The hanks are soaked in water for an hour, then rice, boiled almost to a papa, is kneaded into them to act as size, and give firmness and strength to the fiber. They are again soaked in water, so that the rice pap may penetrate all through the thread, and then the strands are made even by being carded with a wooden comb. When the thread is dry the hanks are again put on the wheel, and wound on bobbins, which are generally ten in number. Two (or sometimes four) short posts are set firmly in the ground from twenty to thirty feet apart, according to the length of the stuff to be woven. Then the bobbins are carried round the posts, unwinding the thread. This work is done in the open air, but when the thread has been stretched between the posts, it is lifted off and carried to the loom.