CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 233 



chaff, measured 3f imperial bushels, the straw was reduced in -weight 

 to 10 c\vt. 1 qr. 21 Ibs. It was then placed in the vat, where it \vas 

 subjected to the steaming process for about eleven hours. After 

 steeping, wet-rolling and drying, it weighed 7 cwt. 11 Ibs.; and on 

 being scutched, the yield was 187 Ibs. of flax; and of scutchin<i-tow, 

 12 Ibs. G.i- oz. fine, and 35 Ibs. 3 oz. coarse. The yield of fiber in the 

 state of "goad flix, was, therefore, at the rate of 13} Ibs. from the 

 hundred weight of straw, with seed on ; 18 Ibs. from the hundred 

 weight of straw without the seed : 23 i- Ibs from the hundred of steeped 



o s * 



and dry straw. 



The time, according to the report of the committee, occupied in 

 actual labor in the processes, from the seeding of the flax to the com- 

 mencement of the breaking, was 13 hours, to which if 11 hours be 

 added for the time the flix was in the vat, 24 hours would be the time 

 required up to this point The breaking by four hands, occupied six 

 hours sixteen minutes. But in this statement the time required for 

 drying is not included, as, owing to some derangement in the apparatus, 

 no certain estimate could be made of the actual time required in this 

 gart of the process. It would appear, however, that about 36 hours 

 would include the time necessary in a well arranged establishment, to 

 convert flix straw into fiber for the spinner. 



The cost of all these operations, in the experiment in question, 

 leaving out the drying for reasons noted, appears to be under 10 

 per ton of clean fiber, for labor exclusive of general expenses. 



A portion of the fiber was sent to two spinning-mills to be hackled 

 and to hive a value set upon it. The valuation of the samples varied 

 from 5G to 70 per ton, according to the quality of the stocks of 

 fiber sent ; the yields on the hackle was also considered satisfactory. 



The report of the committee in regard to the experimental trial of 

 Watt's process, concluded as follows : " On the result of this exper- 

 iment, which was necessarily of a limited nature, the committee think 

 it best to offer no general remarks. They are sufficiently favorable 

 to speak for themselves. It remains to be ascertained whether the 

 qualities of flax fiber, proposed by this method, are such as to suit the 

 spinner and manufacturer. They have been informed by a spinner 

 who has been trying some flax prepared by Mr. Watt's system, that 

 the yarn made from it appears equal in all respects to what is ordin- 

 arily spun from good Irish flax, of the finer sorts. They believe that 

 before lon^, information will be given by several individuals, who are 

 about to carry out more extended trials in the spinning and manufac- 

 turino 1 departments. The committee conceive that the most promi- 

 nent and novel feature of this plan consists in the substitution of ma 

 ceration, or softening for fermentation. In this steeping of flax, both 

 by cold and hot water, the fiber is freed from the substance termed 

 gum, by the decomposition of the latter ; while in Watt's system the 

 maceration of the stem loosens the cuticle and gum, which are further 

 separated mechanically in the crushing operation, and after the drying 

 of the straw readily part with the wood, under the action of the scutch 

 mill. Before concluding this statement, the committee wish to call 

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