488 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



There are within fifty miles of Troy, N. Y., fiftj^six mills, which 

 cost from five to eight hundred dollars each, exclusive of build- 

 ings and power, and which severally dress from one to two hun- 

 dred tons of flax straw per year. The power required to drive 

 these mills may be stated to be from six to fifteen horse power. 



All of these mills are constructed upon the principle of the 

 old hand process, with the single exception of the break. In- 

 stead of the bench break, they substitute fluted rollers, through 

 which the flax has to be passed six or seven times. The opera- 

 tive is required to exercise considerable skill and caution in 

 working the fluted rollers, as there is always danger that his arm 

 may be drawn between them. As many as ten cases of this kind 

 have occurred within a few years, in a single county, in each of 

 which the operative lost an arm. 



After passing through the rollers, the flax is passed to a man 

 who does what is termed rough scutching, and from him to ano- 

 ther man who does the fine scutching and finishing. The scutch- 

 ing knives are precisely like the old hand scutchers, six of which 

 (being each about two feet in length) are placed in the periphery 

 of a common pulley, about two feet in diameter, and three of 

 these pulleys, armed with scutching knives, are placed on one 

 shaft, at suitable distances apart, to enable three men to stand 

 between them in a right line. Considerable care must be exercised 

 in using this machine also, as the fingers of the operative are not 

 unfrequently cut off" by the revolving knives. The straw to be 

 dressed passes through the hands of several operatives, as fol- 

 lows : One passes it to the man attending the break, the break- 

 man passes it through the fluted rollers six or seven times, as 

 above stated, and the man who first handles the straw then 

 passes it to be dressed by the revolving knives to the scutchers, 

 two of whom rough dress it, as it is called, then a third takes, 

 the product of the two rough dressers, and gives it the fine or 

 finishing scutch, as it is termed. It is then tied up and pro- 

 nounced ready for market. The man who first handles the straw, 

 not being fully employed in that duty, assists generally about the 

 milL Under the present mode of dressing flax, a number of men 

 are employed in rotting and preparing the flax for the mill, all of 

 whom are under the control of the mill owner. Much of the flax 

 is brought from a distance to the vicinitj^'of the mill, and there 

 rotted and prepared. In consequence of this, much valuable 

 straw is wasted by being handled so many times. After the 



