THE FLAX PLANT. 281 
a support, while motion is communicated to the other frame by means either 
of an iron spring, or by an elastic pole of wood attached to it and connected 
with a treadle, upon which the workman presses with his foot. By placing 
a handful of the straws between the frames, and pressing upon the treadle, 
the moveable frame descends and bruises, or breaks the inelastic woody 
matter, while the supple fibre is uninjured. So prepared, the straw is ready 
for the second and final operation, which it undergoes before it is transferred 
from the farm to the factory. Steeping and grassing have destroyed the co- 
hesion between the various structures of the straw, the break has fractured 
the woody matters, it only now remains to liberate completely the valuable 
textile material from its worthless encumbrance. This is effected on the farm 
by means of a simple implement of manual labour; an improved form has 
been introduced from Belgium. It consists of a thin blade of wood, attached 
to a handle, and an upright wooden stand, with a notch cut on one side, in 
which the workman inserts a handful of the steeped and bruised flax, and 
turning the flax so as to present every part to the implement, by the blows 
of the “scutcher” the brittle and broken weody matters, technically termed 
“shoves,” are knocked away, and at the same time any very short or injured 
fibres are removed, producing what is known as “scutching tow.” Some- 
times bits of “shove” adhere so closely to the bast fibre, that the workman 
requires to scrape them away by means of a blunt knife. 
Amongst the various obstacles which impede the extension of flax cultiva- 
tion to the south and west of Ireland, is the difficulty of obtaining experienced 
scutchers; and serious loss has frequently been sustained, by persons who 
have attempted the preparation of the crop, from the want of that skilled 
labour which is available in almost every part of Ulster. Thus it was found 
that while the northern scutchers can turn out from 12|bs. to 141bs. of fibre 
per day, the workmen in the south and west have not been able to prepare 
more than from 5lbs. to 6 lbs. daily, and frequently not more than 2 lbs. It 
is therefore of great importance to this country that government is about to 
afford encouragement to the erection of machinery for scutching, in districts 
where skilled workmen cannot be obtained. Even in Ulster, for some years 
the opinion has begun to prevail, that, as in other departments of our manu- 
factures, hand labour must, in the preparation of the flax fibre, give place to 
machinery, and “ scutch-mills,” where the work is performed for the farmer, 
are to be found in all our flax-growing districts. 
The fibre of the flax, prepared either by manual labour, or in the seutch- 
mill, is ready for market, and is sold according to its quality, at prices ranging 
from £30 to £150 per ton. It is not yet, however, suitable for the opera- 
tions of the spinner. In the same bundle there exist fibres of various quali- 
ties ; and it is also necessary that the filaments should be arranged in parallel 
“reeds.” They must be sorted and hackled. “ Hackling ” consists in draw- 
ing the mass of fibres through sets of iron teeth, fixed in a stand of wood, 
which, like the teeth of a comb, separate and arrange the fibres, and remove 
all broken pieces. Thus treated, flax is rendered fit for its various textile 
uses. 
Produce of Fibre, §e—The amount of rippled flax-straw, viz. 5824 lbs., 
obtained in my experiment, considerably exceeded the ordinary produce 
of the farmer. From the returns of the Royal Flax Scciety, and from my 
own inquiries, I would estimate the average produce of a statute acre, in the 
north of Ireland, of air-dried flax-straw, with bolls, at two tons, which by the 
seeding machine are usually reduced to 3360 lbs. By the various processes 
of the rural manufacturer, the amount of dressed flax or fibre obtained ave- 
