AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 101 



The brake in general use is the same hand brake which 

 was originally introduced and has been always employed 

 here, resembling, though longer than, the common flax brake. 

 It is so well known as to render a particular description of 

 it, perhaps, unnecessary. It is a rough contrivance, set upon 

 four legs, about two and a half feet high. The brake con- 

 sists of two jaws with slits on each, the lower jaw fixed and 

 immovable, and the upper one movable, so that it may be 

 lifted up by means of a handle inserted into a head or block 

 at the front end of it. The lower jaw has three slats or 

 teeth, made of tough white oak, and the upper two, arranged 

 approaching to about two inches in front, and in such manner 

 that the slats of the upper jaw play between those of the 

 lower. These slats are about six or seven feet in length, six 

 inches in depth, and about two inches in thickness in their 

 lower edges ; they are placed edgewise, rounded a little on 

 their upper edges, which are sharper than those below. The 

 laborer takes his stand by the side of the brake, and grasping 

 in his left hand as many of the stalks as he can conveniently 

 hold, with his right hand he seizes the handle in the head 

 of the upper jaw, which he lifts, and throwing the handful 

 of stalks between the jaws, repeatedly strikes them by lift- 

 ing and throwing down the upper jaw. These successive 

 strokes break the woody or reedy part of the stalks into 

 small pieces or shoes, which fall off during the process. He 

 assists their disengagement by striking the handful against 

 a stake, or with a small wooden paddle, until the lint or bark 

 is entirely clean, and completely separated from the woody 

 particles. 



After the above operation is performed, the hemp may be 

 scutched, to soften it, and to strengthen the threads. That 

 process, however, is not thought to be profitable, and is not 

 therefore generally performed by the grower, but is left to 

 the manufacturer, as well as that of beating and hackling it. 

 Scutching is done by the laborer taking in his left hand a 

 handful of the lint, and grasping it firmly, then laying the 

 middle of it upon a semicircular notch of a perpendicular 

 board of the scutching frame, and striking with the edge of 

 the scutch that part of the lint which hangs down on the 

 board. After giving it repeated strokes, he shakes the hand- 

 ful of lint, replaces it on a notch, and continues to strike and 

 turn all parts of it, until it is sufficiently cleansed, and the 

 fibres appear to be even and straight. 



The usual daily task of an able-bodied hand at the brake 



