The lower branches of the Woollen Industry are a direct outgrowth of economic practices in textile production. The basic idea of re-claiming the sound usable fibre from rags — new and Old — and of making the resultant fibrous product into yarn and cloth, originated in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Formerly, the factory Operations and manufacturing equipment, to which this conception gave rise, were peculiar to the heavy-woollen districts of this country. Within the last three or four decades, the English system of manufacture has been exploited, but not superseded, in Continental and American textile centres. An outstanding international asset, accruing from the production of goods made of Wool Substitutes, is a commensurate supply of new clothing, at a reasonable cost, for the million.