22 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 1 



man who can get a bit of chalk, may easily per- 

 form. A deduction must be made for a half fat- 

 ted beast, of one stor.e in twenty, from that of a fat 

 one; and for a cow that has had calves, one stone 

 must be allowed, and another for not being pro- 

 perly liil. 



ACCOUNT OF THE NEWLY DISCOVERED PRE- 

 PARATION OF "short-staple flax." 



Published Ijy tlie Delaware Manufacturing Company, of Lain- 

 beriville, New Jersey. 



The preparing of flax, of a suitable texture to be 

 spun on machinery similar in its construction to that 

 used in the manufacture of cotton, has been an 

 object long sought after, and the mechanical skill 

 of Europe has been exhausted with abortive at- 

 tempts to accomplish this object. Various and in- 

 genious have been the attempts to subject this use- 

 ful article to operations of machinery, so as to re- 

 duce the enormous expenditure of human labor, 

 which is now required to bring it into cloth of a 

 fineness to become useful as wearing apparel. In 

 Ireland and other countries, where linen is a mate- 

 rial article of manufacture, the most of it is spun 

 by the fingers; besides this tedious expensive me- 

 thod before the flax is in a condition that it can 

 be worked by the hand-wheel, it has lost from 

 three-quarters to seven-eighths of its original 

 weight by the process of hackling, the most part of 

 it being drawn out into tow. 



The coarse linens that are spun on machinery, 

 are also subject to the same loss of weight, and 

 slow and comparatively imperfect method of spin- 

 ning. By endeavoring to preserve the staple, the 

 article is obliged to be subject in all cases to the 

 hackle, as the only method by which the fibres 

 can be separated and rendered of a sufficient fine- 

 ness to allow them to be drawn into a thread. To 

 remedy all these evils, to save this vast expendi- 

 ture of labor, and also the enormous loss in weight, 

 a late inventor has been led to a series of exper- 

 iments wich has resulted in the production of an 

 article, at a moderate expense, (not materially ex- 

 ceeding in cost the present price of cotton) that is 

 capable of being converted into cloth of any tex- 

 ture, by the same process as cotton; thus bringing 

 the cost of linen goods on a level with cotton. 



We remark that it is our belief that a revolu- 

 tion is about to take place, equal if not parament 

 to that produced by the invention of the cotton 

 gin. Every description of linen goods is of year- 

 ly import to a vast amount, while at the same 

 time large regions of our own country have a cli- 

 mate and soil entirely congenial to the production 

 of flax, and it has only been prevented heretofore 

 from becoming a staple article by the expenditure of 

 labor required to make it marketable. By the late 

 invention all these difficulties are abolished, and the 

 material is rendered subservient to the c/iea/j action 

 of machinery from the time it leaves the hands of 

 the grower, until it arrives at the consumer's mar- 

 ket. 



It is not to be expected that there will be any 

 immediate reduction in the price of linen goods, as 

 those holding the monopoly will of couise convert 

 it as much as possible to their own profit. Expe- 

 riment has shown that linen cloth now selling in 

 our markets for sixty cents, may be produced at a 

 cost not exceeding twenty-five: by thisdalum a cal- 



culation of the value of the invention, and the pro- 

 fit that must for a long time reward the first prose- 

 cutors of the enterprise, may be easily made. 



The Delaware manufacturing company of Lam- 

 bertville. New Jersey, have contracted with the 

 inventor, for the exclusive right of the invention 

 for the state of New Jersey, at a price to be fixed 

 by competent disinterested persons after the value 

 of the invention is ascertained by experiments on 

 an extended scale. Three hundred shares of the 

 capital stock has been subscribed, and fifty dollars 

 have been paid, amounting to fifteen thousand 

 dollars, which amount, with debts which the com- 

 pany owe to the amount of four thousand dollars, 

 has been invested in machinery and material; this 

 machinery now in the hands of the company, is 

 capable of turning out 1500 lbs. of lint per day, 

 and is at this time in operation. In order to ena- 

 ble the company to carry on their operations to the 

 cloth, it will be necessary to increase the subscrip- 

 tion to three thousand shares, with the payment 

 of five dollars on each share. By a resolution of 

 the board, no further payment will be demanded 

 unless by the consent of three-fourths of the stocks 

 holders. This atiiount of capital will enable the 

 company to throw a quantity of the article into 

 tlie market, and it is believed that the cloth pro- 

 duced alter a short experience, will command a 

 price equal to imported linens. We will here call 

 the attention of the public to the advantages which 

 the country must derive in a commercial and ag- 

 ricultural point from the success of the short sta- 

 ple systein of working flax. Large regions of our 

 west and north west, areadmirabfy adapted to the 

 cultivation of flax, and must, in time, rival the 

 south with an article of export, and at the same 

 time we shall save a vast amount of capital sent 

 to Europe yearly to pay lor this indispensable 

 article. 



It is the intention of the company to confine its 

 operations to {he preparing of flax, like the accom- 

 panying samples, to be sold to manu!actuiers who 

 have the necessary nuichinery for converting it 

 into cloth. 



It is believed that, as soon as a number of the 

 cotton spinners of this state, have changed their 

 operations from cotton to hnen, others will be in- 

 duced to follow— and consequently a large demand 

 (or the material manufiictured by the company. 

 The company will of course find it for their inter- 

 est to sell rights in other parts of the state, and 

 the profits to arise from this course, as soon as the 

 advantages are known, will be to a great amount. 



The advantages to be derived from the short 

 staple system for manufiicturing flax, are as fol- 

 lows: 



1. There is no loss of the fibre, as no tow is re- 

 quired to be taken out — all the lint is converted 

 mto linen of the finest quality. 



2. The expense of labor required to convert it 

 into cloth, is reduced to one-tenth the former cost. 



3. The expense of bleaching in the flax is much 

 less than in the cloth, and is not so liable to be in- 

 jured in the process. 



4. The operation of bleaching in the cloth takes 

 from it a considerable weight of glutinous matter, 

 and consequently leaves the goods open, and the 

 thread soft-twisted. On the other hand by the 

 short staple system, the glutinous matter is ex- 

 tracted before it is spun, and the thread will of 

 course remain much more solid. 



