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"the opinion which is now almost universally entertained of its merits, 

 "The following is a description of an establishment for the prosecution 

 "of Mr. Schenck's process, situated on the Newport river,- county Mayo. 

 "It is taken from a report on the subject by Mr. M'Adam, the Secretary 

 "of the Belfast Society. He says, 'The tenements, containing the vats 

 "and drying shelves, are simple wooden sheds, of cheap construction. In 

 " one end of the building are four vats, set paralled to each other, the- 

 "length of the house. They are made of inch deal, in the form of a 

 "parallelogram, fifty feet long, six broad, and four deep. There are 

 "false bottoms perforated with holes. Underneath these are introduced 

 "the steam pipes, crossing the vats, and having stopcocks at their en- 

 " trance, by which the steam can be let on from the main pipe, as 

 "required. The steam is generated in a small boiler, which also serves 

 "to turn two hydro-extractors — a patent apparatus used to drive off a 

 "portion of the water with which the flax is saturated, on being taken 

 "from the vats. 



"The flax is packed into the empty vats, on the butt ends, in a half 

 "sloping position, precisely as in the case of a steep pool, only one layer 

 "being the depth. The water is then let in, and a frame fastened over 

 -"the top of the flax, answering the end of stones and straw, or sods, in 

 "the steep pools — the prevention of the rising of the flax in the course 

 "of fermentation. 



"The steam is then let into the pipes by turning the stop-cocks, and 

 "the water is some eighteen or twenty hours in becoming heated to the 

 "desired point, 85° to 90". The fermentation then commences, and no 

 "further steam is required, which is in forty hours afterwards, being 

 "sixty from the time of the admission of the water. At the end of the 

 "sixty hours, the flax is taken out, the water allowed to run off, and the 

 *'vat permitted to cool. The same process is then repeated, with fresh 

 "water and fresh flax. When taken from the water the flax is packed 

 *'in the hydro-extractor, which is a round vessel of iron, made to revolve 

 "by steam power with great velocity, the water being driven out of the 

 "flax on the principle of centrifugal force. Thirty beets or small hand- 

 "fuls are placed in this machine at a time, and about twenty lbs. of wa- 

 "ter are extracted in three to five minutes. A few hours suffice for the 

 ''contents of a vat, each vat containing two tons of flax straw. The 

 "hydro-extractor only separates a portion of the water; the flax novr 

 '•remains to be thoroughly dried. In summer, or indeed for six months 



