wuwb-ft^ t ttw we a g Jw aBaaac 



CT fc«a.'»^fl. a iBffyaMTOBiggaEsaqBaaa^^ 



®i)c i'armcr'5 illonii)!!) iMsitor. 



69 



purpose of ascertainins; the probable reasons ivhy 

 tliose countrits arc able to produce a ^fi<LT of a 

 softer and more sit'ii/ qualily than the fax o/' Ire- 

 land, i,-c. Si'c., 1 8^3. Taken from the .Imcrican 

 Fanner, vol. 5. 



" Tlio piooess of flax-dressiiig is performetl 

 here (Lokeraii) iiiiil in Frnnce on u liaolile some- 

 what (litToreiit IVum niirs: it is nearly square, 

 and the teeth not more tiiaii two inehci and a 

 liair lonj;, and ahhoiig:h the worlt is Hell per- 

 formed on it, it is not considered hy some En- 

 jjlish Hax-dressers as eqiiid to an Eniiiish hackle. 



Of JMr. 1 jiarticularly inqniied if all the 



flax iJiirchaseil hy hini gave seed, which he in- 



IbriTjed ine it did, even if intended {or l\ie fnest 

 purposes." 



Proceeded from }?riissels to Tournay, by 

 Halle Engliein, Ath, and Leus<', in all ol' wliicii 

 towns the linen /iiannfacture is carried on. On 

 the whole line from Brussels to Tonrnay excel- 



- lent flax is ijrown in considerahle qnaiitities; the 

 greater |)art of it was pulled and set up to dry in 

 a manner difteiing from the practice in Hollajid. 

 in this conrilry ai:il in France Hax, when put to 



.dry, is not lied in i)un.lles, but is [jlaced loose, in 

 a sln|)in!j; direction, in lon^ rows or ridges, the 

 heads or boles to meet, and the root ends spread 

 out so as to (orni a V reversed. At each end of 

 , the double rows of tlnx, and at certain intervals, 

 stakes are driven into the ground lo support 

 them. This mode is decidedly prelerahle to 

 bundles, because every part of the plant is equal- 

 ly presented to the influence of the air; but it 



• slionid be observed that it is suitable to a cuujitry 

 where mild, calm weather prevails in ihe flax 

 season. 



In Cambray, I made inquiries relative to the 

 article of cambric, peculiar lo that town, or, as it 

 is here called. Batiste, from the name of the man 



- who first introduced it, which, it is said, he was 

 iuduced to do, in consequence of Ihe extreme 



^ .S'.iftncss of the water in the neighborhood. Here 

 I was so Ibrtuuale as to seo every pro(;ess of this 

 mnnufacture, from the preiJartion of the flax from 

 the hackle, lo its linisli for the consumer; and I 

 was assured by many persons conversant with 

 the business, that, except for .some very superior 

 kind of canduic, and very limiled and iju;onsid- 



• erable scale, all flax used in the manufactm-e 

 gives seed : for it is in the after manajjement of 



- the flax plant, the people of Cambray say, that 

 everything,' depends to render it fit for "line works. 



.So tenacious is ttie Government of France of 

 this seed, as well as of flfx, that the export of 

 both is |u<diibitcd. The process of steepimrand 

 cleaniiiir flax, in tl]is|)artof France, and in Flan- 

 ders, whence they get some supply, differs litile 

 from the plan foilowe<l in Holland — ever\ll]in" 

 hein<f done hy baud; hut the greatest care is 

 observed in every stage of prcparalion for the 

 hackle. 



' Heie 1 feel it my duty to slate, that, for regu- 

 lai-ity and method, in every operation, the plan 

 pursued by the Duich boers, is to he preferred to 

 any other. In all cases, their mode of saving 

 ' seed has decidedly the preference, in my estima- 

 lioh, and it may be necessary lo add, and to im- 

 press on tba minds of the flax cnhivalors in Ire- 

 land, who sow th.'it plant, as an article of general 

 commerce, that, wiihout ihe seed, the Dutch boers 

 would consider the business a vci-y improfitable 

 one. It is generally computed, that, after all e.\- 

 . peiises of ripiiling, &,c., Ibe seed leaves at least 

 ^ froni £8 lo £1), the English acre; and one of ihe 

 most convincing prool's that ran be adduced in 

 favor of ihe Dutch mode of cidlivalion of fla.x, 

 *. is, tli.at .all the growers are independent, and ma- 

 ny of them have, within a few years, risen from 

 •»'ery hmnble beginnings to cous'iderable wealth. 



In the progress of my several toni's through 

 the countries that I have visited, I made it a |iar- 

 licidar point to exaufuic, with care and attention, 

 tin; sciil in which liax is grown, and lo ascertain 

 (it possible) whetlier these places possessed any 

 local advantages for the cultivation of that plani, 

 which were not also possessed by the gjowers in 

 Ireland. As far as my humble judgment serves, 

 1 could jiot observe, on Ibis niission, nor call to 

 mmil, from the experience of many years, that 

 the South of Ireland does not possess every 

 lecpusile to admit of her growing flax of the 

 same quality, and to the same prolit, as is ex- 

 perienced in Holland, which, however, can not 

 be done without obtaining the seed, and present 



shape, which must always insure a demand and 

 n renumeraling price. 



Why so general an opinion as has prevailed in 

 Ireland, for a series of years, that flax which 

 gives seed, is not adapted for her fine linens, 

 should have taken phu'c, I can not conjecture, 

 nor is il here necessary for me lo dwell on ; but 

 1 can uiulerlake to assert, without fear of con- 

 Iradiclion, that I have seen on ibis tour, flax, the 

 growili of Holland, Zealand, Brabant, Flanders, 

 and France, that has given seed iiilly ecpial in 

 ipiality to vvli;;t is grown in other t'ouniries, and 

 applied to the mannfaclnre of arlicles of as fine 

 a texlui-e as any made in Ireland. In a word, 

 the growers of flax, in any of the countries I 

 have namcul, woidd be considered as persons 

 void of common underslanding, did ihey not par- 

 take of eveiy advantage and benefit which nature 

 f:ives lo the flax crop ; or, in other terms, if they 

 did not .s.ive the seed wiib the same care as is 

 usually bestowed on every description of grain. 



SOIL. 



The soil preferred by the cultivators of flax in 

 the Netherlands, is a deep loamy clay, or what 

 they term lilt land, free Iron] weeds, and capable 

 of giving wheat, which is, in almost every case, 

 the previous crops, exce|it when land, after pro- 

 ducing madder, is to be l-.ail, wliicli is esteemed 

 the best of all ; hut the cnllivation of that plant 

 being rather limited, it is rarely to be met in 

 ipianlity compared with wheat stubble ; it is, 

 however, a general practice in that country never 

 to sow flax but in rich, good groimd. 



PRF.PARATIO.'V OK THE SOIL. 



The mode usually followed in the Netlierlaiuls 

 of |)reparing ground for flax, if from wheat stub- 

 ble (the general previous crop,) is, after reaping, 

 to have il immedialebj lighthj ploughed, and let to 

 lie in fallow until the ensuing spring, when it is 

 agaiii lightly ploughed, preparalively lothe sowing 

 of the seed ; but if gro^vu alter a madder crop, 

 the custom is to give a light [ilougliing in spring, 

 a little beibre sowing. 



SOWING. 



With respect to the seed sown tn Ibdiand and 

 Zealand, it is invariably either Riga or home- 

 saved, none other being used; the latter is sown 

 for two, sometimes three seasons, in succession, 

 never longer ; and, at the end of that lime, Riga 

 seed is again sown; but some of the rich and ju- 

 dicious flax boers every year sow a small parcel 

 of Riga seed, so as to keep up a constant suc- 

 cession of fresh. When selecting seed for sow- 

 ing, either of Riga or home-saved, Ihe most scru- 

 pidnus attenlion is jiaid to [uocme it of the best 

 and cleanest kind. 



.■\s to the quantity sown in any given portion 

 of grouiid, much depends on the qualily of the 

 soil, and the age of the seed, which experience 

 alone can determine; but, as well as I could col- 

 lect information from the boers on this sidijecl, 

 conqiaiing their measurement with Ihe English 

 and Irish acre, Ihe qnaniity sown bears a due 

 proportion lo that of Riga seed, usually sown in 

 England and Ireland. The time of sowing is 

 generally between the end of IMarcb and middle 

 of April. 



puLLtrsa. 



In the Netherlands and France, flax is always 

 allowed to arrive at maturity, and is never pulled, 

 [)arlicularly in Holland and Zealand, unlil the 

 seed is perlectly fornied, and the capsule brown 

 and hard, so as to be easily disengaged from the 

 stalk. When in that suite it is pulled, and at 

 once made into small sheaves, which are placed 

 in stocks of eight to the slock ; the root ends on 

 ihe ground piojecting, and the heads meeting al 

 the top in such a manner as to present the entire 

 of (hem to the influence of Ihe air. In this way 

 it remains eight, ten, and sometimes fourteen 

 days— according to Ihe slate of the weather. 

 Should occasional rain fidi at this time, it is con- 

 sidered of great service, .to wash off the iuq)uri- 

 tiesand withered leaves which atluch to the plant 

 when ripening. 



turpi, ING. 



When the flax is s.illicienlly dried, it is taken 

 to the barn, and the process of taking oft' the 

 seed immediately commences. This operation, 

 in the Netherlands, is chiefly done by ripples, or 

 iron pins, about sixteen inches long, and one 

 inch square at the bottom, gradually narrowing 

 at the to[i, and forming into squ.ircs. The pins 

 are fislened in a block of liud)er, above four 



nig the article to market in thut merchantable inches thick, eighteen im-hcs wide, and made in 



the form of an octagon ; the upper part Hloped 

 off so as to let the boles run down to the floor. 

 These pins are set at about a quarter of an inch 

 asunder, thiity of them in each block, which is 

 fastened, by means of two staples and wedges, 

 to a two-inch plank that rests on tripletrees of a 

 sufiicient height lor grown persons to sit on while 

 rippling. Two usually work at the same ripple 

 — silting op[)osite each oilier, and drawing the 

 flax alternately ihj-ough the teeth. Dming this 

 process great can; is taken not lo let it slip 

 through Ihe hands so as to entangle the root 

 ends, which, in every process, are kept as even 

 as possible. When the seed is discharged, the 

 flax is again made into small sheaves, and in 

 every instance hound together by plaited cords, 

 three and a half feet long, made of strong rushes, 

 that usually last tor years, and are carefully put 

 up from one season lo another. When the en- 

 tire quantity of flax prepared (or rippling has 

 imdergone that operation, the boles are immedi- 

 ately run through a veiy coarse tcieen, sulfi- 

 cienlly open tu admit every panicle of waste or 

 dirt lo pass through, so ihat ihey remain free of 

 all impurities. The wasie discharged in this 

 manner is used by bakers in heating ovens; and 

 the bole, by being thus cleaned, remains sale, 

 and the seed can be kept fur any time required. 

 The mode most approved of for taking the seed 

 from the bole is to thrash it; which is done by a 

 flail, the handle of which is similar to a common 

 one, but the working part is not more than half 

 the usual length, and about four inches in diam- 

 eter. 



The hulls, after the seed is discharged, are 

 sold at the rate of two pence the sack, tor feed- 

 ing cattle in the winter. Tliey are chiefly bought 

 by Brabajtt faiuiers, who mix them with various 

 other vegetabh'S and cai-rols, which they grow 

 with their flax in grotmd suitable: andj'havo 

 s-een, in Brabant particularly, mnneious field.s 

 with flax standing to dry, and the peasantry 

 weeding carrots liiat had grown with it, and 

 which appeared in a prosperous state. 



STEEPING. 



This process, being Ihe most important one 

 which flax undergoes, and on which ils value in 

 a great measure depends, claimed my most se- 

 rious attention, and occupied me for a consider- 

 able time in observing it in detail, as performed 

 by various slce|)eri!, and w ilh flax Ihe growth of 

 (fitferent places. 



In general, ihe steeping iiools in Holland arc 

 similar to what are known in Ireland as trenches 

 of water to drain and divide the low giounds, 

 such as abound in various p.-uls of :lic sonih and 

 west provinces, particularly where the soil is liest 

 suited to the growth of flax, and most like that 

 of Holland and Zealand. 'J'hose trenchei-, in the 

 summer months, are grown over with light grass 

 and weeds, which are cnt,a little bet()re sleeping 

 time, from the edges of the hank only, leaving 

 the middle and the trench undisturbed. Pievious 

 to steeping, a sod or mud bank is thrown across 

 each end of that portion of the trench required, 

 which is seldom more ihan sixty to eighty yards. 



]n making those banks, the mud, lor the dis- 

 tance of eleven or twelve (let from each, is drawn 

 with iron scrapers tiom the middle and bottom 

 of the trench, and sloped against each of them, 

 leaving a space of waler, tree from weeds and 

 mud, sufficient to put in a set of sheaves, anil 

 admit of a pool, eight or ten feet, between the 

 cross-bank and the last la\ei- of flax. The sleep- 

 ing-pool being thus prepared, a bundle of sheaves 

 is opened, and eight of them laid in with small 

 light forks, with which Ihey are as regularly 

 placed as if laid wiih a line; each sheaf being 

 put down wilb the root end toward the cross- 

 bank, and the lop end toward the bollom of the 

 pool. When the first layer is down, a second 

 and a third layer of eight sheaves is put in ; the 

 root end of every layer meeting the bands of the 

 I'ormer one. and all placed in an oblique direc- 

 tion. When three layers, or Iweiily-fbur sheaves 

 (which is always the nundier that is put in at a 

 time,) are laid, the sleepers, who are pru\ided 

 with scrapers and forks, draw tiom the bottom 

 of tlie trench mufi, slime, weeds, &,c. &c., just 

 as it comes to hand, and which they place, to the 

 thickness of six or eight inches, on the flax, leav- 

 ing only as much of the last layer uncovered as 

 may he sufficient to receive !he fir.-it layer of the 

 next, and for which roi>m is made by the removal 



