yiG 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



cr breaking, 'by which the woody part is broken ; and heckling or combing, by which the 

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

 often all performed by the cottager, or small farmer, who grows flax for the purpose of 

 spinning the fibre in his own family. But there are also public flax mills, impelled 

 by water pr other ^powers, )[^ywluchfl9.x is, scutched,^ and it i^^tl^e by professed 



^^ ^^^'( ytfio;^ ?.iul if jfjiw o'jf.'xjJ^miijiio t.r.tnf:Iq tnyrjfHb in -JUi ?*iov'oR oLnt^/i briii Aiui\ 

 5913. A mefhod(^ prepart'ng^fltttmiueh amonntr ast0fvsimble-off^m'V^it&ness rnnd' icftrKfs,''Wi 

 well as in coherence, is given in The Swedish Transactions for the year 1747. For this purpose a little 

 sea-water is to be put into an iron pot or an untinned cdppcr kettle, and a mixture of equal parts of 

 birch-ashes and quicklime strewed upon it ; a small bundle of flax is to be opened and spread upon the 

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

 ciently filled. The whole is then to be boiled with sea-water for ten hours, fresh quantities of water being 

 occasionally supplied in proportion to the evaporation, that the matter may never become dry. The boiled 

 flax is to be immediately washed in the sea by a little at a time, in a basket, with a smooth stick at first, 

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

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

 the teaching ; after which the flax is te be beat, 3iid again well washed ; when dry, it is to be worked and 



carded in the same manner as common cot- 



,*jie qoio 8idJ ol an 



eliUjiiii-jb ti .lo'tff:^^)} 



.noilBTj! 

 [dsJtij^jv hi 



' ' " " " ^98 \' ton, and pressed betwixt two boards for forty- 



uJ buic ^ Due ,bnaoi- eight hours. It is now fully prepare ' 



ight hours. It is now fully prepared and fit 



do adT .blisun'iiis yma n for use. It loses in this process nearly half 



* ^+ u, . , -^i ;... . -.irT- ' ta^^ weight, which, however, is abundantly 



"'''> ; p.'ti.v.ETH.' n-j ?> ""compensated by the improvement made in 



its quality. 



591-i. Lee's method of breaking flax and 

 hemp, without dew-retting, was invented in 

 1810, and was the first step towards a great 

 improvement, brought nearer perfection by 

 the new patent machines of Messrs. Hill and 

 Bundy. 



5915. Hill and Bund y's machines [fig. 789.) 

 are portable, and may be worked in barns or 

 any kind of out-house; they are also well 

 calculated for 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 

 simi)le machine ; and, by i)assing through a 

 machine equally simple, the flax may be 

 brought to any degree of fineness, equal to 

 the best used in France and the Kether- 

 Jands, for the finest lace and cambric. The 

 original length of the fibre, as well as its 

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

 one ton of flax being produced from four tons of stem. I'he expense of workmg each ton obtamed by 

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

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

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



5916. The produce off ax in seed is generally from six to eight, sometimes as high as 

 ten 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 that 

 of Dutch seed sold for the purpose of sowing. 



5917. The price of 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. The average price of the linseed cultivated m the 

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

 seed is separated into three qualities ; the best for sowing, the second best for crushing for oil, and the 

 inferior for boiling or steaming for cattle. 



5918. The produce of flax infbre varies exceedingly. Before being sorted, the gross 

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



591 9. The use of flax 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 cattle, and in some places as a manure ; 

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

 esteemed excellent nutriment for stock. 



5920. Js the making of flax-seed jelly is an agricultural operation, we shall here describe it. The pro- 

 portion of water to seed is about seven to one. The seed having been steeped in part of the water for 

 eight-and-forty hours previously to the boiling, the remainder of the water is added cold, and the whole 

 boiletl gentlv 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 of oil-cake. 



5921. The diseases of flax are few, and are chiefly the fly^.s>iJ)kh,fio;n^UiitS Attacks the 

 plants when young, the midew, and the rust. vt i. vjti r, f. },. i.uorj . 



