410 



FLAX 



requires to bo of largo size, as flax-straw is a bulky article. It is on the ground floor, 

 lor tlio convenience of carting-in tin- flax. The loft above it is used for cleaning and 

 storing the seed. The vat- and spreading-rooms are in a building of one story only, 

 built with a vaulted roof resting on pillars. That part of the roof which is over 

 the vats has lower windows to aid the escape of the vapours from the vats. Th<> 

 drying sheds at the top of the plan are on an open space, well exposed to the wind. 

 and 50 or 60 feet apart. The hot-air rooms, or desiccating house, are lire-proof, each 

 room being capable of containing the flax turned out in one day's work. The scutch 

 mill, with engine and boiler-house, complete the plan. 



918 



SPREADING ROOM 



10 00 00 



VAT DOOM 



00 





Tlio advantages of this system were so manifest that it was speedily adopted in 

 many parts of the United Kingdom and of the Continent. It was found, however. 1<> 

 have some defects. The small quantity of water soon became thoroughly saturated 

 with the products of decomposition, and the fibre of the flax, when dried, was, conse- 

 quently, found loaded with a yellow powder, offensive to the smell, causing incon- 

 venience in the preparing and spinning, and, worse still, acting prejudicially on the 

 quality of the fibre itself, rendering it harsh and dry. 



To obviate these defects, Mr. Pownall, of London, conceived the idea of pressing 

 the flax-straw, immediately when taken out of the steep, between a pair of smooth 

 cast-iron cylinders, while, at the same time, a stream of water played upon the rollers. 

 By these means the foul water of the vat is pressed out of the flax stems, which are 

 flattened and bruised, thus tending to aid the separation of the bundles of fibres into 

 minute filaments, while the stream of water effectually washed away all remaining 

 impurities. 



It has recently been found that better fibre can bo obtained by reducing the tem- 

 perature and extending the time of steeping. The most perfect adaptation of Schenek s 

 system is at the rettery of M. Auguste Scrive, near Lille, -.mdjfiff. 919 is a repre- 

 sentation of it. Tanks of wood or stone are used, each to contain two and a half tons of 

 flax-straw. The .straw is classified according to quality and length before being paeked 

 in the tank. It is put in erect, the root ends resting on the perforated false bottom, 

 and slightly pressed together, but not so much as to prevent a free circulation of water, 

 and a free exit for the gases germinated by the fermentation. The tank being filled 

 with water, the whole is secured at tho tops of the sheaves by narrow strips of wood 

 four inches thick a, catching tho tops on the whole length of each row of bundles. 



