1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bagging

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BAGGING, the name given to the textile stuff used for making bags (see also Sacking and Tarpaulin). The material used was originally Baltic hemp, while in the beginning of the 19th century Sunn hemp or India hemp was also employed. Modern requirements call for so many different types of bagging that it is not surprising to find all kinds of fibres used for this purpose. Most bagging is now made from yarns of the jute fibre. The cloth is, in general, woven with the plain weave, and the warp threads run in pairs, but large quantities of bags are made from cloths with single warp threads. In both cases the weave used for the cloth is that shown at A in the figure, but when double threads of warp are used, the arrangement is equivalent to the weave shown at B. The interlacings of the two sets of warp and weft for single and double warp are shown respectively at C and D, the black marks indicating the warp threads, and the white or blanks showing the weft. The particular style of bagging depends, naturally, upon the kind of material it is intended to hold. The coarsest type of bagging is perhaps that known as “cotton bagging,” which derives its name from the fact that it is used in the manufacture of bags for transporting raw cotton from the United States of America. It is a heavy fabric 42 in. wide, and weighs from 2 to 21/2 ℔ per yard. A similar, but rather finer make, is used for Sea Island and other fine cotton, and for any species of fibrous material; but for grain, spices, sugar, flour, coffee, manure, &c., the threads of warp and weft must lie closer, and the warp is usually single. For transporting such substances as sugar, it is not uncommon to line the bag with paper, which excludes foreign matter, and minimizes the loss. Although there are large quantities of seamless bags woven in the loom, the greater part of the cloth is woven in the ordinary way. It is then cut up into the required sizes by hand and by special machines, and afterwards sewn by one of the chain-stitch or straight-stitch bag sewing-machines.