SERGE, a woollen quilted stuff, manufactured on a loom with four treddles, after the manner of rateens, and other stuffs that have the whale. The goodness of serges is known by the quilting, as that of cloths by the spinning. Of serges there are various kinds, denominated either from their different qualities or from the places where they are wrought. The most considerable is the London serge, which is now highly valued abroad.

The method of making the London serge we shall now describe. For wool, the longest is chosen for the warp, and the shortest for the woof. Before either kind is used, it is first scoured, by putting it into a copper of liquor somewhat more than lukewarm, composed of three parts of water and one of urine. After being kept long enough in it for the liquor to dissolve and take off the grease, it is stirred briskly about with a wooden peel, taken out of the liquor, drained, washed in a running water, and dried in the shade; it is then beaten with sticks on a wooden rack to drive out the coarser dust and filth, and picked clean with the hands. Thus far prepared, it is greased with oil of olives, and the longest part, destined for the warp, is combed with large combs heated in a small furnace. To clear off the oil again, the wool is put in a liquor composed of hot water with soap melted in it; whence being taken out, wrung, and dried, it is spun on the wheel.

As to the shorter wool, intended for the woof, it is only carded on the knee with small cards, and then spun on the wheel, without being scoured of its oil. It must be remarked, that the thread for the warp is always to be spun much fincr, and better twisted, than that of the woof. The wool both for the warp and the woof being spun, and the thread divided into skains, that of the woof is put on spools fit for the cavity or eye of the shuttle, and that for the warp is wound on a kind of wooden bobbins to fit it for warping. When warped, it is stiffened with a kind of size, of which that made of the shreds of parchment is considered as the best, and when dry it is put on the loom.

When mounted on the loom, the workman, raising and lowering the threads, which are passed through a reed, by means of four treddles placed underneath the loom, which he makes to act transversely, equally, and alternately, one after another, with his feet, in proportion as the threads are raised and lowered, throws the shuttle across from one side to the other; and, each time that the shuttle is thrown, and the thread of the woof is crossed between those of the warp, strikes it with the frame to which the reed is fastened; through those teeth the threads of the warp pass; and this stroke he repeats twice or thrice, or even more, till he judges the crossing of the serge sufficiently close. Thus he proceeds till the warp is all filled with woof.

The serge, now taken off the loom, is carried to the fuller, who scours it in the trough of his mill with a kind of fat earth called fuller’s earth, first purged of all stones and filth. After three or four hours’ scouring, the fuller’s earth is washed out in fair water, brought by little and little into the trough, out of which it is taken when all the earth is cleared; then, with a kind of iron pincers, all the knots, ends, and straws sticking out on the surface on either side are pulled off; and then it is returned into the fulling trough, where it is worked with water somewhat more than lukewarm, with soap dissolved in it, for nearly two hours. It is next washed till such time as the water becomes quite clear, and there be no signs of soap left, when it is taken out of the trough, the knots again pulled off, and put on the tenter to dry, taking care as fast as it dries to stretch it out both in length and breadth, till it be brought to its just dimensions. When well dried, it is taken off the tenter, and dyed, shorn, and pressed.