The water valve is opened and closed with the starting and stopping of the machine, but the oblique rod is moved only when irregular feeding takes place.  Thus, the upper rollers rise slightly against the pressure of the springs when thick stricks appear; hence, when a thick place passes under the roller which is in contact with the curved end of the oblique rod, the end moves slightly clockwise, and thus rotates the fulcrum rod; this results in an increased quantity of oil being liberated from the source of supply, and the mechanism is so arranged that the oil reaches the thick part of the strick.  When the above-mentioned upper roller descends, due to a decrease in the thickness of the strick, the oblique rod and its fulcrum is moved slightly counter-clockwise, and less oil is liberated for the thin part of the strick.  It will be understood that all makers of softening machines supply the automatic lubricating or batching apparatus when desired.

A view of a softener at work appears in Fig. 13.  The bevel wheels at the end of the rollers are naturally covered as a protection against accidents.  In many machines safety appliances are fitted at the feed end so that the machine may be automatically stopped if the operative is in danger.  The batching apparatus for this machine is of a different kind from that illustrated in Fig. 12; moreover, it is placed nearer the feed rollers than the twelfth pair.  The feed pipes for the oil and the water are shown coming from a high plane, and the supply is under the influence of chain gearing as shown on the right near the large driving belt from the drum on the shafting.

The feed roller in this machine is a spirally fluted one, and the nature of the flutes is clearly emphasized in the view.  The barrow of jute at the far end of the machine is built up from stricks which have passed through the machine, and these stricks are now ready for conditioning, and will be stored in a convenient position for future treatment.

[Illustration:  Fig. 13 Softening machine with batching apparatus]

While the jute as assorted and baled for export from India is graded in such a way that it may be used for certain classes of yarn without any further selection or treatment, it may be possible to utilize the material to better advantage by a judicious selection and treatment after it has undergone the operation of batching.

What are known as cuttings are often treated by a special machine known as a “root-opener.”  The jute cuttings are fed into the machines and the fibre rubbed between fixed and rotating pins in order to loosen the matted ends of stricks.  Foreign matter drops through the openings of a grid to the floor, and the fibre is delivered on to a table, or, if desired, on to the feed sheet of the softener.

The root ends of stricks are sometimes treated by a special machine termed a root-comber with the object of loosening the comparatively hard end of the strick.  A snipping machine or a teazer may also be used for somewhat similar purposes, and for opening out ropes and similar close textures.