The Scholfield Wool-Carding Machines

The essay traces the technological evolution of carding from hand-held teasels and hand cards to successive mechanical innovations, including early cylinder and roller arrangements, feeders, strippers, doffer combs, and devices that removed carded fibers to form continuous sliver. It explains how adaptations such as fluted roller-bowls were developed to produce the crosswise, bulky sliver desired for woolen yarns and how mechanized doffing and feeding made cylinder carding practical. The narrative concludes by describing John and Arthur Scholfield's introduction of effective wool-carding machines and the establishment of their Newburyport manufactory, situating their machines within the broader progression of textile technology.