OF THE COUNTY OF TYRONE. 141 



The above period, therefore, is that, in which the 

 poor might be, in fome meafure, employed in fpin- 

 ning of wool, as at that feafon it is generally procured 

 upon cheaper terms than flax. Betides, fummer wea- 

 ther anfwers beft for fpinning wool. A fpinner can 

 manage flax by the light of the fire only ; wool re- 

 quires more regular light : hence the latter is the beft 

 fubjecT: for the long day. 



But there is another confideration of great confe- 

 quence, trifling at firft view as it may appear. The 

 root of the common fern is at this feafon replete with, 

 an oily glutinous fubftance, which is well known to 

 make an excellent fubftitute for oil or butter, without 

 which wool cannot be manufactured, unlefs the fern- 

 juice be made ufe of. A pound of wool requires a 

 quarter of a pound of butter, or the fame proportion 

 of oil, to prepare it for fpinning, which may be faved 

 by attending to the exudation of the fern, when cut 

 up in fmall pieces. Perhaps it might be an objeft 

 worthy of chemical enquiry, to find how long this 

 juice might be preferved, and how to prepare it for 

 that purpofe. So far as I could learn from the com- 

 mon people, the root is cut into fhort pieces, bruifed 

 in a mortar, and then put into a cloth, and prefTed out. 



I have feen beautiful pieces of drugget, made up in 

 this country by houfe-keepers. When thickened in 

 the tuck-mill, it is warmer, and lafts longer than other- 

 wife : in this cafe, two parts are generally compofed of 



wool, 



