The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-06-28
Teasels.

The teascls which are used IN wooden
mills for the purpose of raising the fiber
| out of the yarn when the cloth has left the
loom are natural product, and not an
artificial one, us those unucuuuinted with
woolcn manufacture might be led to sun.
pose, and though wire cards have repeat.
cdly been tried for this purpose, these
teasels arc still holding their place as tho
only suitable material for cffectually raising
the nap without any undue damage to the
fiber.
~ large amount Of teascls are grown in
Belgium. They arc sown in spring. In
August or September they are transplantcd,
and twelve months after this the first crop
is gathered. The heads must be gathered
before all the flowers have bioomed, else tho
points are dried too much aud lose their
| elasticity. The older and drier ones are
| always preferred to the fresh ones.
This plant Is found growing wild in Mid
die Europe, but is then useless for manufac.
turcrs because III that Estate the points are MT
bent. In England the cultivated plant is
grown chiefly in Yorkshire. Russia also
raises a good crop III Poland and the Crl-
mea.
The heatls after having been cut off tn c
plant, generally pass at once into the hands OF
the dealers. The latter, in France, travel in
July about tho districts mentioned above,
and buy the crops in the field, til. price
averaging from 26s to COS per cwt. The
dealer then sorts the teaseis, taking out
those which are crooked, too thick, or
wOrmeatcn; he removes the husks, cuts
the stems to one uniform length, ranges
them into first and second qualities, divides
these again into eight or ten sorts, accord
ing to their length and packs them into
large casks, and sells them at 50 much per
10 0; a cask of the smallest size holding
as many as 1000, while one of the
larger sizes only contains 10000, but all
weigh fonr cwt. In Russia they arc sold
by the cask, in other parts OF Europe by
weight.
AS the teascl is cultivated production
OF the thlst'c plant, 1t follows that its
value for manufacturing purposes is en-
hanccd by careful cultivation. The hooks,
which are small beat leaflets of the
flo 'cr, are generally set vertically in trans
posed rows though in the FIR nch in the
form Of spiral round the central cone,
and closer ut the bottom than the TOP.
This leatlet has a strong rib at its back
which is both stiff and elastic; the sides
form, so TO speak, wings, which are attached
10 lnc s)1tcr central core, and thus torm
an elastic spring which enables the hook To
spring back Ill WORK; each hook also leans
against its predecessor, 80 that when the
forcewhlch pulls 1t is too strong, it turns
little sideways, and thus lets the resistance
slip of. THIS is one of the principal quail
ties of the natural tcaeel, and has never been
reproduced in artificial mutations. In the
well grown teusels the hooks arc situated
horizontally, and vertically to the spindle,
while i'll the inferior ones they incline as
mulch as 10 degrees.
The French teasels are pretty regular,
the hook is horizontal, stronger, and longer
than others, and dries better without losing
its elasticity; the German kind is less
regular or strong, but on that account is
often preferred for fine qualities Of cloth,
which require more careful treatment.
Dampncss is injurious to all teascls, which
soon mould aad thus lose much of their
elasticity