The Trade In Horse-hair

Ilorse-hair for the manufacture of : hair-cloth in this country is ; pally derived from South America, and is imported in bales weighing about 1,000 pounds each. England gets lier principal supply from Germany, Uruguay and the Argentine liepublic, importing from all sources upwarda of 2,250,000 pounds per annum of a valué exceeding $850,000. Ilorse-hair cloth originated in England and luis been carried to great perfection in France. The manufacture is now largely carried on in this country, where upwarda of 20,000,000 yards are made annually, one factory alone turning out 800,000 yards per year. No hairs less than sixteen inches long answer for the purpose. In the process of manufacture, horse-hair is ftrst sorted according to color, and tlien hackled to getthe hairs straight and remove dirt. A number of tufts are then placed between the teetli of two cards, and the larger hairs removed by hand, so as to leave only those of uniform length remuining. It is then ready to be woven or curled according to quali'cy. Ilair is curled by forming it into a rope which is afterwards boiled, and then baked so as to set the kink in the hairs. In this condition curled hair is sold to the trade : it only remains to untwist and piek out the rope by hand to obtain the desired quantities. Hair-cloth, principally used for covering sofas and chairs, is manufacturad from the longer and better qualities of hair. The bundies of hair destmed to be made into cloth are removed to the dye-house. There they are attached to a large iron grating, which, when filled, is lowered into a vat of boiling dye in which it remains for about live hours. ïhe hair is then detached and is ready for weaving. ïhe warp of the cloth is of black cotton thread. Linen thread is a better material, but makes a stiffer, harslier fabric, less suited for upholsterer's uses. ïhe hair composes the weft, and its length depends upou the width of cloth to be made, the usual proportion being a thirty-flve inch hair to a thirty inch cloth. Af ter leaving the loom, the cloth is pressed between hot metal plates, and then rubbed to give it the neccessary polish. As furnished to the trade it is generally black. A very fine variety is sometimes made for sieves. In price. hair cloth averages in England about one dollar per yard. In width, it is manufactured in all sizes between fourteen and thirty-two inches. Contrary to popular idea, the hair is not, as a rule, round. A section onder the microscope shows a form as though a third of a circle had been cut off and the nat portion slightly mdented. Among the various other purposes to which horse-hair is applied are for making ladies stiff petticoats, mixed with cotton, for bags for pressing apples, cloth in use by brewers and oil renners, for straining purposes. Hore hair is used on the helmets of the Horse Guards of England. A queue or tail of horse hair, suspended at the end of a pike terminated by a gilded pennant, is the Turkish standard or emblem of authority. Oommanders are distinguished by the nurnber of horse tails carried before them or planted in front of their tents. Thus the Sultan bas seven, the Grand Vizier five and the Pashas tliree, two or one. The usage of these tails is of Tartaric origin. Horse-hair is made into ropes and wigs ; the English lawyers affect horse-hair wigs, and horribly funny they look. Horse hair shirts were formerly worn by superstitious people in Europe for the liealth of the soul, but glovesofthe same material are now used for the health of the body. False tails of horse-hair are made for the use of those horses which are deficiënt in that respect. Curled hair corda are used for clothes lines and when fine also form iishing lines. Long and fine horse hairs are used for the bows of violins and other instruments of this class. Spun into smaller strands hair is used for nose-bags of horses. Curtains of goat's hair were used in the Wilderness tabernacle of the Hebrews. Goats hair-cloth covers the tents of the Arrbians. The cocoa tree furnishes the India with bread, water, wine, vinegar, milk, oil, honey and sugar. From its leaves, branches, and the shells and Imsks of the fruit, they obtain thread, clothes, vases, cups, baskets, paper, boat-sails and ropes. What would they do without the cocoa ?