KAPOK is a vegetable down procured from the seed pods of a tree the kapok-indigenous to Java. The fiber is soft, silky, and lustrous, but too brittle for spinning. The natives gather the pods, separate the fiber from the seed, and dry it for export. Owing to its resilience it is used for upholstering, and, because of its low specific gravity, for the stuffing of life preservers. The demand for these uses has greatly increased, especially during the war. The bark of the kapok tree is used for tanning and the seed is crushed for oil to be used in soap, the residue being a stock feed. Production. The bulk of the world supply of kapok is from Java, with 68,129 producing acres in 1911. Annual exports during 1914-1918 ranged between 9,107 and 10,836 tons, with the Netherlands and the United States receiving the bulk. Imports in 1914 were 1.825 tons, valued at $441,109. Imports since 1917 have been as follows: 1922 9,881 7,370 $2,770, 743 $2,820, 474 $3,847,610 Survey FL-16. KASSON TREATIES. 1923 7,769 $3,685,689 until 1923, when 3,467,688 pounds, valued at KITTUL. See FIBERS, N. S. P. F. Etc. KNIT FABRICS. See COTTON; SILK; WOOL. Production of penknives and pocketknives was valued at $4,177,000 in 1914, and at $11,200,000 in 1920. Domestic manufacturers ordinarily specialize in a particular article, and all stages in manufacturing are generally performed in the same establishment, though there is some trade in parts. Factories in Germany and Great Britain, on the other hand, specialize in the parts, and the final manufacturer is often simply an assembler of parts. The structure of these knives is complicated, and they are demanded in almost endless variety. In addition, the industry is one requiring highly skilled hand labor which commands higher wages than are paid in Europe. The nature of the product, which largely resists the use of machine processes, renders inapplicable characteristic American advantages in production. New York, Connecticut, Ohio, and Pennsylvania See RECIPROCITY, ETC. lead in the domestic manufacture of penknives and pocketknives. Germany, Great Britain, and France, each sending some output to this market, are the principal foreign producers. KAURI GUMS. See GUMS. KEENE'S CEMENT. See GYPSUM. KELP. The name kelp, originally applied to the ash obtained by burning seaweed, has now been extended to the seaweeds themselves, particularly to those yielding potash, iodine, and other valuable products. Kelp is used principally for the production of potash salts and iodine, although acetic acid and acetone may be thus obtained. Dried and ground kelp is sometimes used as fertilizer. Production.-Little kelp was used in the United States until 1914, when the shortage of potash salts caused large quantities to be utilized along the Pacific coast. There were 8 plants manufacturing potash and other products from kelp during 1918, and their output was 14,029 short tons of crude potash, containing 4,804 tons of actual potash (KO). All of these plants were shut down in 1922, owing to the lower price of potash. One of them, which was built and operated by the Bureau of Soils and which uses a process giving potash, iodine, ammonia, and a decolorizing carbon, has been sold to private investors and reopened. Imports of kelp have been small and irregular and are probably the ash. Exports. Statistics not available. KIESERITE is a natural mineral composed of magnesium sulphate combined with one molecule of water of crystallization. It is slowly soluble in water, which property serves as a means of separating it from the other salts naturally occurring with it. Kieserite is found chiefly at Stassfurt in Germany and Hallstatt and Kalusz in Galicia. It is used mainly as a raw material in the production of Epsom salts, from which it differs only in the amount of contained water. Production.-At Stassfurt kieserite is found along with other salts. The latter are readily soluble in water and are therefore removed by washing. Kieserite is packed in molds and by purification is converted into Epsom salts. Imports of kieserite for 1910-1914 averaged annually 6,455 tons, valued at $21,043, entirely from Germany. No imports are recorded since 1918 Imports in 1914 were valued at over $1,300,000 (31 per cent of the domestic production); at $57,000 in 1918; at about $900,000 in 1922 and $514.398 in 1923. Previous to the war Germany furnished 80 per cent and Great Britain 16 per cent of these imports. Very cheap knives, retailing from 5 to 10 cents, form the bulk of the imports. Importation of the best grades, penknives particularly, is also important. Exports of pen or pocket knives in 1922 were 16,232 dozen, valued at $63,362. None were reported in 1923. Survey C-13. Power, or Hand Machine Knives. Planingmachine knives are used mainly on woodworking machines, and rarely for metal working. Tannery and leather knives are employed to remove the flesh and hair from leather skins, and to split leather. These knives are known as fleshing, shaving, whitening blades, and bark knives. Paper and pulp mill knives are made of a straight piece of steel and are used on "roll" or "fly" bars of beater engines, and on chippers and cutters. Slitter knives are of circular form and are used in paper machines for slitting, or cutting, the paper lengthwise. A roll bar is a metal cylinder about 4 or 5 feet in diameter with heavy knives parallel with the shaft fitted into its face. A bedplate is a series of steel plates standing on edge and bolted together. The "stock," or rough paper material, passes between the revolving "roll bar" and the stationary "bedplate" to be cut up. Production.-No data available. Imports during the last quarter of 1922 under the new tariff were valued at $7,095; in 1923 they were valued at $25,021. Exports not recorded. (See also CUTLERY.) LABOR, HOURS OF. See HOURS OF LABOR. LABOR ORGANIZATION, INTERNATIONAL. See MULTILATERAL CONVENTIONS. LAC, CRUDE, SEED, BUTTON, ETC., AND SHELLAC. Lac is a resinous exudation from many kinds of trees following the puncture of the small twigs by an insect, Caccus lacca. The resin, lac, exudes and dries on the twig, covering it and embedding the insect and eggs and protecting the eggs. The small twigs or branches covered with resin are known in commerce as stick lac. The body of the female insect contains a red dye, known as lac dye. Seed lac or grain lac consists of stick lac which has been ground and crushed, and which has had the wood twigs removed. It may be in two grades, (1) seed lac containing the lac dye, and (2) washed or bleached seed lac from which the lac dye has been taken by bleaching or by extraction with water. Seed lac is used as a raw material in the manufacture of the best grades of shellac. Button lac is a form of shellac made by allowing melted and strained lac to drop onto a flat surface; in dropping it forms large, rounded cakes. Shell lac, or shellac, is seed lac which has been cooked, cooled, and rolled into thin sheets. Commercial grades may contain orpiment or rosin, which is added to impart certain properties to the shellac. Rosin present in quantities exceeding 3 per cent is usually considered an adulterant. Shellac is used as a binder in the manufacture of such composition goods as buttons, dominoes, poker chips, and phonograph records; as a stiffening and waterproofing agent in a great variety of articles made of felt, fur, leather, or straw; as an insulator in electrical work; in sealing wax and shoe dressing; and, when dissolved in alcohol, as a quick-drying varnish (spirit varnish); and in paints for ship bottoms. Commercial supplies of lac come almost entirely from British India. Production in the United States is restricted to the preparation of bleached lac from the imported products. The domestic output of bleached lac in 1914 was 8,654,514 pounds, valued at $1,806,802, and in 1921, 8,801,351 pounds, valued at $5,369,844. Imports of crude lac, seed, button, and stick, before 1913 averaged less than 500,000 pounds. These greatly increased during the war in 1915, 1,126,167 pounds, valued at $88,293; in 1916, 3,485,975 pounds, valued at $291,176; in 1917, 5,473,174 pounds, valued at $637,846. Imports of shellac for 1908-1918 averaged about 21,000,000 pounds, valued at about $4,000,000. Imports since 1917 have been as follows (000 omitted): 1918 1920 1922 1923 made. The machines used are either the Levers or the Levers "go-through." Netting is made on bobbinet machines by intertwisting fine threads to form open meshes, usually hexagonal in shape. Net, sometimes used as a synonym for netting, is, correctly, a particular length of netting. Veiling is a general commercial term covering a great variety of articles, such as chiffon, grenadine, fancy netting (having fancy "veiling" meshes, or ornamented with a bar or border or figuring), used chiefly or exclusively for the making of veils. A veil is a particular length of veiling. Embroidery is ornamental stitching on a foundation material, such as cloth or net; it thus differs from lace, which is made directly from yarn. Embroidering is done by hand and by hand or power machines. Modern embroidery is made chiefly on the power-driven schiffli (shuttle) machines. A special type of embroidery is known as burnt-out lace; this is also called etched lace, embroidery lace, and Plauen lace. It is made by embroidering on a foundation of specially prepared cloth which is subsequently removed by mordant chemicals or otherwise, so as to produce an openwork embroidery fabric resembling lace. Fancy braids, including the type known as "Barmen lace," are made on braiding machines with Jacquard attachments. Edging is narrow lace or embroidery specially designed for trimming frills and parts of dresses. It is usually made with one edge straight and one scalloped. Inserting, or insertion, is narrow lace or embroidery or other ornamental material specially made for inserting in a plain fabric. It is made with both edges alike, usually straight, and with a certain amount of plain work on either edge for use in sewing it to the fabric. Galloon is a narrow fabric scalloped on both edges; it is made of lace, embroidery, or braid. Some varieties of it are made with a mixture of metallic threads, composed of threads or cords covered with gold, silver, gilt, etc., and are used for ornamenting uniforms. Neck ruffling is a strip of textile material drawn up at one edge in gathers or pleats, specially prepared for wearing around the neck. Ruching is a full quilling or pleating of net, lace, ribbon, or other material in widths ranging from 1 to 3 inches, used as a trimming for women's garments or worn at the neck or wrists. It usually consists of two or more rows of material arranged in box or shell pleats, or in the form of quilling. Tucking consists of textile material ornamented with parallel rows of tucks, arranged either close 4,988 together and covering the surface, or in clusters with spaces between. It is used for women's summer waists, underwear, and skirts, and as fronts for men's shirts. Flouncing is textile material of any description used for making deep ruffles or flounces, usually gathered or pleated at one edge and loose at the other, the gathered edge being sewn to the garment. Fluting is ruffling made with a flute-shaped crimp. Quilling or footing is a narrow border of lace, net, or ribbon, pleated or fluted so as to resemble a row of quills; it is a variety of ruffling. Tambour work originally meant a kind of embroidery worked by hand on muslin tightly stretched by means of hoops or a frame similar to that encircling a tambour. It is LACE, EMBROIDERY, ETC. Lace is orna- now usually applied to work made on the emmental network made by intertwisting fine threads broidery machine, in which the tambour stitch is to form a pattern. When made by hand it is used. This stitch produces a pattern of straight termed "real" or "point" lace, as distinguished ridges crossing each other in every direction at from machine-made lace. sometimes known as right or acute angles. Appliqué in dress and upimitation lace. Modern lace is mainly machine-holstery usage means applied or sewn on. Lac, crude, seed, button, and stick: Pounds.. Value.. Shellac: Pounds.. 572 2,636 $153 $993 4,170 18,657 28,587 25,162 $1,616 38,449 $22,955 Imports are chiefly from British India, England, and Japan, but those from England and Japan are transshipments of material originally shipped from India. Exports. Statistics not available. KOHL-RABI SEED. See SEEDS, GARDEN KRAFT PAPER. See ENVELOPES. Thus, a gimp or pattern of lace may be sewn on a new ground, or embroidered flowers may be secured to silk net; in such case the pattern ornament is said to be appliquéd. Production data of clothing and articles of wearing apparel made or ornamented with lace, embroidery, etc., are not obtainable. The manufacture of such articles centers in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other large cities. The production figures of lace, embroidery, etc., are not available except for certain items. The output of Levers laces of cotton amounted in 1914 to 7,236,934 square yards, valued at $3,681,042, and in 1921 to 4,452,625 square yards, valued at $3,988,120. The production of braids and narrow laces of cotton was valued at $897,000 in 1914 and at $673,000 in 1919. The production of silk laces, embroideries, nets, veils, veilings, etc., valued at $1,328,933 in 1914 and at $2,844,902 in 1921; of silk fringes and gimps, at $1,025,188 in 1914 and at $6,913,276 in 1921; of military and tailors' trimmings of silk at $642,000 in 1914 and at $1,317,000 in 1919. was The machine embroidery industry centers around New York City, being largest on the New Jersey side of the North River; there are also aggregations of embroidery machines at Philadelphia and Chicago and smaller numbers at other points. Fancy laces are produced most largely in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. General statistics relating to production in the cotton lace industry follow: 1, 902, 108 3,288, 359 638, 471 857, 705 1,456, 362 23, 143 1,828, 773 1921. 2,626,496 1,456,781 1,912, 185 Capital...... 1922+. $20,957,000 Wage earners employed 1923. 416,277 2,346, 848 812, 869 79, 821 1,059, 174 -40, 142 310, 978 801,242 1,352, 550 25, 478 193,05€ Average number. Per cent minimum is of maxi mum number.. Other wearing apparel, em broidered, lace, etc.: 1918... 1922+... 1923. 4,091, 841 2,363, 851 7, 178, 140 3,03, 955 13, 405, 633 9, 164, 084 10,333,946 6,8:6,017 6,120,036 3,724, 103 864, 533 65, 168 8,648, 843 4,917, 241 19, 941, 096 11, 840, 880 30, 811, 353 18, 832, 995 (50, 190, 422 32, 503, 825 43, 200, 738, 26, 226, 066 29, 306, 112 16, 328, 228 7,955, 317 3,611, 082 38, 999, 455 22,089, 024 181,706 1,546, 284 148, 065 3, 126, 120 694, 103 3, 547, 446 587,637 2,900, 292 75, 483 2,320, 450 33,347 766, 018 99, 777 3,631, 825 3,783,304 3,950,979 3, 115, 053 8, 201, 760 5, 187, 593 10, 749, 767 6, 112, 166 9, 202, 252 4,767, 956 6,024, 403 1, 442, 012 1,963, 823 6, 160, 252 8,699, 355 Imports of laces, embroideries, etc., have been valued as follows: 1914, $48,636,631; 1918. $19,941,096; 1920, $50,190,422; 1923. $38,999,455. The temporary free entry accorded lace and embroidery machines from August 5, 1909, to January 1, 1911, more than doubled the capacity of the local lace and embroidery industries and their development has tended to curtail the imports of foreign laces and embroideries. The decline in imports after 1914 was, however, largely the result of war conditions. Lace imports are normally from Nottingham and Calais; embroidery from St. Gall; etched lace (burnt-out embroidery) from Plauen; and fancy braids most largely from Barmen. Ornamented wearing apparel comes chiefly from Paris. The grand totals in the following table cover imports for consumption, in the years stated, of all articles entered under paragraph 358 of the act of 1913 and under paragraph 1430 of the act of 1922. Details are shown only for the main articles so entered made of cotton, flax, etc., and silk. Included in the grand totals are certain minor articles of which details are omitted. The subtotals, as well as the grand totals, include articles made of wool, artificial silk, and metal threads. Exports of clothing and other articles of wearing apparel made or ornamented with lace, embroidery, etc., are not separately recorded, nor are there separate export statistics of the articles covered by this paragraph except in regard to one item. Exports of cotton laces and embroideries were valued in the fiscal year 1914 at $232,457, and in later years as follows: 1918, $1,569,322; 1920, $1,629,409; 1923, $319,454. Lace-Curtain MACHINE (NOTTINGHAM) PRODUCTS. The Nottingham lace-curtain machine is used in many countries. The name "Nottingham," from its original place of development, is retained to distinguish it from other types of machines, such as the Lever lace machine. It is used in the manufacture of specified products composed of cotton or other vegetable fiber, such as lace and curtains. Nottingham lace-curtain machines are made with 6 to 20 points or bobbins to the inch, making curtains and other goods with 6 to 20 meshes to the inch. Over 60 per cent of the machines used in the United States are of 8-point or coarser. Each machine is designed to make a specific number of meshes to the inch and can make no other number. No. 100/2 ply is about the finest yarn used on such machines and the majority consists of 58/2 to 78/2 yarns. In making a fabric on a Nottingham lacecurtain machine it is necessary to have at least three sets of yarns-the main or ground-warp yarn; the spool yarn, which interlaces with the warp; and the so-called "brass-bobbin" yarn, which acts as a binder between the warp and the spool yarns. For producing special types of curtains, an additional beam warp or spool yarn may be used. The warp and beam yarns are carried on beams beneath the machine: the spool yarn, as its name implies, is carried on spools. It is drawn up vertically to intertwist with the brassbobbin yarns as the latter, suspended from the beam at the top of the machine, swing like pendulums. The spool yarns are of domestic spinning, as are also most of the warp yarns, but brassbobbin yarns of the required character and finish are not produced in the United States. Therefore the lace-curtain manufacturers, who are the largest importers of cotton yarns, are dependent on the output of English mills for this essential element of manufacture. Domestic production in 1914 of Nottingham lace curtains was valued at $4,678,847, and of Nottingham lace-curtain nets at $1,258,307; production in 1921 of Nottingham lace curtains was 3,915,412 pairs, valued at $8,435,424; and of Nottingham lace-curtain nets, 17,235,736 linear yards, valued at $6,785,333. Other products of the Nottingham lace-curtain machine were not recorded separately. There are 13 manufacturers of Nottingham lace curtains, operating over 500 machines, of which about 400 are located in Pennsylvania. Imports of Nottingham lace curtains, pillow shams, and bed sets were valued at $174,652 in 1914 (fiscal year). Imports since 1917 have been as follows: Duty. the exaggerated public control which had devel- LAPPETS. See SWIVELS, LAPPETS, ETC. LARD is America's most important fat, butter excepted. The term includes prime steam, neutral, leaf, and all lards made from hog fat exclusively. By far the larger part of the output of big packing plants is prime steam lard, produced by the live-steam method of rendering the chopped fats. Leaf lard is kettle-rendered from the leaf fats that surround the kidneys. Neutral lard, or "neutral," is kettle-rendered, but at a lower temperature than ordinary lard, so that it retains practically no hog flavor, and is used largely in oleomargarine. Large quantities of lard are chilled and pressed to separate the stearin from the olein and palmitin. Stearin is mixed with ordinary lard to give it a firmness in warm weather and to make a base for margarines; it is also used in making candles. Olein or lard oil is used in signal lights and miners' lamps and as a lubricant. Production of lard in 1914 was 1,119,188,675 pounds, valued at $120,414,007, a decrease of 10 per cent compared with 1909, coinciding with a greatly increased use of lard compounds and substitutes for culinary purposes. The figures given do not include the output of small butchers nor that of farmers, estimated at perhaps 1,000,000,000 pounds. Under favorable conditions the output can be quickly increased, as instanced by the increase in the number of swine on farms from 67,503,000 in 1917 to 71,374,000 in 1918. In 1921 production rose to 2,095,000,000 pounds, and in 1922 to 2,330,000,000 pounds. Imports of lard are insignificant compared with production or export, having reached the maximum of 1,131,998 pounds, including compounds and substitutes, in the fiscal year 1918, with 230,816 $18,691 pounds as the average for the four years previous. Under a duty of 11 cents per pound 4,117 pounds 58,207 22,032 were imported in 1913 and 125,636 pounds came in 12,000 duty free in 1914. Later statistics of imports of lard, lard compounds, and lard substitutes follow: 21,351 77,925 282,622 25,634 91, 920 Exports are not recorded. LACTIC ACID. See ACIDS. LAISSEZ FAIRE, LAISSEZ PASSER (let do, let pass). A maxim attributed to Gournay, one of the Physiocrats (see). Laissez faire, according to the teachings of this school, implied the removal of all governmental controls from production; laissez passer was the watchword calling for free competition in economic life. The phrase probably gained popularity through its opposition to Neymarck, Alfred, Vocabulaire Manuel d'économie politique, Paris, 1898, p. 239. Exports decreased during the war. The average for 1915-1918 was 434,954,000 pounds, compared with 502,211,000 pounds for 1911-1914. Higher prices, difficulties of trans-Atlantic shipping, and loss of exports to Germany (normally about 30 per cent) probably explain the decrease. Before the war lard was by far the most important export of the meat-packing industry. Exports of lard in 1922 were 766,950,103 pounds, valued at $91,484,669, about 31 per cent of which went to the United Kingdom, 29 per cent LARD LEAD. to Germany, 10 per cent to Cuba, and 6 per cent to Belgium. Lard substitutes and lard compounds are of two types-(1) those containing a base of animal fats, and (2) those made entirely from vegetable oils by a process of hydrogenation. The first is made by mixing heated vegetable oil with a proper proportion of melted hog or beef fats; this is quickly chilled and violently beaten to give it the appearThe second, from vegetable ance of natural lard. oils, is a recent development. The refined and bleached oil is subjected to a hardening process in which reduced nickel is employed to effect a combination of the hydrogen gas and liquid glycerides. The oleins of the oil are changed into stearins, which are solid at ordinary temperatures. By this process most of the tremendous domestic production of cottonseed oil has been made available for use as a cooking fat. Production of 1,173,446,000 pounds of lard substitutes was reported in 1917, an increase of 146,313,000 over 1916. The most important constituent was cottonseed oil, of which 1,069,214,000 pounds were used; 55,000,000 pounds of stearin, 34,000,000 pounds of soya-bean oil, 17,000,000 pounds of vegetable stearin, and 12,000,000 pounds of peanut oil were also employed. Besides an enormous increase in the output of lard substitutes, the variety of oils used therein has also increased. Of the materials used in producing lard substitutes in 1918 less than 10 per cent were imported. Imports.-Statistics of lard compounds and substitutes are combined with those of lard. Exports of lard compounds and substitutes decreased during the war, averaging 65,500,000 pounds for 1911-1914 and 52,500,000 for 1915-1918. Statistics of exports for the calendar years 1918-1923 follow: Production.-The United States is the largest producer and consumer of lead. Since 1875 it has been practically independent of foreign supplies, with a domestic production very nearly equal to consumption. Although large amounts appear in the import statistics, little foreign lead is ultimately absorbed in the United States, as most of the ore and base bullion imported is treated in bonded works without payment of duty, and the larger part of the imports upon which duty is paid is eventually reexported with benefit of drawback. For instance, the United States carries on a large smelting and refining business in bond, treating by far the greater part of the Mexican output. The following table shows the domestic production of lead in 1913, 1922, and 1923: Statistics relating to production in the industries of lead smelting and refining follow: Exports of neutral lard for 1923 amounted to 24,128,923 pounds, valued at $3,160,895. LEAD. The chief consumption of lead is in the form of white lead for paint. Large quantities are used in pipe and sheet, and in shot and bullets; lesser quantities in bearing metals, solders, and other white-metal alloys. The market grades are (1) desilverized, (2) "soft," and (3) antimonial lead. Lead bullion or base bullion is metallic lead containing gold and silver; it differs from market lead in that it must be desilverized or refined. Lead pigs and barsusually about 3 feet long and weighing from 80 to 110 pounds-include all merchantable forms of pig lead whether virgin (produced direct from ore) or of secondary origin, and whether soft, desilverized, or base bullion. Lead dross, made in recovering the metal from its ores, is valueless except as a source of lead and the minor amounts of other metals which it may contain. The chief source of antimonial lead is from the refining of lead bullion; as the name implies, it is lead alloyed with a certain amount of antimony. Type metal is an alloy of lead and antimony with a small amount of tin and is used for the manufacture of type. Babbitt metal is representative of a large group of bearing metals containing lead and antimony to which may be added copper, zinc, or other metallic substances. Solder, an alloy of tin and lead, is used for joining metals together. Number of establishments. Wage earners employed: Per cent minimum is of maxi- Per cent working 48 hours and Per cent working 60 hours and Imports. Of the various forms in which lead is imported, the most important is base bullion. In the fiscal year 1918 the maximum importation of pigs, bars, etc., was over 19,000,000 pounds, which compares with 150,000,000 pounds of lead in base bullion. In 1913 and 1914 only a few hundred thousand pounds were imported, showing an enormous fluctuation in the imports of both classes of the metal. This was due largely to political conditions in Mexico, the only important country of origin of both classes of imports. Imports from all other countries are small and, excepting those from Canada, sporadic. Mexican lead is refined in bond and shipped chiefly to Great Britain. 1 |