of warp for cotton cloth could be seen, to be woven later in the country homes. We saw this work in progress many times and in many places in the early morning, usually along some roadside or open place, as seen in Fig. 65, but never later in the day. When the warp is laid each will be rolled upon its stretcher and removed to the house to be woven.
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Fig. 65.—Laying warp in the country for four bolts of cotton cloth.
In many places in Kiangsu province batteries of the
large dye pits were seen sunk in the fields and lined with
cement. These were six to eight feet in diameter and
four to five feet deep. In one case observed there were
nine pits in the set. Some of the pits were neatly
sheltered beneath live arbors, as represented in Fig. 66. But
much of this spinning, weaving, dyeing and printing of
late years is being displaced by the cheaper calicos of
foreign make and most of the dye pits we saw were not
now used for this purpose, the two in the illustration serving
as manure receptacles. Our interpreter stated however
that there is a growing dissatisfaction with foreign goods
on account of their lack of durability; and we saw many
