. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. 638 TEASEL TEOSINTE opposite conditions here render intensive cultiva- tion unprofitable. Marketing. From the grower the crop goes to the dealer or middleman. The price has varied from fifty cents per thousand (an unprofitable rate) to two dollars and even more, although the latter price has not been reached in many years. For the past few years the price has been ninety cents to one dollar per thousand. Considering that it requires two years to grow the crop and that much hand labor is required, any price under seventy-five cents will not
. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. 638 TEASEL TEOSINTE opposite conditions here render intensive cultiva- tion unprofitable. Marketing. From the grower the crop goes to the dealer or middleman. The price has varied from fifty cents per thousand (an unprofitable rate) to two dollars and even more, although the latter price has not been reached in many years. For the past few years the price has been ninety cents to one dollar per thousand. Considering that it requires two years to grow the crop and that much hand labor is required, any price under seventy-five cents will not return a fair margin of Fig. 860. Although nominally sold by the thousand, the teasels are really sold by weight. A thousand of the dried teasels are estimated to weigh ten pounds. The dealers trim off the projecting spurs about the base, shorten the stem, assort them into several grades according to size and the quality of the hook, and pack them for shipment to the manufac- turer. Use. The teasel has been used from ancient times in raising a nap on cloth. At first the work was done in a rude way by hand. At present the teasels are arranged on a cylinder in such a way that the cloth passes slowly over them while the cylinder or " gig," as it is called, revolves in the opposite di- rection. Thus the recurved hooks catch the fibers of the wool, causing them to stand up from the surface of the cloth and form a nap, which in fine cloth is sheared to bring it to a uniform length. After a time the spaces between the hooks become filled with the fibers. They are then cleaned by machinery. By this means the teasel may be used several times before it becomes worthless. Al- though a number of machines have been invented to take the place of the teasel, nothing has been prac- tical enough to come into general use. The teasel hook is strong enough for the work and yet elastic enough to " give " before breaking the cloth, char- acteristics difficult to secure
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
