284
In Scotland there are above 250 bleach-works, of which morethan 100 are situated in the neighbourhood of Glasgow , Paisley,and Perth . At many of the bleachfields, there is powerful ma-chinery employed, such as wash-wheels and stacks, rubbingboards, beetling machines, calenders, &c. &c. About 4000hands are engaged in the bleaching business, mostly females,who are in the proportion of four to one. The weekly wagespaid are, on the average, for men 18s. and for women 6s. Theconsumption of the various articles used in this business, such ascoals, ashes, soaps, starch, blue, acids, manganese, lime, bleach-ing powder, &e. will amount annually to about 260,000/. Ster-ling.
3. Kats.
The hats generally manufactured in Scotland at present areof three different descriptions, viz. Wool, Plated, and Stuff. I.Woollen hats are made entirely' of that article, but of differentqualities according to the price, which seldom exceeds 7s. each.2. Plated hats are made of wool in the body, and covered withbeaver’s or hare’s fur, and sold at from 7s. to 10s. 3. Stuff hats
are made of a composition of beaver, coney wool, camel hair,and Spanish wool; and sell from 12s. to 30s. each. Beaver isbrought from Canada and Hudson’s Bay, Coney wool is takenfrom the skin of the rabbit j and camel hair is obtained fromTurkey and the Levant.
The manufacture of hats has never been carried to great ex-tent in Scotland . Till within these 20 years it was extremely li-mited, but has been gradually increasing since that time, and isnow carried on to considerable extent, particularly in Edinburgh ,Glasgow, Dumfries, Greenock , &c. There are at present morestuff hats made in Edinburgh , than at any former period; where,from the attention paid to their manufacture, they are generallyesteemed equal in quality to the best made in London . Thegreatest number of the hats made at Glasgow , are of the woolkind, intended for exportation ; while those manufactured mEdinburgh are sold almost entirely in Scotland , and have to ri-val the English hats of the finest qualities.
The extent of this manufacture may be estimated at about 200journeymen employed in making, besides finishers, liners, &c-the majority of whom are at Edinburgh and its vicinity; andthe whole amount of the value of the hats manufactured mScotland may be about 60,000/. Sterling annually.
It is stated as a great obstacle to the increase of the manufac-ture of hats in Scotland , that there subsists, among the journey-men, an organized system of depredation, which the manufac-turers have never been able to suppress.
Straw Hats .—The manufacture of this article was lately in-troduced into Scotland . The straw is ptepared chiefly in ij0B ‘