e the required length.

Another question for early decision is the number of warp-threads that
may be allowed per inch. This varies with the coarseness of the strings
and the thickness of the weft that will have to pass to and fro between
them; what governs both of these points is the design, whether there is
much detail or not, for if the drawing is complicated the warp-strings
must be fine in order to be able to carry it out; this point will be
better understood after some experience of working. Fourteen to sixteen
threads to the inch is a very usual number.

The fixing of the threads in the upper roller is a very simple matter.
It is done by doubling each in halves and placing the loop thus formed
over the metal pin, which for this purpose may be temporarily suspended
by string to the frame of the top of the loom just above the roller. It
can be dropped into its place in the groove when all the threads are
looped upon it, and made secure there for the moment by tying some
string round the extremities of the roller.

Each thread is now taken separately through the comb-like instrument.
The cross-stave is laid upon this, so it is well to put it in place now,
and carry the threads alternately in front and behind it, whilst passing
them through the comb. The threading of the strings through the comb
decides the number there will be to the inch, so they must be put
through at the required distance apart.

The upper roller is next given a complete turn, which will make the
metal pin and the threads that are round it secure in the groove. The
winding up must be continued until only about three inches of the
warp-string hang below the lower roller. Some kind of tension must be
applied to the threads whilst this winding is going on, or it will be
done irregularly; a hand, or several hands, holding it, answers the
purpose well enough.

The next process is to fix the threads securely in the lower roller. The
difficulty here lies in getting the placing and tension of the threads
between the two rollers exactly regular and even. If some were slack and
others tight it would be very awkward to correct afterwards, and
impossible to weave upon properly if incorrect.

[Illustration: Fig. 178.]

Fig. 178 shows a practical method by which the warp may be fixed in the
lower roller, but any contrivance will do that gains the required
result. To carry out the fixing as in the diagram, the roller must be
turned so that the groove co