FLA 



FLA 



143 



erwise. The following method 

 of preparing hemp will apply with 

 great force to the point under dis- 

 cussion. During the late war an 

 experienced ship-master in Con- 

 necticut, and who was also a good 

 farmer,raised a crop of hemp. As 

 soon as it was dry enough to be 

 stowed away it was put underco- 

 ver and remained till October ; was 

 then put into clear soft water, till 

 the fibres would separate with some 

 difficulty, when it was spread on 

 the grass ; the frost completed the 

 operation, and when dry it was im- 

 mediately secured. There was no 

 putrid fermentation to deteriorate 

 the harle, nor was it mildewed by 

 being exposed to the weather, and 

 when dressed, exhibited that fine 

 silver green hue by which the Rus- 

 sian hemp is distinguished ;* and 

 when worked up, was pronounced 

 by the rope-makers to be equal to 

 any hemp ever imported ! Here 

 is a lesson for eur western breth- 

 ren, that is worth more to them 

 than mines of silver. Clear, 

 soft stagnant water is preferred in 

 Europe. A canal forty feet long, 

 six broad, and four deep, is said to 

 be sufficient for the produce of an 

 acre of flax, at one time. It should 

 be formed on a clay or some hold- 

 ing soil, where the water from a 

 spring or brook can be conducted 

 in with convenience ; the expense 

 would not be great, and on most 

 farms suitable sites may be had. — 

 May not boiling or steaming be 

 found the most advantageous pro- 

 cess of preparing flax ? The very 



* The best Riga Hemp, supplied for tiie 

 Britisli Navy, is prepared by steeping ; du- 

 ring which it is shifted three times. 



superior sample of thread exhibit- 

 ed at Brighton, in 1818, for which 

 Mrs. Crowninshield, of Danvers, 

 received a premium, was spun from 

 flax prepared by boiling. It ap- 

 pears by the " transactions of the 

 Swedish Academy," that a method 

 was j)ractised in Sweden, of pre- 

 paring flax to resemble cotton, by 

 boiling it ten hours in salt water, 

 spreading on the grass, and fre- 

 quently watering, by which it be- 

 comes soft and bleached. Boiling 

 or steaming will not appear very 

 formidable or expensive when we 

 examine the subject. A box twen- 

 ty feet long, six feet wide, and four 

 deep, well constructed of stout 

 planks,a boiler, from which a large 

 tube extends into, and communi- 

 cates with the water in the box, 

 will boil the produce of a quarter 

 of an acre in a day, that is, if we 

 allow double the room to boil in 

 that is required for steeping. A 

 steam pipe, instead of the tube,and 

 having the top of the box well se- 

 cured, would permit the process of 

 steaming to go en. It is probable 

 that by either method, spreading on 

 the grass will be necessary to obtain 

 soft flax. Theyarns of which the 

 sail-cloth is made at Paterson, are 

 all steamed. The Navy Board ex- 

 pressly forbid their being boiled in 

 alkaline lye, as is usual in most ma- 

 nufactures of linen. It is from this 

 precaution, that their canvas has 

 the pliable, oily feeling, which so 

 much recommends it. It should 

 not be lost sight of, that by boiling 

 or steaming much time and ex- 

 pense will be saved in bleaching. 



In dressing, says Mr. Pomeroy, 

 " our climate gives a decided ad- 



