FLAX 409 



in water, acidulated with sulphuric acid, and of a solution of chloride of limo, which 

 nre all required to perfect the bleaching. The groat object, therefore, is to obtain the 

 fibro as nearly free from all foreign substances as possible, and, consequently, the 

 mechanical separation of it from the woody pith of the stem is not to be recom- 

 mended. 



At various periods attempts have been made to prepare flax fibre without steeping. 

 Weak acids, solutions of caustic potash, and of soda, soap lye, and limo, have all been 

 tried, but have all been found objectionable. In 1815 Mr. Lee brought before ' the 

 Trustees of the Linen and Hempen Manufactures of Ireland ' his system of separating 

 the fibre without steeping. He alleged that a largo yield was thus obtained, that the 

 colouring matter could afterwards be discharged by the most simple means, and that 

 the fibre possessed greater strength. But it was found that the system was practi- 

 cally worthless. In 1816, Mr. Pollard, of Manchester, brought forward a plan of the 

 same nature, and proposed to make an article from flax which could be spun -on 

 cotton machinery. This also fell to the ground. In Franco and Belgium, at different 

 periods, similar projects were found equally impracticable. In 1850, and again in 

 1857, Mr. Donlau revived the same, but the same fatal objections prevented the success 

 of the system. The fibre was loaded with impurities, and the apparently larger 

 yield over steeped fibre consisted solely of these very impurities, which had to be 

 got rid of in the after-processes of manufacture. At the same time it must be recog- 

 nised that the ' dry separated ' fibre can be rendered useful for one class of manu- 

 factures, viz., those where no bleaching is necessary, and its great strength is here 

 an object. For ropes, rick-covers, tarpaulins, railway -waggon covers, &c., where 

 pitch or tar is used to prevent the decomposing action of moisture and of atmo- 

 spheric changes, this mode of obtaining flax fibre is highly useful. 



The immersion of the flax stems in water, either as pulled full of sap, or after 

 drying, appears, as yet, to be the best mode of effecting the decomposition of the 

 gum, and obtaining the fibre pure, or nearly so. The water most suitable for this 

 purpose is that obtained from surface-drainage, springs generally holding more or 

 less of mineral matters in solution. Spring-water from a calcareous soil is peculiarly 

 unsuitable, the carbonate of lime which it contains being adverse to the putrefactive 

 fermentation of the vegetable extractive. In Russia, much of the flax grown is 

 steeped in lakes. In Holland, it is always steeped in pools filled with the surface- 

 drainage. In France and Belgium, it is either steeped in pools or rivers. In England 

 and Ireland, generally in pools, though occasionally in rivers. The most celebrated 

 steep-water in the world is the river Lys, which rises in the north of France, and 

 flows through the west of Belgium, joining the Escant at Ghent. Although the 

 water of this stream has been analysed, chemists have not been able to discover why it 

 should be so peculiarly favourable to the steeping of flax. All along its course flax 

 is steeped. The trade is in the hands of factors, who purchase the dried stems from 

 the growers, and undertake all the after-processes, selling the fibre to merchants when 

 it has been prepared for sale. The apparatus in use consists of wooden crates, 12 feet 

 long, 8 wide, and 3 deep. The sheaves of flax-straw are placed erect in the crates, 

 and the root ends of one are tied to the top ends of another, to secure uniformity of 

 packing. The crate, when filled, is carried into the river, and anchored there, the 

 upper part being sunk by the weight of stones, 6 inches underneath the surface. The 

 period of steeping begins in May, and ends about September. The previous year's 

 crop is thus steeped, having lain over in the state of dried straw during the winter. 

 All the flax thus treated produces fibre of a yellowish white colour, very soft and 

 lustrous, with very finely divided filaments, and strong. From it almost exclusively 

 are made cambric, the finest shirtings, and damask table-linen. It is a strange fact 

 that flax-straw is brought to the Lys, from a great distance, and even from Holland, 

 as no other water has yet been found to give such good fibre. 



In 1847 a new system of steeping was introduced in Ireland, by Mr. Schenck, of 

 New York. It had been successfully tried in America on ht-mp, and the inventor 

 crossed the Atlantic to try its efficacy on flax. His plan consisted in hastening the 

 putrefactive fermentation of the vegetable extractive by artificially raising the tem- 

 perature of the water to 90 F. By this means instead of an uncertain period of 

 seven to twenty-one days being required for the steep, according to the state of the 

 weather and the temperature of the atmosphere, the flax was retted uniformly in 

 sixty hours. The flax-straw, after the separation of the seed, is placed in wooden 

 or brick vats, and the heat is communicated by forcing steam into a coil of iron or 

 leaden pipes, placed under a false bottom perforated with holes. 



The annexed plan (Jig. 918) of a retting on Schenck's system, capable of consuming 

 annually the produce of 400 acres of flax, and employing, in all the operations of 

 seeding, steeping, drying, and scutching, 30 men and 55 girls and boys, or an aggre- 

 gate of 85 persons, will give an idea of tho arrangements. The seeding-house- 



