298 THE FLAX CROP. 



and trickled down again through the straw in the shape of 

 boiling water, dissolving out and carrying away with it 

 the extractive matter, which was finally withdrawn at the 

 end of the operation, or as often as required, through a 

 tapped waste pipe placed below the false bottom of the 

 chamber. In about ten to twelve hours the operation of 

 steaming was completed, and the flax was then withdrawn 

 for the subsequent operations of drying and scutching. The 

 steep liquor, which by the other processes was entirely use- 

 less, save so far as its small manurial value was concerned, 1 

 by this process became an object of some value for feeding 

 purposes, as it contained the whole of the extractive 

 matter of the straw in a perfectly sweet and unchanged 

 condition, and was indeed very palatable to and relished by 

 the stock milking cows, and pigs to which it was given. 

 An improvement on Watts' process was subsequently 

 made by Buchanan, who, instead of using steam, sub- 

 mitted the flax to be operated upon to the action of 

 heated water merely, arrangements being made to control 

 the temperature within a certain limit a point of great 



1 Sir R. Kane states (Industrial Resources of Ireland) that the steep liquor 

 of the old process contains nine-tenths of the extractive matter of the plant, 

 and gives the following as the composition of its solid constituents : 



Carbon, 30'69 



Hydrogen, 4 '24 



Nitrogen, 2*24 



Oxygen, 2080 



Ash, 42-03 



100-00 



The ash consists of 



Potash, 9'78 



Soda, 9-82 



Lime, 12'33 



Magnesia, 779 



Iron and Alumina, 6'08 



Phosphoric acid, 10-84 



Sulphuric acid, 2-65 



Carbonic acid 16'95 



Silica, 21-35 



Chlorine, 241 



100-00 

 These substances would be., of course, in a lajgely diluted condition, t.-.,. 



