916 



PU.W TICK. <)!■' \(iKI( l 1. ["URE. 



Paiit III. 



or breaking, by which the woody | >: t rt is broken ; and heckling or combing, by which the 

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

 often all performed by the cottager, <>r small farmer, who grows flax for (he purpose of 

 spinning the fibre in his nun family. Bui there are also public tla\ mills, impelled 

 by water or other powers, I > \ which flax is scutched, and it is then heckled by professed 

 hecklers. 



I method qf preparing Jinx in such n manner as to resemble cotton in whiteness u>t<i softness, as 

 well u in coherence, is givou in The Swedish Transactions for the year 17+7. For this purpose a little 

 lea-water i- to I"- put Into an Iron pol or an untinned copper kettle, and a mixture <>i equal p:;rt- of 

 birch-ashes and quicklime strewed upon it ; a small bundle of flax i- to lie opened ami spread upon Lhe 

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

 ciently Bill (I. lhe whole is thin to lie boiled with .-c.i-w.der lor ten hours, fresh quantities of Water being 

 occasional!) supplied in proportion to the evaporation, that the matter may never become dry. 'I'he boiled 

 flax is to be immediately washed in the sea by a little at a tune, in a basket, With a smooth 'stick at lir-t, 

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

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

 the bleaching ; alter 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 cour.n n cot- 

 ton, and pressed betwixt two boards for forty- 

 eight hours. It is now fully prepared and tit 

 for use. It loses in this process nearly half 

 its weight, which, however, is abundantly 

 compensated by the improvement made in 

 its quality. 



5914. Li r'.s' method of breaking fiax and 

 hemp, without dew-retting, was invented in 

 1810, and was the first step towards a groat 

 improvement, brought nearer perfection by 

 the new patent machines of Messrs. Hill and 



Bundy. 



5915. Hill and RhihIi/'s machines fig 

 are portable, and may be worked in barns or 

 any kind of out-liouse; they are also well 

 calculated tor parish workhouses and chari- 

 table institutions; a great part of the work 

 being so light that it may be done by chil- 

 dren and infirm persons; and such is the 

 construction and simplicity of the machines, 

 that no previous instruction or practice is 

 required ; their introduction, therefore, into 

 those asylums would be the means of effect 

 ing a considerable reduction of the poor's 

 rate. The woody part is removed by a very 

 simple machine , and, by parsing through a 

 machine equally simple, the flax may be 

 brought to any degree of fineness, equal to 

 the best used in 1' ranee and the Nether- 

 lands, for the finest lace and cambric. 'lhe 

 original length of the fibre, as well as its 



strength, remains unimpaired; and the difference of the produce is immense, being nearly two thirds; 

 one ton of tlax being produced from four tons of stem, lhe expense of working each ton obtained by 

 this method is only live pounds. The glutinous matter may be removed by soap and water only, which 

 will bring the flax to such perfect whiteness, that no further bleaching is necessary, even after the linen 

 is woven ; and the whole process of preparing flax may be completed in six days. 



591(7. The produce ofjlax in seed is generally from six to eight, sometimes as high as 

 (en or twelve, bushels per acre ; and the price depends in a great measure on that of 

 foreign seed imported ; as, when sold to oil-makers, it is generally about one half of thai 

 of Dutch seed sold for the purpose of sowing. 



5917. The price qf home-cultivated Unseed is considerably advanced of late in some of the southern and 

 western counties of the kingdom, in proportion to what it is in the northern, owing to the circumstance 

 Of its being much used as food for fattening cattle, 'lhe average price of the linseed cultivated in the 

 kingdom at large cannot, it is supposed, be rated higher than from three to four shillings the bushel The 

 sen! is separated into three qualities ; the best for sowing, the second best for crushing for oil, and th? 

 inferior for boiling or steaming for cattle. 



5918. The j/rod ucc ofjlax in fibre varies exceedingly. Before being sorted, the gross 

 product of fibre varies from three cut. to half a ton per acre. 



591 9. The use ofjlax in the linen manufacture is well known. The seed is crushed 

 for oil, which is that in common use by painters ; the cake or husk, which remains after 

 the expression of the oil, is sold for fattening caltle, and in some places as a manure ; 

 and the inferior seed, not lit to crush, is boiled and made into flax-seed jelly, which is 

 esteemed excellent nutriment for stock. 



5920. As lhe making qf flax-seed jelly is an agricultural operation, we shall here describe it. The pro- 

 portion of water to nn\ is about seven to one. 'lhe seed having been stec) ed in part o:' the water for 

 eight-and-forty hours previous!; to tic boiling, the remainder of the water is added cold, and the whole 

 boiled gently about two hours, being kept in motion during the operation, to prevent its burning to the 

 boiler Thus the whole is reduced to a jelly like, or rather a gluey or ropy, consistence. After being 

 cooled in tubs, it is given, with a mixture of barley. meal, bran, and cut chaff; a bullock being allowed 

 about two quarts of the jelly per day, or somewhat more than one quart of seed in four days : that is, about 

 one sixteenth of the medium allowance ol oil. cake. 



5921. The diseases ofjlax are feu, and are chiefly the fly, which sometimes attacks the 

 plants when young, the midew, and the rust. 



