COTTON HOSIERY. SUMMARY. The output of the American cotton-hosiery industry in 1919 amounted to 60,613,342 dozen pairs of socks and stockings, valued at $153,497,486, a decrease of 1.3 per cent in the quantity produced since 1914. This decrease was the outcome of the growing popularity of silk and artificial-silk hosiery. From 1899 to 1919 there was a quantitative increase of 130 per cent. Duties on cotton hosiery from 1891 to 1920 averaged 60.61 per cent ad valorem. Imports have not been large in comparison with domestic production. In 1914 imports amounted to 3.6 per cent of the domestic production; in 1919 they were entirely negligible. The emergency tariff act, which placed a duty of 7 cents a pound on hosiery made of long-staple cotton, does not seem to have affected the character of the imports, because about one-half of the imports since that act became effective have been dutiable under that provision. This additional 7 cents a pound increased the equivalent ad valorem duty on the articles upon which it was imposed by about 4 to 5 per cent, and on the total cotton hosiery imports by about 2 per cent. Practically all of the cotton hosiery brought into the United States comes from Germany. In normal times that country supplies most of the cotton hosiery which enters into international trade. The embargo which German trade suffered during the war left the usual foreign markets of Germany open to the cotton-hosiery industry of other countries. An extraordinarily rapid expansion of the American export trade took place during the years of industrial prosperity immediately following the war. In the fiscal year 1920 American manufacturers shipped abroad 12,392,935 dozen pairs of cotton hosiery, valued at $37,178,239. This was more than twice the quantity ever imported in a single year. Since 1920 exports have fallen off considerably. The general business depression, rather than competition, has been the cause. However, although Germany has not regained her former trade, it is noticeable that her exports to several western European countries have increased, while those of the United States to the same countries have dwindled. The question of competition for the American manufacturer seems to resolve itself into domestic competition in the domestic market and foreign competition in foreign markets. The tariff problem is overshadowed by the labor problem and the problem of trade facilitiestransportation, credit, and exchange. PAR. 259. Stockings, hose and half hose, made on knitting machines or frames, composed of cotton or other vegetable fiber, and not otherwise specially provided for in this section, 20 per centum ad valorem. PAR. 260. Stockings, hose and half hose, selvaged, fashioned, narrowed, or shaped wholly or in part by knitting machines or frames, or knit by hand, including such as are commercially known as seamless stockings, hose and half hose, and clocked stockings, hose and half hose, all of the above composed of cotton or other vegetable fiber, finished or unfinished; if valued at not more than 70 cents per dozen pairs, 30 per centum ad valorem; if valued at more than 70 cents, and not more than $1.20 per dozen pairs, 40 per centum ad valorem; if valued at more than $1.20 per dozen pairs, 50 per centum ad valorem. DESCRIPTION. There are three general classes of hosiery, according to method of manufacture: Full-fashioned, seamless, and "cut" hosiery. Full-fashioned hosiery, which is made on flat knitting machines 1 of the Cotton type, is knitted flat, shaped, and selvaged ready for seaming. The full-fashion machine shapes the stocking in the knitting by increasing or diminishing the number of stitches in the width. The stitches in the width form lines of interlocking loops running the length of the stocking. These lines are called wales; each wale represents the work of a needle in the machine. To narrow the fabric the loop carried by one needle is transferred to the needle next it toward the center, so that where two wales were being knit only one will continue. This is done simultaneously on each side of the stocking, so that the finished article will show, along either side of the seam just above the ankle and at other places in the leg and foot, a series of what appear to be larger stitches but which upon examination prove to be the points where two or more wales become one. In this manner the full-fashioned stocking is made to conform closely to the shape of the leg. Seamless stockings are made in tubular form on circular machines and because of the constant diameter of the machines can not be 1 See Tariff Information Survey, Textile Machinery. widened and narrowed as can full-fashioned stockings. Some slight difference is made by more tension in the ankle portion, but the shaping is almost wholly dependent upon the boarding process. In a seamless stocking the heel and toe are made in the form of pockets. The toe which is at one end of the open tube is closed after leaving the machine. Because of the superiority of the full-fashioned hose it is desirable, for sales purposes, that the product of the circular machine shalĺ resemble that of the flat machine as nearly as possible, hence an unnecessary seam is frequently put on these hose, which are then unnecessamock seamed." Sometimes this is done by a separate operation on a power sewing machine, just as the actual seam is made in full fashioned hosiery, but a knitting machine has been developed which will simulate a seam during the process of knitting. This similarity in appearance to full-fashioned hosiery has been carried still further on a recent development of the circular machine by the formation of stitches called "crow's feet," which look like the narrowing stitches in full fashioned hose, but which do not in reality alter the number of wales. Such stockings are usually called "mockfashioned" or "fashion-marked." Full-fashioned hosiery fits better and is more elastic than seamless hosiery; but seamless hose are cheaper, as the circular machine is more productive and the labor cost therefore less. Comparatively unskilled labor can be used to operate a circular hosiery machine-in fact, this work is frequently done by girls-whereas the operator of a full-fashion machine is always a man, and usually a skilled mechanic. The labor cost in the manufacture of full-fashioned hosiery is usually a greater proportion of the total cost than in the manufacture of seamless hosiery. The knitting is slower, the knitters receive a higher wage, and the operatives in subsequent processes are usually better paid. Manufacturers of full-fashioned hosiery estimate the labor cost at from 333 to 60 per cent of the total cost, while the seamless ranges from 25 to 50 per cent. A slight difference in the method of making a stocking will give a difference in labor costs, and the possibilities for variation are so endless that it is impossible to lay down any hard and fast limits of the proportion of labor cost. Seamless fashioned hosiery can be made on a type of straight knitting machine which has two parallel rows of needles. This machine has one advantage over the ordinary circular machine-the hose can be narrowed to the shape of the ankle without seaming, but it is not extensively used because production is slow, as the machine is not entirely automatic. A variation of the circular machine, which can produce seamless fashioned hosiery, is used by one or two concerns, but this machine is not on the open market. "Cut" hosiery (par. 259, act of 1913) is an inferior grade of hosiery cut out (as a seamstress would cut a dress) of long tubular webs made on large circular machines or from the good portions of other kinds of materials spoiled in the making. Very little of this is done in the United States at the present time, and the salvaging of imperfect hose is probably the only reason for its continuance. The Germans have developed a type of children's sock which has a cut foot and a selvaged top. The top is made separately on flat machines, which makes possible elaborate Jacquard designs and color combinations. To lessen the price of the article, this top is combined with the cut foot or, in some cases, a seamless foot. Some mills that have spinning departments reduce the material in hose which are too imperfect to sell as seconds to the condition of raw stock, and then spin it into coarse yarn, from which they make heavy socks, known as lumbermen's or workmen's socks. The yarns in some rejected goods can be reclaimed by raveling and rewinding. Competing articles.-Fastidiousness in matters of dress has become so marked that an expensive article appealing to taste is strongly competitive with one more durable but less attractive. Matters of general style in dress, such as the length of women's skirts, have a marked effect upon the character of hosiery demanded. Of late years silks and artificial silks have gained such universal vogue that the cottonhosiery industry has felt the encroachment of these lines. In fact, relatively small quantities of full-fashioned cotton hosiery are being made. On the other hand, many manufacturers of seamless hosiery who at one time produced cotton hose exclusively, are making stockings of silk and artificial silk. This trend is emphasized by the alignment of census figures showing the increase in the silk-hosiery industry to have been nearly 2,000 per cent and in cotton only about 7 per cent in 1914 over 1909. Silks and artificial silks increased 120.8 per cent in 1919 over 1914, while there was a reduction in the cotton-hosiery output. The figures given above represent the relative growth and not the relative importance of the two lines of manufacture, the actual quantity of cotton hose having always been much greater than that of silk. The total production of silk and artificial-silk hosiery amounted in 1914 (in quantity) to about 14 per cent of the total production of cotton hosiery. In 1919 it had increased to 31 per cent. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. Size of the industry. It is impossible to give any definite idea of the size of the cotton-hosiery industry except through production figures, as it is not separated from other types of hosiery. The American Directory of the Knitting Trade for 1920 lists 727 manufacturers of seamless hosiery, who are probably predominantly cotton manufacturers, and 106 makers of full-fashioned hosiery, the greater number of whom probably do not make cotton hose. The value of the output of the hosiery industry in 1919 represented about 43 per cent of the total knit-goods industry, and cotton hosiery about 50 per cent of the total hosiery industry. In 1909 the value of cotton hosiery produced was over 81 per cent of the total hosiery produced. Materials.2-Cotton yarn from which hosiery is made covers a wide range of counts and processes. Number or count of yarn means the number of 840-yard hanks required to weigh 1 pound. No. 1 cotton yarn measures 840 yards to the pound and No. 100 cotton yarn measures 84,000 yards to the pound; the higher the count the finer the yarn. The yarns most used in hosiery range from 16s to 20s in coarse goods and from 80s up to 120s in fine goods. One of the processes preliminary to spinning is carding; ordinary yarn which undergoes no special additional process is usually called "carded" yarn. Sometimes the cotton is combed as well as carded before it is spun. Yarns so made are described as "combed." They * See Tariff Information Series, No. 12, and Summary of Tarif Information, 1921, p 843. are smoother and stronger than carded yarns made from similar cotton. but are relatively more expensive, not only because of the extra labor, but also because of the greater amount of waste. A further removal of fuzz and loose projecting fibers is effected by gassing or singeing after spinning and doubling. This greatly improves the appearance of the yarn, making it smoother, rounder, and brighter and incidentally slightly increases the strength. Mercerization is a process in which the yarn is treated, under tension, with caustic alkali to obtain a lustrous silklike finish. Accompanying results are greater strength and greater affinity for dyestuffs. Mercerized yarns are frequently also gassed. Lisle yarn refers to a fully gassed two-ply yarn, the individual threads are spun with a right and left twist, respectively, and then doubled. This gives the yarn the hard, clean, wiry appearance of linen. The condition and finish of the yarn used in making hosiery materially influence the price and are therefore frequently included in descriptions for price quotations. The manufacture of hosiery is in many cases a highly integrated industry. Large mills frequently spin the yarn for their standard grades, buying only that which is required in small quantities. Such mills are more independent than those which rely solely on purchasing, but at the present time are more liable to losses on a receding market as their raw material is farther removed from their finished product. Knitting yarns are sold on the open market in greater quantities than weaving yarns because the latter are more frequently made in the establishments in which they are used. Philadelphia is an important center of the knitting-yarn trade. There are no separate statistics showing the amount of cotton yarn used in making hosiery, but the total quantity of cotton yarn used in the knit-goods industry is shown on page 1. It is practically all of domestic origin. Long-staple cottons, of which the imported Egyptian, AmericanEgyptian, and southern peeler are the most important, make the best hosiery yarns. Sea Island cotton is of the highest quality, but very little is obtainable since the boll weevil has infested the region in which it is grown. Equipment. Many machines used in the hosiery industry are made in this country. The full-fashion hosiery machine of the Cotton patent type, though originally an English invention, has been developed commercially in Germany. Most of the full-fashion machines in use in the United States are of German manufacture. However, they are now being built in this country. These machines are so large and intricate that their construction is necessarily slow, and at the time of greatest expansion in the hosiery industry they could not be turned out fast enough to meet the demand. There has been little modification in this type of machine for some years; loss through obsolescence has therefore been almost negligible. The trend of the trade toward finer hosiery has necessitated the substitution of finer-gauge machines many mills have replaced 33 and 36 gauge machines by 39 and 42 gauge-but the machines so replaced have been disposed of to manufacturers of coarser goods. One improvement developed in this country is the individual-motor drive, which |