850 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



immersing green flax in water, namely, to make the harl or flaxy substance part easily 

 and completely from the booa or reed. 



5314. The period that flax ought to remain in the ivater, depends on various circum- 

 stances ; as the state of ripeness in which it was pulled, the quality and temperature of the 

 water, &c. The most certain rule by which to judge when flax is sufficiently watered, 

 is, when the boon becomes brittle, and the harl separates easily from it. In warm 

 weather, ten days of the watering process is sufficient ; but it is proper to examine the 

 pools regularly after the seventh day, lest the flax should putrefy or rot, which sometimes 

 happens in very warm weather. Twelve days will answer in any sort of weather ; 

 though it may be remarked, that it is better to give too little of the water, than too much, 

 as any deficiency may be easily made up by sufl^ering it to lie longer on the grass, whereas 

 an excess of water admits of no remedy. [Brown.) 



5315. Grassing or bleaching flax is the next operation, the intention of which is to 

 rectify any defect in the watering process, and carry on the putrefactive process to that 

 point when the fibre will separate from the bark, boon, reed or harl, (as the woody part 

 of the stem is called) with the greatest ease. In performing this operation, the flax is 

 spread very thin on the ground, and in regular rows ; the one being made to overlap the 

 other a few inches, with a view of preventing, as much as possible, its being torn up and 

 scattered by gales of wind. Old grass-ground, where the herbage does not grow to any 

 great height, is the best for the purpose ; as when the grass or weeds spring up so as to 

 cover the flax, it is frequently rotted, or at least greatly injured thereby. 



5316. The time allowed for grassing is regulated by the state of the flax, and seldom exceeds ten 

 or twelve days During this time it is repeatedly examined, and when it is found that the boon has 

 become very brittle, so that, on being broken, and rubbed between the hands, it easily and freely parts 

 from the harl, it is then taken up, a dry day being chosen for the purpose, and, being bound in sheaveSj 

 is either sent directly to the mill, which is the usual practice in the northern districts, or broken and 

 scutched, by a machine or implement for the purpose. 



5317. Steeping flax in hot ivater and soft soap ('said to be the invention of Lee, and for 

 which he was granted by parliament a secret or unenroUed patent) is said to separate the 

 fibre from the woody matter better than steeping in water ; and this in the short space of 

 two or three hours, and either with green flax, or such as has been dried and stacked for 

 months or years. 



5318. The dressing of flax consists of various operations, such as scutching, tracking, 

 or breaking, by which the woody part is broken ; and heckling or combing, by which the 

 fibre is separated from the woody part, and sorted into lengths. These operations are often 

 all performed by the cottager, or small farmer, who grows flax for the purpose of spinning 

 the fibre in his own family. But there are also public flax mills, impelled by water or 

 other powers, by which flax is scutched, and it is then heckled by professed hecklers. 



5319. A method of preparing flax in such a manner as to resemble cotton in whiteness and softness, as 

 well as in coherence, is given in The Swedish Transactions for the year 1747. For this purpose a little 

 sea-water is to be put into an iron pot or an untinned copper-kettle, and a mixture of equal parts of 

 birch-ashes and quick-lime strewed upon it ; a small bundle of flax is to be opened and spread upon the 

 surface, and covered with more of the mixture, and the stratification continued till the vessel is suffici- 

 ently filled. The whole is then to be boiled with isea-water for ten hours, fresh quantities of water being 

 occasionally supplied in proportion to the evaporation, that the matter may never become dry. The boiled 

 flax is to be immediately washed in the sea by a little at a time, in a basket, with a smooth stick at first, 

 while hot; and when grown cold enough to be borne by the hands, it must be well rubbed, washed with 

 soap, laid to bleach, and turned and watered every day. Repetitions of the washing with soap expedite 

 the bleaching ; after which the flax is to be beat, and again well washed ; when dry, it is to be worked and 

 carded in the same manner as common cot- 

 ton; and pressed betwixt two boards for forty- 

 eight hours. It is now fully prepared and fit 

 for use. It loses in this process near one-half 

 its weight, which, however, is abundantly 

 compensated by the improvement made in its 

 quality. 



5320. Lee's method of breaking flax 

 and hemp, without dew-retting, was 

 invented in 1810, and was the first 

 step towards a great improvement, 

 brought nearer perfection by the new 

 patent machines of Messrs. Hill and 

 Bundy. 



5321. Hill and Bundy' s machines {fig. 589.) 

 are portable, and may be worked in barns or 

 any kind of out-house; they are also well- 

 calculated for parish work-houses and chari- 

 table institutions; a great part of the work 

 being so light that it may be done by children 

 and infirm persons ; and such is the construc- 

 tion and simplicity of the machines, that no 

 previous instruction or practice is required ; 

 their introduction, therefore, into those asy- 

 lums, would be the means of effecting a con- 

 siderable reduction of the poor's rate. The 

 woody part is removed by a very simple 

 machine ; and, by passing through a second 



