1-155-288 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Cotton manufacture, c1845. An adult 'hand' with a boy assistant, forming cotton into 'laps' so that it could be put into the carding machine in a uniform amounts. In the foreground are baskets of cotton that had been through the gin to remove seeds and separate fibres. On the right at the back of the bench, there is a balance for weighing cotton. Under the bench are 'laps' ready for carding. From The Useful Arts and Manufactures of Great Britain by Charles Tomlinson. (London, c1845).