378 On Broom Flax. 



phial till well. Every leech should have a clean plate to 

 disgorge itself on. 



These observations have occurred in practice ; and 7 am 

 convinced that if they are strictly attended to, the mortality 

 amongst leeches will be much lessened. 



N. B. Those who wish to use a leech as a weather- 

 glass should choose one that has not been used for bleed- 

 ing ; for after they have been used they are frequently 

 sickly, and will bury themselves in the sand for days to- 

 gether. 



LIII. On Broom Flax. 

 To Mr. Tillocli. 



rhesnut Walk, Walthamstow, 



T November 'J3, 1 809. 



HE inclosed specimens of the refuse and very worst 

 of the flax of broom speak for themselves. 



To procure the flax of broom it is only necessary to steep 

 the twigs, or former year's branches (and the most vigo- 

 rous shoots are the best) for two or three weeks, more or 

 less according to the heat of the seaso.i, in stagnant water j 

 or to boil them for about an hour in water. This done, 

 the flax comes freely from the twigs ; and, where there is 

 rot machinery for the purpose, may be easily peeled or 

 stripped oft', by children or others, at any time when not 

 quite dry, in the same way as hemp is peeled from the 

 stalk?. And what adds to the value of the discovery, if it 

 may be so called, is, that on being cleared of the flax, and 

 steeped for some time in boiling water, the twigs, or wood, 

 become tough and beautifully white, and are worth, at a 

 medium, from a shilling to eighteenpence per pound for 

 making carpet brooms, &c. 



When stripped from the twigs, the flax requires only to 

 be well washed in cold water, then wrung and shaken well, 

 and hung out to dry, previously to its being sent off to the 

 paper manufacturers, &c. Professor Davy has bleached 

 some of it for me; and I have seen it spun. 



The discov'.ry and my experiments respecting broom flax 

 have occupied tlie greater part of my leisure hours for se- 

 veral months past, and have been attended both with trouble 

 and expense; yet if the poor on the north side of the Tweed, 

 and in Ireland, (independent of those belonging to such of 

 the 9700 parishes in lingland as have broom in them,) are 

 bettered by the discovery, it will give me more real satis- 

 faction 



