Under the term "textile" are included the fibrous substances that can be spun into threads, and woven or felted into cloth. Some of these, like the covering of the sheep, goat, and llama, or the cocoon of the silk-worm, are of animal origin; others, like cotton furze, the husk of the cocoanut, and the bast of the flax-plant are vegetable products. Their use in the manufacture of cloth antedates the period at which written history begins; it probably begins with the time when primitive man gradually ceased to have the hairy covering necessary to protect him from the conditions of climate and weather.

As body coverings all these substances are dependent on a single principle, namely—they are poor conductors of heat; that is, they do not permit the natural heat of the body to pass away quickly, nor do they allow sudden changes of the temperature to reach the body quickly. In other words, because of the artificial covering which mankind alone requires, bodily heat is not dissipated more rapidly than it is created; if it were, the covering would be worthless. A suit of clothes made of steel wire, for instance, because it conducts heat so rapidly, might chill, or perhaps heat the body more quickly than the open air.

With respect to warming qualities wool surpasses all other textiles. It is employed for clothing in every part of the world and by nearly all peoples. Cotton is used mainly also for body coverings, but it is inferior to wool for protection against cold. It is used by practically all peoples, savage and civilized, outside of the frigid zones. Linen is inferior both to cotton and wool for clothing; its use is also restricted by its great cost. Silk is used mainly for ornamental cloths. Hemp is used mainly for cordage, and the use of ramie, jute, and sisal hemp is confined mainly to the manufacture of very coarse cloths and rugs.

Cotton.—The cotton fibre of commerce is the lint surrounding the seeds of several species of Gossypium, plants belonging to the same natural order as the marshmallow and the hollyhock. The cultivated species have been carried from India to different parts of the world, but cotton-bearing plants are also native to the American. A native tree-cotton, known as Barbados cotton, occurs in the West Indies; a herbaceous cotton-plant is known to have been cultivated in Peru long before the discovery of Columbus.

More than four hundred years before the Christian era Herodotus describes it and mentions a gin for separating the lint from the seed. Nearchus, an admiral serving under Alexander the Great, brought to Europe specimens of cotton cloth, and in the course of time it became an article of commerce among Greek and Roman merchants.

The cotton-plant requires warmth, moisture, and a long season. It also thrives best near the sea. It grows better, on the whole, in subtropical rather than in tropical regions, and the difference is due probably to the longer days and higher temperature of the subtropical latitudes. In the United States the northern limit is approximately the thirty-eighth parallel. The seeds are planted, as a rule, during the first three weeks of April and the first two of May. The plants bloom about the middle of June; the boll or pod matures during July, and bursts about the first of August. The picking begins in August.

The yield and the quality of the textile depend not only on conditions of the soil, but on locality. In the river flood-plains of the southern United States the yield is about two bales per acre; on the bluff lands it is but little more than one, unless unusual care is taken in the preparation of the land. The islands off the Carolina coast produce a very fine long-staple variety, commercially known as sea island cotton. A district in China produces a good fibre of brownish color known as nankeen, named for the city of Nanking, whence formerly it was exported. The valley of Piura River, Peru, produces varieties of long-staple cotton that in quality closely resemble silk.

The fibre of ordinary American cotton is about seven-eighths of an inch long; it is made into the fabrics commercially known as "domestics" and "prints," or calico. If the fibre averages a little longer than the common grades it is reserved for canvas. Ordinary Peruvian cotton has a fibre nearly two inches long; it is used in the manufacture of hosiery and balbriggan underwear, and also to adulterate wool. The long-staple cotton of the Piura Valley is bought by British manufacturers at a high price, and used in the webbing of rubber tires and hose. Egyptian cotton is very fine and is used mainly in the manufacture of thread and the finer grades of balbriggan underwear. Sea island fibre is nearly two inches long and is used almost wholly in the making of thread and lace.

The introduction of cotton cultivation resulted in very far-reaching consequences both from a political as well as an economic stand-point. The invention of the steam-engine by Watt gave England an enormous mechanical power. To utilize this the cotton industry was wrested from Hindustan; the mills were concentrated in Manchester and Lancashire; the cotton-fields were transferred to the United States.

As a result, the plains of Hindustan were strewn with the bodies of starved weavers and spinners, but a great industry grew into existence in England. The invention of spinning machinery by Arkwright, Crompton, and Hargreaves, and the gradual improvement of the power-loom, greatly reduced the cost of making the cloth and, at the same time, enormously increased the demand for it.

In the United States the consequences were far more serious. The invention of the engine or "gin" for separating the lint from the seed made cotton cultivation highly profitable.[31] The negro slaves, who had been scattered throughout the colonies and the States that succeeded them, were soon drawn to the cotton-growing States to supply the needed field-labor; and, indeed, white workmen could not stand the hot, moist climate of the cotton-fields.

The cotton-mills grew up in the Northern manufacturing States. The Northern manufacturer needed a tariff on imported goods to protect him from European competition; the Southern cotton-planter who purchased much of his supplies abroad was hurt by the tariff. After about sixty years of strained relations between the two sections there occurred the Civil War which wiped out nearly one million lives, and rolled up a debt, direct and indirect, of nearly six billions of dollars.

The world's cotton-crop aggregates from twelve million to fifteen million bales yearly, of which the United States produces, as a rule, a little more than three-fourths. Egypt is rapidly taking an important place among cotton-producing countries, and, with the completion of the various irrigating canals, will very soon rank next to the United States. India ranks about third; China and Korea produce about the same quantity. There are a few cotton-cloth mills in these states, but in Japan the manufacture is increasing, the mills being equipped with the best of modern machinery. Brazil has a small product, and Russia in Asia needs transportation facilities only to increase largely its growing output.

The cotton-crop of the United States is quite evenly distributed; one-third is manufactured at home; one-third is purchased by Great Britain; and the remaining third goes mainly to western Europe. In the past few years China has become a constantly increasing purchaser of American cotton. New Orleans, Galveston, Savannah, and New York are the chief ports of shipment. The imported Egyptian and Peruvian cotton is landed mainly at New York. Most of the cotton manufacture is carried on in the New England States, but there is a very rapid extension of cotton manufacture in the South.

Wool.—The wool of commerce is a term applied to the fleece of the common sheep, to that of certain species of goat, and to that of the camel and its kind. There is no hard-and-fast distinction between hair and wool,[32] but, in general, wool fibres have rough edges, much resembling overlapping scales which interlock with one another; hair, as a rule, has a hard, smooth surface. If a mass of loose wool be spread out and beaten, or if it be pressed between rollers, the fibres interlock so closely that there results a thick, strong cloth which has been made without either spinning or weaving.

This property, known as "felting," gives to wool a great part of its value, and is its chief distinction from hair. Some kinds of hair, however, have a slight felting property, and if sufficiently fine may be spun and woven. The hair of the common goat is worthless for this purpose, but that of the Cashmere and Angora species have the properties of wool. The hair of the Bactrian camel, and also that of the llama, alpaca, and vicuÑa is soft and fine, possessing felting qualities that make it very superior as a textile.

The quality of wool varies greatly according to the conditions of soil, climate, and the character of the food of the animal. In commerce, however, the fleeces are commonly graded as "long-staple," "short-staple," "merino," and "coarse."

In long-staple wools the fibres are from four to eight inches long; they are more easily separated by a process much like combing, and are therefore called "combing" wools. The cotswold, cheviot, and most of the wools of the British Isles are of this kind; indeed, in fairly moist lowland regions such as Canada and the United States, there is a tendency toward the development of a long-staple product. The English long-staple wools are largely made into worsted cloth, the Scotch cheviot into tweeds, and the French into the best dress cloth.

If the fibres are materially less than four inches in length, the product is classed as a short-staple or "carding" wool. By far the greater part of the wool of the United States, Canada, and Europe is of this class. It is disposed of according to its fineness or fitness for special purposes, the greater part being made into cloths for the medium grades of men's clothing.

The finest and softest wool as a rule is grown in arid, plateau regions, and of this kind of staple the merino is an example. The fibres are fine as silk, and the goods made from them are softer. The Mission wool of California is the product of merino sheep, and, indeed, the conditions of climate in southern California and Australia are such as to produce the best merino wool. The famous Electoral wool of Saxony is a merino, the sheep having been introduced into that country from Spain about three hundred years ago. The merino wools, as a rule, are used in the most highly finished dress and fancy goods.

The coarse-staple wools are very largely used for American carpets, coarse blankets, and certain kinds of heavy outer clothing. The Russian Donskoi wool, some of the Argentine fleeces, such as the Cordoban, and many of those grown in wet lowlands are very coarse and harsh. The quality is due more to climatic conditions and food than to the species of sheep; indeed, sheep that in other regions produce a fine wool, when introduced to this locality, after a few generations produce coarse wool.

The rug wools grown in Persia, Turkestan, Turkey in Asia, and the Caucasus Mountains are also characteristic. They vary in fineness, and because they do not readily felt they are the best in the world for rug stock. The "pile" or surface of the rug remains elastic and stands upright even after a hundred years of wear. This quality is due mainly to conditions of climate and soil.

In some instances the wool is obtained by a daily combing of the half-grown lambs. This process, however, is employed in the rug-making districts only; in general, the fleeces are clipped either with shears or machine clippers. In the United States the latter are generally employed, and but little attempt is made either to sort the fleeces or to separate the various qualities of wool in the same fleece.

The raw wool always contains foreign matter such as burs and dirt; it is also saturated with a natural oil which prevents felting. The oil, commonly called "grease," or "yolk," is an important article of commerce; under the name of "lanolin" (adeps lanÆ) it is used in medicine and pharmacy as a basis for ointments.

The world's yearly clip is a little more than two and one-half billion pounds, of which the United States produces about one-eighth. In Europe and the United States, owing to the increasing value of the land, the area of production is decreasing; in Australia, South Africa, and Argentina, where land is cheap, it is increasing. From these three regions wool is exported; most European countries and the United States buy it. In the latter country the consumption is about six pounds for each person.

The wools of the Mediterranean countries—France, Spain, Italy, Algiers, Egypt, etc.—are the best for fine cloths; those of central Asia for rugs and shawls; the others are used mainly in medium and low grade textiles.

Other Wools.—The Angora goat, originally grown in Anatolia (Asia Minor), and the Iran States (Persia, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan), furnishes a beautiful white wool, commercially known as "mohair." Smyrna is an important market for it, and England is the chief buyer. The Angora goat has been introduced into South Africa and California, where it is successfully grown. From the former country there is a large export of mohair.

Cashmere wool is a fine, downy undercovering, obtained by combing the fleece of a goat native to the Kashmir Valley in India. A single animal yields scarcely more than an ounce or two, and the best product is worth about its weight in gold. It is used in the manufacture of the famous Cashmere shawls, which are sold at prices varying from five hundred to five thousand dollars. They are made in Persia and India.

Llama and alpaca wool are fine textile obtained from animals of the camel kind native to South America. The wool is either black or brown in color. A considerable part is used for native-made articles, such as saddle-blankets, etc., but much of it is exported to England.

Most of the "camel's hair" of commerce was originally worn by goats, being called by its commercial name because of a similarity in texture to that of the camel's hair. The camel of Turkestan, however, furnishes a silky textile that is much used. The brown wool often found in Hamadan rugs is natural camel's hair, and a considerable amount mixed with sheep's wool is used in certain textiles. The camel's hair of China is made into artists' brushes.

Silk.—The silk of commerce is the fibre spun by the larvÆ or caterpillars of a moth, Bombyx mori, as they enter the chrysalis stage of existence. The silk-growing industry includes the care and feeding of the insect in all its stages. The leaves of the white mulberry-tree (morus alba) are the natural food of the insect, and silk-growing cannot be carried on in regions where this tree does not thrive. Not all areas that produce the mulberry-tree, however, will also grow the silk-worm; the latter cannot exist in regions having very cold winters, and therefore the industry is restricted by climate.

The moth, shortly after emerging from the chrysalis stage, lays from two or three hundred to seven hundred eggs. These are "hardy"—that is, they will remain fertile for a long time if kept in a cool, dry place; moisture will cause them to putrify, and heat to germinate. If well protected, they may be transported for distances.

In rearing the silk-worm, as soon as the latter is hatched, it is placed on mulberry-leaves, and for five weeks it does nothing but eat, in that time consuming many times its weight of food.[33] Then it begins to spin the material that forms its chrysalis case or cocoon. The outer part of the case consists of a tough envelope not unlike coarse tissue-paper; the inner part is a fine thread about one thousand feet long that has been wound around the body of the worm. This thread or filament is the basis of the silk textile industry.

At the proper time the cocoons are gathered and, if immediately to be used, are plunged into hot water. This not only kills the chrysalids but softens the cocoons as well, so that the outer cases may be removed. The cases removed, the rest of the cocoon is soaked in warm water until the gummy matter is softened and the fibres are free enough to be reeled. In the latter process the ends of a number of cocoons, varying from five to twenty, are caught and loosely twisted into a single strand. The silk thus prepared forms the "raw silk" of commerce. Sometimes a number of strands of raw silk are twisted into a coarse thread, thereby forming "thrown silk." For convenience in handling, both raw and thrown silk are made into large skeins called hanks, and most of the silk product is exported in this form.

A given quantity of cocoons yields scarcely more than one-tenth its weight in good raw silk. The remaining part, consisting of broken fibres and cases, is shredded and spun into silk thread of inferior quality. This material, commonly called "husks" or "knubs," forms an important item in silk manufacture, and much of it is exported to Europe and America.

According to traditions, not wholly trustworthy, eggs of the silk-worm were smuggled to India in the head-dress of a Chinese princess. Thence sericulture slowly made its way westward to Persia, Asia Minor, and the Mediterranean countries. Wild silk, a coarse but strong product, is grown in many of these countries, but mainly in China, where it forms an important export. The Chinese product is commercially known as "tussar" silk. Of the product of raw silk, about thirty-five million pounds, China yields about two-fifths, Japan and Italy each one-fifth. The remainder is grown in the Levant, Spain, and France.

Most of the raw silk of China is exported from Shanghai and Canton; that of Japan is shipped mainly from Yokohama. Among European countries Italy is the first producer of raw silk, and France the chief manufacturer. By the operation of a heavy tariff a considerable manufacture of silk textiles has grown up in the United States. New York City and Paterson, N.J., are the chief centres of the industry.

The southern part of the United States offers an ideal locality for sericulture. Various attempts at silk-worm breeding have failed from lack of training, but not on account of geographic conditions.

Flax.—The flax of commerce, the basis of linen cloth, is the bast or inner bark-fibre of an annual plant (Linum usitalissimum, i.e., most useful fibre), native probably to the Mediterranean basin. It ranks among the oldest known textiles. Bundles of unwrought fibre have been found in the lake dwellings of Switzerland, and linen cloth constituted a part of the sepulture wrappings of the ancient Egyptian dead.

Flax has a very wide range, thriving in the colder parts of Europe as well as in tropical Asia; it does equally well in the dry summers of California or the moist regions of the Mississippi Valley. The chief requisite is a firm soil that contains plenty of nutrition.

After the stalks have passed maturity they are pulled up by hand; "rippled," or deprived of their seeds and leaves; "retted," or moistened in soft water until the bast separates; "broken" and "scutched" by a machine which gets rid of the woody fibres; and finally the loosened bast fibre is "hetcheled" or combed in order to separate the long, or "line," threads from the "tow" or refuse.

Russia produces more than one-half the world's crop, but the finest and choicest is that known as Courtrai fibre, which is grown in Belgium. This is thought to be due to the quality of the water in the Lys River. A considerable amount of flax grown elsewhere in Europe is sent to this part of Belgium to be retted. Ireland and Germany produce considerable amounts, and a small quantity is grown in the United States.

The prepared flax is used in the manufacture of linen cloth, and the latter is almost exclusively used for table-cloths, napkins, shirt-bosoms, collars, cuffs, and handkerchiefs. France is noted for the manufacture of linen lawns and cambrics, and Belfast, Ireland, for table-cloths and napkins. Nearly the whole linen product is consumed in the United States, Canada, and western Europe; indeed, linen is a mark of western civilization. Great Britain handles the greater part of the linen textiles.

Hemp.—The true hemp of commerce is the bast or inner bark of a plant, Cannabis sativa, belonging to the nettle order. It is an annual plant having a very wide range; it occurs in pretty nearly every country of North America, Europe, and Asia. In Europe the chief countries producing it for commercial uses are Russia, France, Italy, and Hungary; in the United States it is grown in California and the central Mississippi Valley. Russia produces the largest crop; Italy the finest quality of fibre, the best coming from the vicinity of Bologna.

The stalks grow three feet or more in height. When cultivated for the fibre they are pulled from the ground, stripped of their leaves and soaked until the fibre is free. They are then "retted," or beaten, and the fibre is removed. After preparation the fibre is used mainly for the manufacture of wrapping-twine, cordage, and a coarse canvas. Great Britain is the chief purchaser and manufacturer.

Manila Hemp.—Manila hemp is the name given to a fibre obtained from the leaves of a plant, Musa textilis, belonging to the banana family. The best fibres are from six to nine feet in length, of light amber color, and very strong. The leaves, torn into narrow strips by hand, are afterward scraped by hand until the fibre is free of pulp. The long and coarser fibres are made into rope; the shorter fibres are beaten and hetcheled in the same manner as flax, until fine enough to weave into mats, carpets, and fine cloth. The fibres that have served their usefulness as rope are pulped and manufactured into manila paper.

Practically all the manila fibre of commerce—which is not hemp at all—is grown in the Philippine Islands, and since peace has prevailed, the growth and production is increasing. The crude fibre is prepared by hand, by Filipino or by Chinese labor. The manufacture of cordage and paper is done mainly in the United States and Great Britain. Fine hand-made textiles are made by a few Filipino natives, but most of the goods of this character are manufactured in France. Very fine fibre is sometimes used as an adulterant of silk. Great Britain and the United States are the chief purchasers.

Sisal Hemp.—Sisal hemp, or henequen, is a stout, stringy fibre obtained from the thick leaves of several species of agave, to which the maguey and century-plant belong. The cultivated species, from which most of the commercial product is obtained, is the Agave sisalina, which much resembles the ordinary century-plant.

The essential feature in the economic production of sisal hemp is machinery for separating the fibre from the pulp of the leaf. The fibre is whiter, cleaner, and lighter than jute; moreover, in strength it ranks next to the best quality of manila hemp. It is used mainly in the manufacture of grain-sacks, and the twine used on self-binding harvesters. Nearly all the fibre of commerce is grown in the Mexican state of Yucatan and consumed in the United States. The cultivation of this material has made Yucatan one of the most prosperous states of Mexico.

Jute.—Jute is a fibre obtained from the inner bark of a tropical plant, Corchorus olitorius, belonging to the same order as the linden-tree. The plant is an annual, growing in various moist, tropical countries, but is extensively cultivated in India and parts of China for commercial purposes. The fibre is prepared for manufacture in much the same manner as hemp and flax. In India it is used mainly for the manufacture of a coarse textile known as gunny cloth, used as bale-wrappers, and sacks for coffee and rice. On the Pacific coast states it is used for wheat-sacks. Calcutta is the chief centre of manufacture, but jute-sacks are extensively manufactured by the Chinese in California and China.

Ramie.—This fibre, also known as China grass, is the best of two or more species of nettles, prepared in the same manner as hemp fibre. It is finer and stronger than jute, and will take dye-stuffs in a superior manner. With the introduction of machinery for separating and handling the fibre, the cultivation of the ramie-plant has spread from China to India, Japan, and the United States. Fine textiles are now manufactured from it, the most important being carpets, mattings, and American "Smyrna" rugs. The last are generally sold as jute-rugs, and they are nearly as durable as woollen floor-covers.

Other Economic Fibres.—The fibre of cocoanut husk is largely employed in the manufacture of coarse matting. A part of this is obtained from tropical America, but it is a regular export of British India, where it is known as coir.

The mid-rib of the screw pine growing in the forests of tropical America furnishes the material of which "Panama" hats are made. The hats are made in various parts of Ecuador, Venezuela, and Colombia, and were formerly marketed in Panama. Hats made of a score of grasses and fibres are also sold as Panamas.

A plant (Phormium tenax) having leaves somewhat like those of the iris or common flag furnishes the material of which New Zealand flax is prepared. It is used mainly in the manufacture of cordage.

Plaiting straw, used in the manufacture of hats and bonnets, is grown extensively in northern Italy and in Belgium. For this product spring wheat is very thickly sown in a soil rich in lime. The thick sowing produces a long, slender stalk; the lime gives it whiteness and strength. Plaiting straw is also exported from China and Japan. British merchants handle most of the product.

Cuba bast, a fibre readily bleached to whiteness, is exported to the various establishments in which women's hats are made.

Esparto grass, also called alfa, grows in Spain and the northern part of Africa. It was formerly much used in the manufacture of the cheaper grades of paper, but it has been largely supplanted by wood-pulp for this purpose. The decline of the esparto grass industry led to no little unrest among some of the native tribes of northern Africa.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What fibres were used in cloth-making in Europe before cotton was employed?

What textiles are of necessity made of cotton?

What is a spinning jenny?—a Jacquard loom?

What are the specific differences between cotswold and merino wool?

Why were most of the cloth-making mills of the United States built at first in the New England States?

How is the silk-making industry encouraged in the United States?

What are the chief linen manufacturing countries?