The first pair of rollers—­that next to the feed sheet in the foreground of Fig. 11—­is provided with straight flutes as clearly shown.  All the other rollers, however, are provided with oblique flutes, such flutes making a small angle with the horizontal.  What is often considered as a standard softening machine contains 63 pairs of fluted rollers besides the usual feed and delivery rollers.  As mentioned above, this number is varied according to circumstances.

The lubricated pieces of jute are fed on to the feed roller sheet, and hence undergo a considerable amount of bending in different ways before they emerge from the delivery rollers at the other end of the machine.

[Illustration:  Fig. 11 Softening machine without batching apparatus]

Machine batching is preferred by many firms because the application of oil and water, and the proportion of each, are much more uniform than they are by the above mentioned process of hand batching.  On the other hand, there is no time for conditioning the fibre because the lubrication and the softening are proceeding simultaneously, although conditioning may proceed while the fibre remains in the cart after it has left the softener.

The mechanical apparatus as made by Messrs. Urquhart, Lindsay & Co., Ltd., Dundee, for depositing the oil and water on the pieces or “stricks” of jute is illustrated in Fig. 12.  The actual lubricating equipment is situated on the top of the rectangular frame in the centre of the illustration.  This frame is bolted to the side frames of the softening machine proper, say that shown in Fig. 11.  Its exact position, with respect to its distance from the feed, is a matter of choice, but the liquid is often arranged to fall on to the material at any point between the second and twelfth rollers.

In Fig. 12 the ends of 13 rollers of the upper set are seen clearly, and these upper rollers are kept hard in contact with the stricks or pieces of jute by means of the powerful springs shown immediately above the roller bearings and partially enclosed in bell-jars.

Outside the rectangular frame in Fig. 12 are two rods, one vertical and the other inclined.  The straight or vertical rod is attached by suitable levers and rods to the set-on handles at each end of the machine and to the valve of the water pipe near the top of the frame, while the upper end of the inclined or oblique rod is fulcrumed on a rod projecting from the frame.  The lower or curved end of the oblique rod rests against the boss of one of the upper rollers.

[Illustration:  Fig. 12]