When the preparatory processes have been completed the actual weaving is done, practically without human agency. The shuttle flies back and forth at the rate of from one to two hundred picks per minute, and when its thread is exhausted it drops out and, in the automatic loom, is immediately supplanted by a fresh one. The harness frames jerk up and down, forming and reforming the V shaped shed through which the shuttle passes; and after each pick the batten drives home the new thread into the ever-growing stretch of cloth. Like the film in a kodak, where a roller at one end gives out plain paper which is rolled up at the other end as a magic sheet of pictures, so in the loom the homely warp threads are rolled out at one end, while the roller at the other extreme winds up smooth gray cloth. We have now made yarn out of cotton, and unbleached cotton cloth, or gray goods, out of our yarn. All that remains before the fabric goes to the finisher is an inspection for imperfections and their removal where possible, usually by hand. 4. CONVERTING AND FINISHING [Sidenote: _Old-Fashioned Bleaching_] Cotton cloth as it comes from the loom has a gray or yellowish appearance due to the impurities it contains. The old-fashioned method of removing these consists in simply spreading the cloth in the sun for a few days until it is bleached white. Most cloth mills dispose of their goods in the gray and allow the finishing to be done by a separate establishment, although the large manufacturers of “fancies” sometimes do their own finishing. [Sidenote: _Sewing Together_] The first step in the finishing plant is to inspect the cloth and then to sew the ends of many pieces together into long strips. This greatly facilitates subsequent operations, because the cloth can now be run through various processes as a single unit. [Sidenote: _Brushing_] In order to obtain a smooth surface for later processes, the cloth is first run through a machine which brushes up the fibres and loose ends, much as a carpet-sweeper picks up the fibres of a carpet. Sometimes a bladed roller like a lawn-mower is used. [Sidenote: _Singeing_] Removing the raised lint is a dangerous operation because it might easily damage the cloth, and this is usually done by the process of singeing. The cloth is run rapidly through gas flames or over hot plates and is quickly cooled. In this way the fuzz is burned off without injuring the cloth. [Sidenote: _Napping_] [Illustration: _Inspecting_] [Illustration: _Sewing Ends Together_] The next step is usually the bleaching process, except where the cloth is to be finished as a corduroy, velvet, or flannel. In the latter case it is first run through the napper, a machine which brushes up the fibre with wire teeth in such a way as to leave a raised face or nap. [Illustration: _Singeing_] [Sidenote: _Bleaching Process_]