SCHENCK'S PROCESS DESCEIBED. 293 



of " pine- apple rum/' might readily be collected in con- 

 siderable quantities from the stinking water of the foul 

 and offensive steeping tanks or pools. 



The great advantages which this hot-water process 

 offered over the ordinary system of steeping were disputed 

 by some of the old steepers, so that in order to bring 

 the question to a fair issue, the Irish "Flax Improvement 

 Society" undertook, in 1850, a series of comparative 

 experiments, in which the following doubts as to the hot- 

 water system were specially investigated and reported 

 upon: 



1. That the yield of fibre would be less than by the 

 ordinary method of steeping. 



2. That fibre so prepared would be weakened. 



3. That linen made from the fibre would not bleach 

 properly. 



In reference to the^rs^ objection, the committee reported 

 that their experiments 1 showed that the uniformity of 

 temperature had the effect of increasing the yield of fibre. 

 As regards the second objection, the results were equally 

 favourable. In the first experiment, the flax steeped in 



1 In one experiment, conducted at Lisburn by Mr. Davidson, 112 Ibs. of flax 

 straw, after being steeped and dried in the usual way, gave 20 Ibs. of scutched 

 fibre ; while 112 Ibs. of the same straw steeped by the hot-water process gave 

 24 Ibs. In another trial, 112 Ibs. of cold-steeped straw gave 14 Ibs. 5 oz. of 

 dressed fibre; whereas the same quantity of straw yielded by the hot-water 

 process 17 Ibs. 11^ oz. Other experiments on a larger scale confirm these 

 results. In ten comparative trials, made with nine different sorts of flax, 

 it resulted that the average produce of 1200 Ibs. of flax straw gave 144 Ibs. of 

 dressed fibre in the hot-water steep, and only 118 Ibs. when steeped in the 

 ordinary way. 



Dr. Hodges, in a paper read at the meeting of the British Association at 

 Belfast (1852), gave a statement, extracted from the working returns of the 

 Cregagh rettery (Schenck's patent), of the changes which 100 tons undergo 

 when treated by this process: 



100 tons of dry flax on the average yield 



1. By seeding, 33 tons of seed and husk, leaving of flax straw 67 tons. 



2. By steeping, the 67 tons of flax straw yield of steeped straw 39'5 tons. 



3. By scutching, the 39'5 tons of steeped straw yield 5'9 tons of dressed 



fibre, and of tow and pluckings, T47 ton. 



