following totals for the United States, from the federal census, will afford a comparison of this most important industry with its condition prior to the civil war: $57,285,534 $34,835,056 $177,489,739 $115,681,774 $65,501,687 A comparison of the figures of 1870 with those of 1860 presents several notable circumstances, chief among which is a falling off in the number of establishments in 1870 of about 12§ per cent. This may be attributed to the natural tendency of industries of this nature to concentrate in great establishments; and also to the fact that at the beginning of the war many cotton factories were transformed into woollen mills. This view is strengthened by the fact that the number of looms was 241 per cent., and the number of spindles more than 28 per cent., greater in 1870 than in 1860. The increase in the amount of capital employed was about 30 per cent., which has been attributed to the increased value of land, buildings, and machinery, while the increase in the wages paid amounted to nearly 43 per cent. There was a decrease in the quantity of raw cotton consumed amounting to 24,402,718 lbs., or nearly 6 per cent., while there was an increase in the value amounting for all materials to $54,451,402, or more than 94 per cent. The increase in the total cost of labor and raw materials amounted to $69,557,296, or about 85 per cent. The value of the goods produced in 1870 was $61,807,965, or 53 per cent. greater than in 1860. Direct comparison cannot be made between the quantities produced in 1870 and 1860, owing to the paucity of the details in the returns of the latter year; but the following statement shows that in 1870 a greater quantity of goods was produced from a smaller amount of raw material, which is explained by the average lighter weight of the fabrics: shrivelled, while that of the linen fibre is round In 1870, 13,341 more hands were employed to manufacture into goods 24,400,000 lbs. less cotton than in 1860. The average annual wages was $288 per capita in 1870, and $196 in 1860, showing an increase of $92 per head per annum, or 47 per cent. In 1870 the value of the product per head of operatives was $1,341, and in 1860 $948, showing an increase in value of the per capita production of $363, or 38 per | dition of the cotton manufacturing interest in cent. With this gain of 38 per cent. in the the United States in 1870 is shown by the folvalue of the product of each hand, the average | lowing table from the census report, which is rehand gets 47 per cent. more wages. The con- | garded by leading authorities as very accurate: The amount of cotton used, the value of all | tant products, together with the value of all materials, and the amount of the most impor- | products, were as follows: 3,249,523 66,400 764,965 4,518,403 177,525 2,070,318 20,000 4,950 1,584,625 375,048 748,525 Maine... 25,887,771 6,746,780 65,614,092 Pounds. Dollars. Yards. Yards. Dollars. Yards. Pounds. Yards. Yards. Pounds. The U. States. 398,308,257 111,736,936 478,204,513 34,533,462 489,250,053 30,301,087 73,018,045 39,275,244 349,814,592 177,489,739 Alabama. Arkansas. Connecticut... Delaware.. Georgia.. 1,039,321 2,843,000 1,088,767 53,125 22,562 8,818,651 52,655,693 8,338,677 34,279,875 1,281,780 11,367,664 1,671,309 27,296,710 14,026,334 704,733 2,396,000 2,504,758 13,739,847 Maryland.... 12,693,647 3,409,426 18,839,625 2,358,454 Massachusetts.. 130,654,040 37,371,599 22,123,147 12,434,858 229,613,105 926,000 629,025 251,550 1,247 90,550 564,240 10,496,677 4,852,808 2,108,952 33,712,996 13,690,000 113,803,458 59,493,153 1,712 275,461 206,202 529,573 234,445 New Hampshire 41,469,719 12,318,867 89,326,701 2,226,400 493,704 1,294,500 75,000 40,843,969 New Jersey.... 7,920,035 1,964,758 4,174,000 2,442,000 11,000,000 1,729,075| 3,120,950 New York..... 24,783,351 6,990,626 25,382,532 1,327,336 82,335,833 250,076 5,097,000 North Carolina. 4,238,276 963,809 3,954,607 Ohio.. 1,949,900 798,050 Pennsylvania... 32,953,318 10,724,052 65,706,865 Rhode Island.. 44,630,787 13,268,315 77,973,206 7,557,137 75,183,628 6,155,692 6,281,150 216.519 739,778 2,180,062 1,486,000 3,444,166 1,345,052 1,918,000 681,835 32,494,857 17,490,080 23,500 7,051 700 1,235,652 292,269 142,000 6,287,136 4,255,383 937,820 12,544,820 46,175 21,280 132,975 1,261,769 2,320,400 887,695 374,598 23,195 1,051,000 130,000 3,456,569 16,803 546,510 1,435,800 The details of this industry were more fully reported by the census of 1870 than at any former period. Besides the items in the above tables the following are given: 11,560,241 2,767,060 28 in the north and 12% in the south. This indicated a constant tendency to finer work as labor became more skilled and raw material more costly in proportion. Until within a few years the number of yarn was as coarse as No. 14 in a large part of the northern produc6,222,189 136,100 tion; the average size of yarn was estimated 5,234,260 to be No. 23 in 1860, No. 23 in 1850, and No. 409,900,806 20 in 1810.-Although England was among $10,910,672 the latest of all countries to receive the cotton manufacture, it is now without a competitor 11,118,127 in this industry. This has been attributed in 493,892 a large measure to the abundance of fuel and 5,057,454 iron which exist in combination in several Eng8,390,050 lish counties, but more especially in Lancashire, 906,068 7,921,449 the great seat of the cotton manufacturing in484,400 dustry. The better machinery now affords a 405,585 higher rate of production for the same yarn 13,940,895 than was formerly attainable. The exact period when the manufacture was introduced into England is uncertain; but as early as 1641 it had become established in Manchester, and even then cotton goods were exported. Its growth has been rapid and steady until the capital invested, by a recent estimate, has reached the sum of nearly £60,000,000. The number of cotton factories, machines, hands, &c., as reported by the government inspectors of factories in 1871, were as follows: 10,811,028 In 1869 Mr. B. F. Nourse, after a careful computation, reported the following results relating to the manufacture of cotton in this country: That the average annual consumption of cotton in the United States was at the rate of 65 lbs. per spindle; 60.7 lbs. per spindle in the northern and 138.12 in the southern states. The average size or number of yarn produced was 274 in the United States, 150 206 54 68,844 283,703 790 462 7,145 79 2,501 8,530 11,031 The "doubling spindles are for a secondary | were children under 13 years of age, inclu- ding 20,139 girls. The following table shows the number of spinning spindles running, the total weight of cotton spun, and the pounds per spindle in each year named: |