32 JDICKSON ON 



70 lea, from Messrs, German, Petty, 1 " and Co., Preston, spun 

 from Courtray Flax, and all our warp yarns above that were 

 from Messrs. Hives and Atkinson, of Leeds. We often got 

 70 lea spun from best Irish by Messrs. Crosthwait, of Dublin, 

 very good for light linen, but the price was up to the price 

 charged by Messrs. German, Petty, and Co., and we could not 

 depend on its being regular as we could on the Courtray. 

 The reader will see with such practical proofs of the strength, 

 the real value of yarn spun from Courtray Flax, compared 

 with the production of all other countries) that, in the course 

 of preparing, there must be, in Courtray, some novelty the 

 others do not practice. 



Now, as I have travelled through the Flax districts on the 

 continent, and watched with attention and great interest, the 

 way in which the Courtray system of steeping, (for I deny it 

 is retting) is carried on, a few words will suffice to show, how it 

 is that the Courtray Flax is stronger than the decomposed 

 fibre. Crates, not unlike those used by Delft and China 

 merchants, for packing purposes, are brought to the river 

 Lys, a fine stream of soft water. Water, soft and pure, is 

 requisite. Stakes are then driven into the bed of the river 

 to which the crates are fastened, lest they should be carried 

 away by the stream, The Flax straw is then packed in the 

 crates and bound so that it cannot float out, the water passes 

 through, and the friction produced by its passage through the 

 Flax straw macerates or softens the resin or gum. The water 

 carries with it all the colouring matter which, in pits, necessarily 

 remains in the Flax, and hence it is that the Courtray colour 

 is invariably a light yellow or cream colour, the fibre clear, 

 clean, and strong whilst the Dutch and Flemish Flax is dark 

 and full of the rotten dust, which the decomposition of the 

 wood or pith causes to adhere to the fibre. Such are my 

 views, and I cannot but think that there is, in England and 

 Ireland, water sufficiently pure to prepare Flax on the, same 



