Vol. 1 No. 32. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



25f» 



Rind nor even the island of Great Britain has any 

 species, of Lilium indigenous to its soil. It will 

 thereforcbe very safcto read 2 Chakcdanian lilies, 

 which in the open ground might be in flower a- 

 bout that time. 



New- York Horticultural Soci- Iij. 

 "July 19." Under this date, the lists of flowers 

 are very intelligibly reported with few exceptions ; 

 and I highly approve of the distinction between 

 Green luiase and hardy plants. I must be allow- 

 ed to ask however, if the plant from South Amer- 

 ica called Datura stramonium is not Datura, ar- 

 borea ? The latter with a white fragrant flower of 

 nearly one foot in length is very ornamental; 

 while the former though it is widely scattered over 

 the globe, has not undergone much change for 

 the better; and but few who have seen it on our 

 road sides or waste places, would think of remov- 

 ing it with all its rankness, to a Green house. Q. 



SELECTIONS. 



FLAX AND HEMP. 



(Continued from page 246.) 



We give our readers this week an extract from 

 Mr. Besnard's Journal, as presented to the trus- 

 tees of the linen and hemp board of Ireland. We 

 have selected the last part of his journal, as touch- 

 ing more particularly upon the subjects of manu- 

 facturing the finest yarns from flax, which had 

 ripened its seed, and the importance attached by 

 Mr. Besnard, to the mode of management adopt- 

 ed by the Dutch ; also the value of some of their 

 fine yarns as known in the market. 



From Alast proceeded on Saturday to Ant- 

 werp, where I remained Sunday, and on 

 Monday visited La Blancherie Royale near 

 that city, which was erected by Philip, 

 King of Spain, when in possession of Ant- 

 werp ; at this concern I was shown by the 

 proprietor every process of bleaching the 

 finest yarn used in the makingof thread lace 

 in France and Flanders, as at the bleach- 

 ground in Cainbray; every operation is per- 

 formed without the aid of machinery, and 

 the yarn washed by women, who sit in small 

 boxes by the side of the river, and while 

 washing, are perfectly secure from wet. All 

 yam bleached for lace is previously twisted 

 from the spools on which it is spun, and 

 made into very short skeins, carefully lay 

 and water-banded. In every operation of 

 whitening this yarn the greatest care is ta- 

 ken, and the bleach-ground, which is laid 

 down in planets, is kept close cut at all times, 

 and the yarn watered morning and evening 

 with scoops. The boilers in this establish- 

 ment are all small, and not capable of hold- 

 ing more than one cwt. of yarn each, yet the 

 proprietor told me he has had in one of them 

 10,000 florins value of yarn at a time. The 

 boilers are of hammered brass, kept perfect- 

 ly clean, with close covers that have vent 

 holes to let off the steam, and in the process 

 of boiling the yarn is placed in a thin sheet; 

 exclusive of boiling, this yarn receives the 

 buck and gentle steeping in weak warm lye ; 

 it is in all cases finished by a steep in new 

 milk, which is here considered actually ne- 

 cessary to give it the clear white, for which 

 all yarn for lace made in France and Flan- 

 ders is distinguished. The extreme delica- 

 cy of this yarn rendering it impossible to 

 wring it in the usual way of other yarn, it is 

 placed in a coarse cloth resembling a sai- 

 lor's hammock, both ends of which are fas- 

 "tenedtotwo very large irons fixed in pots, 



one of them standing, and tbe other movea- 

 ble, like a common ring; at the moveable 

 end is a kind of fly-wheel attached to the 

 moveable hook ; from which wheel there are 

 projecting pins or'sticks, like cogs of a wheel : 

 when the yarn is carefully placed in rows in 

 the bag or cloth, the fly-wheel is turned, and 

 as the pressure becomes greater at every 

 turn, two men tread, one on each side of the 

 wheel, on the projecting pins or cogs, and so 

 give their whole weight to the fly, until by 

 degrees they squeeze the yarn perfectly dry, 

 and likewise give it a degree of softness, 

 without in the least injuring it. The pot- 

 ashes used in boiling and bucking this yarn 

 is at all times best sweet Alicant Barilla, 

 which is pounded and sifted through a cop- 

 per sieve. The proprietor having told me 

 that he only bleached the yarn, and that it 

 was finished and made up for sale by a 

 person in the city of Antwerp, I called at 

 the manufactory and purchased a small 

 quantity of the yarn for the inspection of the 

 Honorable Board, and which is sold at the 

 rate of £47,786 13s 8d. per ton. The yarn 

 which I purchased is not of the finest kind, 

 but I have every reason to suppose, from 

 the inquiries I made, that it was spun from 

 flax that had given seed, a strong proof that 

 allowing flax to seed is no injury to its qual- 

 ity, if all the after-operations be duly atten- 

 ded to. 



From Antwrrp proceeded to Dordrecht, 

 where I inspected several oil mills, in which 

 large quantities of the linseed saved iu that 

 neighborhood is consumed. 



From Dordrecht visited the villages of 

 Swyndrecht and S'Gravendaol, and exam- 

 ined several cargoes of flax, of this year's 

 growth, from Zealand, particularly some 

 grown in the vicinity of Zirczee and Tar- 

 goes ; this flax was of an excellent quality, 

 was brought in large sailing vessels direct 

 from the field, and had on it the seed, which 

 is never rippled until it reaches the Boer's 

 barn ; in transporting this article from Zea- 

 land, the greatest care is taken by every 

 person employed, and every sheaf is count- 

 ed into the Boer's wagon. Numerous crafts 

 are employed in this business, which is con- 

 sidered one of great importance to the coun- 

 try, and fast extending, and it is to be pre- 

 sumed must be a profitable one, as a great- 

 er number of wealthy Boers, who reside be- 

 tween Dordrecht and Rotterdam, are at pre- 

 sent extensively engaged in that branch o{ 

 cultivation, many of them having this sea- 

 son grown in Zealand from 30 to 40 mark- 

 ens of flax, which measure as nearly equal 

 to an acre and a half English, and for which 

 they pay at the rate of £10 English per 

 marken. For one season one of the most 

 intelligent of the flax Boers informed me, 

 that, without rent, the charges for sowing, 

 weeding, pulling, drying, freight, rippling, 

 and clean, on anaverage,were about 16rf, per 

 stone of 6$ lbs, the entire of which goes a- 

 mongst the peasantry, embracing every age 

 of both sexes, and is, in the flax district, their 

 principal dependence. 



On Thursday, the 8th of August, pro- 

 ceeded to the village of Rysoort, situated 

 between Dordrecht and Rotterdam, and 

 which may be justly styled, the centre of the 

 flax country of Holland, not only from the 

 quantities of that article grown in its imme- 

 diate neighborhood.but because three-fourths 

 of the flax grown in Zealand is conveyed 

 there from the field, when sufiicently dry, 

 to undergo the various processes of rippling, 



steeping, &c. Having remained in this part 

 of the country for four days, the entire of 

 which time I devoted to visits among the flax 

 Boers and peasantry, who were engaged in 

 every process of flax preparation (from rip- 

 pling to bringing it to the break and swin- 

 gle,) I had ample leisure to obtain a perfect 

 knowledge of the detail of every process, 

 which I humbly hope I shall be able to com- 

 municate in such a manner as may be satis- 

 factory to your Honorable Board. The time 

 chosen for staying among the flax farmers 

 in and about Rysoort was the most favorable 

 that could possibly be selected, for all were 

 performing every different process; and 

 having in Flanders and France (where the 

 crops are from ten to twelve days earlier) 

 seen similar operations I had an opportunity 

 of judging of the merits of the different sys- 

 tems. Here I feel it my duty to state, that 

 for regularity and method, in every opera- 

 tion, the plan pursued by the Dutch Boers 

 is to be preferred to any other. In all cases 

 kheir mode of saving seed has decidedly the 

 preference in my estimation ; and it may be 

 necessary to add, and to impress on the 

 minds of the flax cultivators in Ireland, who 

 sow that plant as an article of general com- 

 merce, that, without the seed, the Dutch 

 Boers would consider their business a very 

 unprofitable one. It is generally computed, 

 that after all expenses of rippling, &tc. the 

 seed leaves at least from £3 to £9 the Eng- 

 lish acre ; and one of the most convincing 

 proofs that can be adduced in favor of the 

 Dutch mode of flax cultivation is, that all 

 the growers are independent, and many of 

 them have, within a few years, risen from 

 very humble beginnings to considerable 

 wealth. In the progress of my several tours 

 through the countries which I have visited, 

 I made it a particular point to examine with 

 care and attention, the soil in which flax is 

 grown, and to ascertain, if possible, whether 

 these places possessed any local advantages 

 for the cultivation of that plant, which were 

 not also possessed by the growers in Ireland ; 

 as far as my humble judgment serves, I 

 could not observe on this mission, nor call to 

 mind from the experience of many years, 

 that the south of Ireland does not possess 

 every requisite to admit of her growing flaK 

 of the same quality, and to the same profit, 

 as is experienced in Holland, which, howev« 

 er, cannot be done without obtaining the 

 seed, and presenting the article to market in 

 that merchantable shape, which must al- 

 ways insure a demand, and a remunerating 

 price. 



Why so general an opinion, as has pre- 

 vailed in Ireland for a series of years, that 

 flax which gives seed i» not adapted for her 

 fine linens, should have taken place, I can- 

 not conjecture, nor is it here necessary for 

 me to dwell on ; but I can undertake to as- 

 sert, without fear of contradiction, that I 

 have seen on this tour, flax, the growth of 

 Holland, Zealand, Brabant, Flanders, and 

 France, which has given seed, fully equa! 

 in quality to what is grown in other countries, 

 and applied to the manufacture of articles of 

 as fine a texture as any made in Ireland.— 

 In a word, the growers of flax, in any of tbe 

 countries I have named, would be consider- 

 ed as persons void of common understand - 

 ing, did they not partake of every advant- 

 age and benefit which nature gives to the 

 flax crop, or, in other terms, if they did not 

 save the seed with the same care, as is usual= 

 ly bestowed on every description of grain. 



