27 



to see very much. There is said to be a good demand for linen rugs, especially for 

 use in porches and for other outside purposes. Special recommendations made for 

 them are that they are durable, reversible, and washable. Various beautiful weaves 

 are turned out. In size the rugs vary between the dimensions of a small hearth rug and 

 large pieces 20 feet to a side, and in prices from a few dollars each to over $30 apiece. 



Western Flax Straw for Linen Towels. Though the flax straw as at present pro- 

 duced in western Canada is not marketable in great quantities for fine spinning 

 purposes, it must net be overlooked that such material is spinnable into the coarser 

 yarns, and is even marketable in times of scarcity like the present. The manager 

 of a small linen mill in Duluth, whose speciality is coarse linen towels, told the writer 

 that he could afford to pay 6 cents a pound for good western green tow. This he would 

 ship to Dundee, Scotland, for treatment, and have it reshipped to him in the form of 

 coarse yarns. He figured that out of 100 pounds of tow he would get 50 pounds of 

 yarn, which would make his yarn 12 cents a pound in addition to the freight and 

 expense of treatment at Dundee. Suitable yarns imported from Europe were now 

 costing him 20 cents a pound. In normal 'times he could afford to pay 4 cents a 

 pound for suitable tow. 



Flax for Binder Twine. In view of the failure of a big twine company to per- 

 severe in the use of green flax for making binder twine, it would be unwise to suggest 

 similar undertakings. The company in question claims to have expended $1,500,000 

 at a flax twine plant in St. Paul, where 60,000 tons of western flax straw were con- 

 sumed anually for several years. Neither of the two reasons assigned in as many 

 quarters for the abandonment of these operations seems wholly satisfying. In the 

 one case the manager of the fibre department stated that the flax twine bands would 

 frequently rot away on the sheaf during a prolonged wet period at harvest time. In 

 another case it was stated that grasshoppers and other insects made special raids 

 on the flax bands, in spite of the deterrent poison treatment applied to the twine during 

 manufacture. It was also stated that retted fibre of any kind was unsuitable for making 

 binder twine, because retted fibre would not strip satisfactorily from the knotter. 



By the student of flax operations, the above-mentioned failure can scarcely be 

 accepted as proving conclusively the uselessness of the best western flax straw care- 

 fully sorted and handled as a material for binder twine. It seems more reasonable 

 to suppose that if twine of sufficient strength and good tying qualities can be made 

 from flax straw, and that more cheaply than from sisal and manila hemp, the common 

 materials used, a profitable market could be developed for it in limited quantities, if 

 only for irrigated grain areas. 



Throughout the flax industry to-day one is struck by the almost universal fact 

 that the more pretentious the plant which undertakes new processes the less successful 

 it is. This is frequently to be explained by the fact that the promoters of the com- 

 pany are not sincerely working for the success of the process, but rather toward 

 success in exploitation. Failure is, however, sometimes attributable to the fact that 

 those who know most about the handling of flax are not consulted in time by the men 

 in control. No other textile industry, I believe, is strewn with so many wrecks 

 for which preconceived ideas (supported by no guiding practice) are responsible. 



FLAX FOR PAPER MANUFACTURE. 



Several big companies have been promoted with a view to using flax straw for 

 paper manufacture. None, so far, has continued in operation for an extended period. 

 The exact causes of failure do not seem to be generally known. According to a 

 recent bulletin issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, flax tow can 

 be profitably used as a substitute for the flax waste, formerly the raw material used 

 exclusively in the manufacture of counter boards. Such a market, fully developed, 

 would require about 20,000 tons of flax straw, or 10,000 tons of flax tow, annually. 

 The same bulletin places the value of rags annually imported into the United States 



