-V ITS 1480 C8 I Copy 1 IM hi » w £&> -SS. ^> X M H X H 35 W. PIONEER PREPARATION AND SPINNING OE FLAX AND WOOL . Mho Custer. Bi,oomington, Illinois. 1912. ft u "3? "3? "3? <*♦?, «?*=. ?«, fH M ,V, ■ ' ■ (■';*' >•:■-■■ ' '•— J THE PREPARATION AND SPINNING OF FLAX AND WOOL. As Practiced By The Pioneers Of Central Illinois And Demonstrated By Pioneer Men And Women At Meetings Of The McLean County Historical Society. By Milo Custer. ( Custodian, McLean County Historical Society. ) \| Bloomington, Illinois, i 1912. I I; Wool. jVfter it was sheared from the sheep the wool was carefully and thoroughly gashed and picked apart to free it of all dirt and extraneous matter. |hen came the carding process accomplished by means of the hand wool-cards . f hese are a pair of small thin boards each about 5 by 10 inches in size, covered 6n one side with leather into which many small, slightly- curved, well tempered wire hooks or/teeth' each about half an inch long are securely fastened at even distances of one -fourth or one -half of an inch apart. Small wooden handles 5. or 6 inches long are attached at the middle of one side to each 'card' somewhat in the fashion of a curry-comb, pe small hooks are all turned back toward the handles and the two cards are *xact duplicates of each other. ^he operator will begin by 'filling' one of the cards with wool, holding the card u maily in the left hand, the handle pointing outward, the back of the card lying across the wrist, then taking a small handful of wool in the right hand, ai id drawing it gently over and against the hooks, wiU distribute it as evenly as possible, and impale it firmly upon them . ^hen with the other card in the right hand, the handles of the cards hi opposite directions , the operator will draw it firmly over the other cardful of wool, pull - .^g the hooks against each other, and repeating this operation until the wool is about evenly distributed upon the hooks of both cards, is finely combed and thoroughly free of small knots and lumps. Tjien reversing the position of the card in the right hand, the operator will p/ace the 'heel' of it against the 'toe' of the other card , draw it firmly across a f f w times, releasing the wool from the hooks of first one card then the other , a !id thus the 'roll' is formed. Tjsually, if a single roll for spinning fine thread for weaving purposes is desired, ae wool from each card was rolled separately , but if a heavier roll for yarn was Ranted, then the wool from both cards was rolled together. I method of making these rolls more compact was practiced by rolling them Ijetween the backs of the cards. Another method of accomplishing this object fas to lengthen the rolls by carefully stretching them a small portion at a time (always taking care not to break them, ) then rolling them between the palms p. the hands. I The desired quantity of rolls prepared, the operator is ready for the spinning . In this country wool was generally spun with the large wheels, though in a few instances the small wheel was fitted with a wool spindle, while I have seen onej pioneer German woman spin wool rolls with the "flyers" on the small wheel. Twisting one end of a roll with the fingers and fastening it firmly upon the spin- -dle (of the large wheel) at the inner end, the operator with turning-stick in the- right hand ( usually ) and pressed firmly against one of the spokes near the rim with the free end of the roll in the left hand, held firmly but gently, outward, al arms length and at an acute angle from the wheel, will give the wheel a fe^ swift turns, step quickly back and outward , pulling gently on the roll at the same time , and thus twist it into the desired thread or yarn , rapidly an<3[ expeditiously . Then bringing in the thread parallel with the wheel , a fev^ more turns winds it securely upon the spindle , care being taken not to wind it tc^ close the point, lest further spinning be interfered with. Then attaching another roll to the first by twisting the ends together with tto' fingers, the work may be continued indefinitely. The amateur will observe that the rapid revolutions of the spindle as the wheel L turned causes the roll to twist as it flips off the point and that no twisting is doiK by the fingers except in joining the rolls together. The proper amount of carding as well as the correct degree of pulling or drawing out of the rolls when spun, regulates to a great extent the quality of the finishes product. Much depends also upon the quality of the wool. When fine woolen thread for woof ( or , 'filling" ) was desired, a small piece (jf hollow reed cane, alder or sumac from which the pith had been removed, calle^ a "quill" or even a small piece of corn husk three or four inches in length w^g first placed upon or around the spindle, leaving the point clear, and upon this tl, e finished thread was wound as each roll was spun. When it was filled this quill - full of thread could be slipped off and placed VLp^ n the wooden pin of the shuttle at the loom, ready for weaving linsey - woolsey jeans, or woolen coverlet. A large number of these quills were filled and thrown into some convenient receptacle, from which they were taken as needed m wea v . -ing. When yarn for knitting purposes was spun no quill was used , but the f inis\ e( j product was wound directly off the spindle, and upon the "check" reel and tl us measured mto "hanks" or skeins. Some of these reels "check" or click at every 50 yards, some at 120, at 140, a^ some at 160 yards. Sometimes two threads were twisted together after they were spun . This v as called ' 'double - twisting'. There was, doubtless, more or less, some minor variations of these methoc s . Those who study pioneer industries may sometimes see actual demonstrations^ primitive wool carding and spinning at Historical Society meetings or old settlt^ gatherings, and any such opportunities should never be neglected . D'/J^O II; FLAX. When it was fully matured , generally in the month of September in Central Illinois, flax was pulled up, tied with a stalk or two into small bundles, stacked into small shocks and left thus for a few days until the seed was dry enough to be threshed out , which was done usually with the flail , but was sometimes accomplished by whipping the heads of the flax over the end of a hardwood board on which long slender teeth had been sawed out and whittled. The threshing finished , the flax stalks were spread out carefully over the ground and left for a few weeks until a rain or two or several heavy dews had fallen upon them , partly decaying them and thus loosening the fibre , In some cases this "rotting" process was hastened by submerging the stalks in shallow water at the edge of some convenient pond or stream . This was called ' 'water - rotting" in distinction from the other process called "dew -rotting". The rotting process completed , the mass of flax stalks are taken up and thor - - oughly dried, sometimes upon a wooden rack over a slow fire . This greatly facilitates the "breaking" which follows. The primitive flax-break used by our early settlers, was constructed somewhat in the following manner ; Either five or seven, -always an uneven number-, of wooden slats or blades , each about five or six feet in length, live or six inches in width, and about an inch thick, (resembling the now obsolete wooden bed-slats of a few decades ago ) , were sharpened along one edge , "shoulders" cut in each end, then divided into two sets, two blades for the upper and three for the lower, or three for the upper and four for the lower set , as the case might be . The ends of these blades were then mortised securely into four massive wooden "head-pieces". The two sets were hinged together at one end in some primitive fashion, sometimes with leather hinges , the sharpened edges set towards and passing each other like scissors blades. Into the lower pair of head - pieces four wooden legs were set, two at each end , each about three feet in length. A handle by which to raise and lower the upper set of blades was fastened into the upper front head piece , These head -pieces were generally solid blocks of oak some 6 by 8 by 10 inches, the upper one in front differing slightly from the others , in that it was cut out higher at the top, in a pyramid-shaped form, thus leaving a projection into which the handle could be fastened . sometimes both upper head-pieces were made in this fashion , and the handle was made longer , extending from one to the other, the full length of the blades. The operator standing beside this apparatus with a large handful of "rotted" --?nd well dried flax -stalks in one hand , the handle of the "break" in the other hahid , will proceed to chop the stalks to pieces , shifting them back and forth ac/ross the edges of the lower set of blades as the upper set is raised and low- ered. Tlqis process breaks the stalks into small bits , but does not injure the fibre. Following the breaking came the "scutching" process. A hardwood Voard some three feet long ten or twelve inches wide and an inch thick was stool on end, securely braced at the bottom, and the top shaved to a dull edge with the draw-knife. This was called the "scutching-board". Then the operator with a large handful of the broken flax in one hand held b3' o ;e end over the top of the board and hanging down at one side , and with a large wooden knife called a scutching-knife or scutching-paddle, in the other hand, will proceed to strike downwards and slantwise with the edge of the knife against the flax which is turned several times and the operation repeater until most of the broken pieces of stalks or "shives" [short 'i'] as they were called , were knocked out and the fibre was ready for the next process, called hackling. The hackle is a short piece of hardwood board some ten or twelve inches long, five or six inches wide and an inch thick, with a hundred or more sharp point - - ed iron spikes or "teeth" three or four inches in length, set in a group in the middle of one side. < Then with a handful of the long coarse flax fibre in one hand , one end wrap - -ped around the wrist, the greater part of it hanging free, the hackle fastened in some secure position at any convenient height, and with the spikes pointing upward, the operator will bring the bunch of fibre down upon the sharp points repeatedly , pulling it through them, until it is torn very fine and is ready for spinning. Two grades of hackles, the coarse and the fine, were sometimes used . After the hackling the fibre was twisted into ' 'knots' ' or hanks and laid aside, ready for the wheel . Next a hank of flax fibre is spread loosely around the 'rocket' or distaff of the small wheel, the ends loosened, a few fibres pulled downward, twisted together with the fingers , threaded through the eye of the ''flyers" brought up over one of the hooks, then fastened upon the spool. The expert operator seated in a chair beside the wheel, one foot on the treadle the fingers of both hands rapidly lengthening , evening and guiding the strand as it twists when the wheel is turned , in a few minutes will fill the spool with fine linen thread . A sufficient number of spools filled , they could then be placed upon the spool -rack , the product transferred to the "warping - bars" and from thence to the loom. DEFINITIONS OF FLAX. "Flax, X x The fibrous plant of which the finest thread is made; the fibre o5r flax cleaned and combed, ready for the spinner." [Walkers Dictionary, 1825. 3 "Flax: n. (Saxon, fleax, flex.) 1, A plant of the genus linum, consisting^ a single slender stalk , the skin or herl of which is used for making thread and cloth, called linen, cambric, lace, &c 2. The skin and fibrous part of the 4 plant when broken and cleaned." [Walker's Dictionary, 1829.I The flax plant is an annual , growing usually from 1 8 to 24 inches in height , with slender, bright green leaves and pale blue blossoms. (From Photos by C. H. Robinson, Normal, 111.) Small Wheel. Reel. Flax Hackle. Wool Cards and Large Wheel. ( Illustrated from Specimens in the Museum of the McLean County Historical Society, viz . the King Small Wheel , the Hinshaw Reel and Flax Hackle, and the Orendorff Wool Cards and Lsrge Wheel.) xxxxxxxxxxxxx 3 xxxxxxxxxxxxx March has 31 Days. ggg o'clock ear and ! o'clock ine mild ) o'clock foudy. \ o'clock dy,with DESCRIPTION AND MORBID EFFECTS OF SPURRED RYE. Causes of the Spur in Rye* — One of the most poison' Breaking and Scutching Flax , From an illustration in the "Agricultural Almanac" (Lancaster, Pa.) for the year 1832. NAMES OF PIONEER WOMEN WHO HAVE PREPARED AND SPUN PEAK AND WOOE AT MEETINGS OF THE MCLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Mrs. Priscilla Miller. Mrs. L,ouise Shaeffer. Mrs. J. C. Daniel. Mrs. F. M. Wertz. Mrs. Mary Miller. Mrs. Almira Swope. Mrs. J. T. Martin. Mrs. Mary Kerr. Mrs. Mary G. Smith. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 018 374 225 5 « \ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 018 374 225 5 p Conservation Resources Lig-Free® Type I Ph 8.5, Buffered