NEW MODE OF PREPARING FLAX. 177 



LETTER X. 



THE MARK LANE EXPRESS v. DICKSON'S PATENT 

 MACHINES AND LIQUID. 



FOB CONVERTING GREEN FLAX FIBRE FROM UNRETTED FLAX-STRAW 

 INTO A PURELY WHITE MARKETABLE ARTICLE, IN FIVE HOURS. 



To the Editor of the " Banner of Ulster." 



" DEAR SIR, Having had the pleasure, in the early part 

 of last month, of submitting for your inspection some 

 specimens of Flax, hemp, China grass, and various descrip- 

 tions of Indian fibre, which were prepared by my patent 

 machines and patent liquid, I shall feel obliged (as the editor 

 of the above-named journal has thrown doubts on my asser- 

 tions as to the advantages likely to be gained by my system) 

 if you will insert the following in your journal in answer 

 to hirn, and in order that he may know that I am not 

 afraid of submitting my views for discussion, if necessary, 

 through the public press of Ulster, the head-quarters of the 

 Flax and linen trade of Ireland. 



"In an influential journal, the Armagh Guardian, a paper 

 published in a city that has ever been famed for its linen, 

 and also for its standing at the head of the Flax trade in 

 Ireland, as the quantity sold in Armagh every week far 

 exceeds that of any other market in the kingdom, I observe 

 an article copied from the Mark Lane Express, and on perusal 

 I find that the editor has commented, at considerable length, 

 on the subject of Flax-culture in England, the national 

 advantages likely to accrue therefrom, and the importation 

 of Indian fibre in lieu of Russian Flax and hemp ; and as 

 he has, no doubt, taken extracts from an advertisement of 

 mine that appeared in your paper, the Manchester Guardian, 

 and the Leeds Intelligencer, by admitting the possibility of 

 machines being so made as to prepare the fibre without 



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