132 FLAX CULTURE AND PREPARATION 



I represents the walls of the building, 2 the entrance, and 3 

 the exit, 4 the straw breaker, 5 the scutch wheels, 6 the stock, 

 and 7 the table on which the operative temporarily places the 

 parcels and handfuls of flax. The water wheel, 8, is constructed 

 on the shaft 9, which is free to rotate in suitable bearings. 

 Compounded with the water wheel is a large spur wheel 10, 

 which gears into and drives a small pinion wheel 11 com- 

 pounded with a short shaft 12, which goes through the end 

 wall into the interior of the building, where the teeth of a large 

 spur-driving wheel 13 intermesh with the spur wheel 14, 

 securely keyed to the scutching shaft 15. This shaft also 

 carries a spur pinion 16, which in turn gears into and drives 

 a spur pinion 17 on shaft 18. Shaft 18 carries a spur pinion 

 19, which communicates through spur or bevel gears the 

 requisite rotary motion to the fluted rollers. The rims 20 

 carry the scutching blades and shaft 15 operates completely 

 within the tow box or room 21, which is kept strictly separate 

 from the room 22 where the scutchers work, by the partition 

 23, which extends from the floor to the ceiling. The dust 

 from the tow room is extracted by means of a fan through the 

 duct and dust conveyer 24, placed at a suitable height, and 

 then through the building to a wide open-mouthed hood 

 placed immediately over the stream of water that flows from 

 the water wheel. 



114. Principle of Scutching and Action of Mechanism. 

 Motion is communicated from the rotary water wheel 8 to 

 the scutch blades 5 and the flax breaker 4, through the speci- 

 fied parts 9 to 20 inclusive. The Irish blades, which vary 

 from 6 ft. to 6 ft. 6 in. in total circumference, rotate from 

 200 to 260 times per minute. The flax is held by the scutcher 

 in the groove of the stock, as in hand scutching ; the revolving 

 blades strike the flax in rapid succession, the scutcher taking 

 care to keep his hand close and firmly against the stock all 

 the time, but on the side remote from the scutching blades. 

 The stand for each worker is carefully protected so that there 

 is little fear of any danger to a careful person. The operator 



