PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 487 



boon still adhering. The objection to this mode of flax dressing 

 is this : The mass of the material in the hands of the operator, 

 subjected to the knife or swingle operation, is so large that a 

 perfect removal of the woody particles becomes impossible with- 

 out a very considerable waste of valuable fibre; the fibre being 

 drawn out from the mass with the w^oody particles, and in addi- 

 tion to this loss, the fibres remaining in the hand of the operator 

 arc materially injured by becoming entangled as well as bruised 

 or partially broken. The condition of the fibre, after undergoing 

 this treatment, is such that, in subsequently reducing it to a 

 degree of fineness, fit for fine fabrics, a further loss of from forty 

 to fifty per cent is sustained. 



A great many experiments have been made, from time to time, 

 to discover some new mode of preparing flax straw for the action 

 of machinery, such as water rotting, steeping in hot Avater, in 

 alkali with and without heat, steaming with and without pi'es- 

 sure, and the like ; but all have been abandoned for the old pro- 

 cess of dew-rotting, which is now universal. 



The business of flax dressing is now and for a long time has 

 been controlled by the owners of mills or factories, erected at 

 considerable expense expressly for that purpose. The machines 

 used by them are constructed upon the same principle as the 

 hand process above described, and require, to operate them, skilled 

 and high priced labor. 



Flax dressing by the hand process is so tedious, and the daily 

 yield so small, as to render it unprofitable to the farmer, and, 

 as few farmers have sufficient capital to enable them to erect 

 suitable buildings, and to purchase the expensive machinery now 

 in use for flax dressing, they are compelled, if they raise flax at 

 all, to sell the straw to the mill owner. 



Farmers living at a distance from the mill cannot afford to cart 

 the straw, hence the amount of flax dressed must be limited and 

 the price high. 



Could every farmer have a machine, which could be driven by 

 horse power, and attended by boys or girls, without risk to the 

 operative, it would not be long before a linen fabric could be 

 purchased for a price less even than that of cotton. Great efforts 

 have been made in this country, as well as in Europe, to devise 

 such a machine, but hitherto without success. It is belived that 

 the machine invented by Mr. Sanford, which I will presently 

 explain, will fully answer that important end. 



