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DYEING AND CALICO PRINTING.

RANDOMS, OR CLOUDED YARNS.

On the large scale the random yarns are coloured in machines, but thefollowing method can be recommended for colouring in the ordinary manner :—The yarn is first scoured with soap and bleached, and 15 to 20 lbs. are partedoff into handfuls of about 1 lb. of yarn each. The yarn thus mechanicallyprepared is laid in a bath of water, slightly acidified with muriate of tin toneutralise the small quantity of alkali still remaining in the yarn.

Scarlet Random.

A kettle should be prepared of the following dimensions :—5 feet in length,2 feet 2 inches in width, and 7 inches in depth, made of copper thickly tinned.The bath may be heated by steam or by fire. The kettle should be filled withwater to within 2 inches of the rim, and the water raised to a boil. Thenadd i£ lbs. of ground cochineal, 2 ozs. of flavine, £ lb. of tartar, 3 lbs. ofscarlet spirit (muriate of tin), and 2 ozs. of tin crystals. Boil for five minutes,then remove the source of heat. The height of the liquid in the kettle shouldbe adjusted to the depth of dye required upon the yarn ; if the level of thedye is low there will be much white and little scarlet; if high, much scarletand little white.

The yarn must now be hung upon sticks in the following manner:—Thekettle being 26 inches wide, the sticks to bear fairly on the rim should be atleast 30 inches long, | inch broad, and £• inch thick. Taking two sticks inhis right hand and one handful of the soaked yarn in his left, the dyer hangsit upon the sticks skein by skein; he then grasps one of the sticks in themiddle of its length, and allows the other to remain supported by the yarn.The upper stick is then placed against two pegs 2£ inches from another pairof pegs, each peg of the pair being 26 inches from the other. The yarn beingdrawn from the upper stick, a second stick is laid on the nearer side of thenearer pair of pegs, the yarn being then carried back to the more distantpair of pegs, and there secured by another stick. The yarn thus foldedbackward and forward is thoroughly wetted with cold water, and is thenimmersed in the kettle. All the contents of the sticks may be handled at onetime by means of a pole passed under the whole series of sticks. After twentyminutes the yarn will be a good scarlet, and may be taken out and rinsed.The rinsing water should be allowed to flow down upon the yarn, so that thedye may not be carried on to the whites. By this method one man cancolour 150 lbs. of yarn daily without assistance.

Orange Random.

The yarn should be soured as for scarlet. The kettle is prepared with £ lb.of flavine, £ lb. of tartar, 2 lbs. of muriate of tin, 2 ozs. of tin crystals, 6 ozs.of cochineal, and the bath is raised to the boiling-point for ten minutes beforethe wet yarn is entered. In twenty minutes remove and rinse.

Saxon Blue Random.

Prepare the kettle with 6 ozs. of extra# of indigo, 2 lbs. of alum, 1 lb. ofsulphuric acid, and £ lb. of muriate of tin. Raise the temperature to 190° F.>and then remove the source of heat. Enter the wet yarn. The yarn may bebleached after colouring, being well rinsed after removal from the sulphur-house.