St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-12-15
ABOUT BLACK SILK.
UoW - Distinguish . Good Article fro
Inferior 0rnde0,

1sw - Distinguish . Good Article ffo0
Infsrlof Grades.
There are really very few women
who can distinguish between . good
black silk and an inferior one. and a
few hints given by an expert and ~
ported in the Dclineator will doubtless
be acceptable to many shoppers:
In the first place never be beguiled
into buying cheap silk. Very often .
pretext of its cheapness suggests .
genuine bargain, BUT the wise woman,
unless she knows Of good reason for the
reduction. will choose some other ma
terial If she cannot afford to purchase
silk 1T an adequate price. Costliness
Is Of course no guarantee Of real value,
so the shopper is advised to purchase
an eighth Of q yard Of an admired
fabric and test it at leisure when she
reaches home. This may seem like a
waste to the over-economical mind, but
it will prove q good investment II It
prevents bad bargain in the end.
In testing piece of silk first try to
tear It both lengthwise and crosswise.
II it gives way readily in either direc-
ton you may be sure either that the
dye has destroyed the abers or that the
thread is made up Of what Is known -
waste silk" Pure silk properly dyed
Is the strongest textile known. but
nearly all the cheaper dyes. and par.
ticularly the dark colors and black. arc
made with such q basis that they eat
into and weaken the fabric. !.
The firmness of the weave may b
proved by scraping diagonally across
the silk with the thumb nail. II the
material Is strong and pure. any
amount Of manipulation will not make
the threads slip, and II the nail makes
. space IS wide a. its own thickness be-
tween the threads the silk is certainly
of inferior quality. The next test is APP
piled by travelling bit of the silk and
carefully examining both warp and
woof. Often . pure silk warp has .
heavily loaded woof, and In other
cases, especially in satin weaves, the
wool has an inferior backing, the sur
face being Of good silk. Pure silk has
. good luster and is very soft, but II
the gloss Is artificial the fabric will be
hard and brittle. When pure silk has
been dyed improperly it looks very
much like cotton, but It Is somewhat
softer.
Another excellent test consists In
pulling out the threads both ways and
trying their strength. Catch them with
both hands an inch apart, give quick
jerk and note the force needed to break
them. If they part easily the silk Is
not good. Tear the silk along the
lines from which the threads have been
taken, and If there are Fuckers along
the tear they may be regarded as indi.
eating q strong texture. A method Of
testing that is considered conclusive is
to burn a fragment Of the silk and also
some Of the rawlings. II the silk Is
pure and well dyed Il will take fire
slowly, even when held directly in tho
fame, and tho fire will go out almost
as soon as the silk is withdrawn, leav.
ing ashes that are nearly Jet black.
Weighted aud improperly dyed silk is
highly infammable. It quickly takes
fire, and the fire Il difficult to extin-
guish. smoldering after the silk is re-
moved from the fame and leaving
ashes that keep the shape Of tho cloth
and are of = light yellowish red tint.
Cotton in the fabric can be readily do
tected by the odor Of the smoke. Ev-
cry woman should remember that the
requisite qualities of good silk are
strength. smoothness, luster, richness
and lightness, no matter how thick the
material.