[1] The same type of hand cards were also used for cotton in Colonial
America, but because the cotton fibers were not laid parallel in the
sliver only coarse yarns could be spun. In ancient Peru the fibers for
spinning fine cotton yarns were prepared with the fingers alone. In
India the cotton fibers were combed with the fine-toothed jawbone of the
boalee fish before the fibers were removed from the seed. (J.F. Watson,
_The textile manufactures and the costumes of the people of India_,
London, 1866, p. 64.)
[2] Edward Baines, _History of the cotton manufacture in Great Britain_,
London, 1835, p. 176.
[3] The wire points of the worker roller pick up the fibers from the
faster moving main cylinder, carding the fibers on contact. A stripping
action takes place when the wires of the worker roller meet the points
of the stripper roller in a "point to back" action. This arrangement is
used to remove the wool from the worker and put it back on the wire
teeth of the main cylinder. Illustrated in W. Van Bergen and H.R.
Mauersberger, _American wool handbook_, New York, 1948, p. 451.
[4] The doffer comb, a serrated metal plate the length of the rollers,
removes the carded fibers from the last roller or doffer.
[5] This was no great disadvantage at this time, as wool was still being
spun on the spinning wheel. The mechanical spinning of woolen yarns was
an obstinate problem that was not solved until 1815-1820. It then was
necessary to piece these 24-inch slivers together before they could be
spun until 1826, when a device for the doffing of carded wool in a
continuous sliver was perfected by an American, John Goulding, and
patented by him.
[6] A.P. Pitkin, _The Pitkin family of America_, Hartford, 1887, p. 75.
[7] From a letter written in 1889 by Mayall's son; A.H. Cole, _The
American wool manufacture_, vol. 1, Cambridge, 1926, p. 90.
[8] From a report of the visit of Henry Wansey in 1794, cited by W.R.
Bagnall, _The textile industries of the United States_, Cambridge, 1893,
p. 107.
[9] Slater introduced the Arkwright system of carding and spinning
cotton into America in 1790. Bringing neither plans nor models with him
from which to build the machines, he relied instead on his detailed
knowledge of their construction. England prohibited the export of
textile machines, models, and plans, and even attempted to prevent
skilled artisans from leaving the country. George S. White, _Memoir of
Samuel Slater_, Philadelphia, 1836, pp. 37 and 71.
[10] R.C. Taft, _Some notes upon the introduction of the woolen
manufacture into the United States_, Providence, 1882, pp. 17-18. The
Scholfield sons, of whom three were still living in the 1880's, were
quite elderly at the time Taft talked to them; only James, aged 98,
would have been able to remember the Connecticut move.
[11] There is no record of the carding machine made of mahogany which
John's sons reported had been transferred to the Stonington mill.
[12] This is probably the machine that gave rise to stories of a carding
machine having been smuggled from England during the early Byfield days.
J.E.A. Smith, _The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from the year
1800 to the year 1876_, Springfield, 1876, p. 167.
[13] U.S. 15th Congress, 1st and 2nd sessions, _The debates and
proceedings in the Congress_, vols. for 1817-1819 (2).
[14] _Worcester Spy_, July 10, 1822.
[15] A natural delay. Although the cylinders and the card clothing wore
out and had to be replaced, the heavy wooden frames of the early
machines remained long in serviceable condition.
[16] Once again in use, it is now powered by electricity. A pound of
slivers from it (about 260) may be purchased for $3.00.
[17] The author is indebted to William N. Watkins, U.S. National Museum
Curator of Agriculture and Wood Products, Smithsonian Institution, for
the identification of the woods in the specimen.
[18] The author is indebted to Mr. Don Berkebile of the Smithsonian's
U.S. National Museum staff for his examination of the metal teeth on the
comb plate of this machine.