134 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



process injuring the fibres and changing the sub- 

 stance. After long line flax has been woven, said 

 the speaker, it has gone through 36 processes, and 

 in the bleaching he claimed the fibre was reduced 

 to its natural length, and thus gets its fineness. 

 In proof of this he referred his hearers to the ex- 

 amination of linen cloth, which shows the same 

 length of fibre he claimed for it. 



Chevalier Claussen's plan of cottonizing flax 

 failed because it could not be spun on cotton ma- 

 chinery, and it was the purpose of the speaker 

 and his associates to manufacture largely, but to 

 mis with cotton and wool. To do this they could 

 produce the fibre half an inch, or three inches 

 long, this being governed by the distance at which 

 the rollers were placed in the breaking machine, 

 and thus both spin and weave on the ordinary 

 cotton machinery. 



Mr. Allen then spoke of the diS"erence in con- 

 struction of cotton and flax, the fibre of the form- 

 er being flat, while that of the latter was tubular 

 like wool, and he exhibited drawings from the mag- 

 nifying glass to show this. From this he showed 

 that the capacity to take coloring in dyeing Avas 

 different, thus giving a great advantage to flax in 

 mixing with wool. From this he passed to an ex- 

 planation of the manner of taking away the resin 

 or gum from flax, and said that electricity must 

 have an agency in the process, as he had proved 

 to a considerable extent, although he felt satisfied 

 the half v/as not yet learned. 



In conclusion, he spoke of the small territory 

 necessary to raise sufficient flax for the supply of 

 the country, and the profit to be made by raising 

 it, and urged on the meeting the advantages to 

 be gained by its more extensive culture. 



In reply to a question by Mr. Flint, Secretary 

 of the Board of Agriculture, as to how long it 

 would take to place coarse flax in the condition 

 of the bleached exhibited by Mr. Allen, that gen- 

 tleman said, that apart from the washing and 

 bleaching, which would occupy a couple of hours, 

 the flax could be converted from straw to cotton 

 in half an hour, if di-icd by artificial heat, and that 

 a machine for breaking, costing $400, would 

 break two tons of straw per day. 



In answer to a question as to the relative cost 

 of flax prepared in this way to cotton, he said 

 tliat the cost was the same, as cotton was Avorth 

 13 cents per pound, and they Avere selling flax for 

 15, a saving being effected in waste in favor of 

 flax of two cents per pound. In relation to du 

 rability, he claimed that the cloth made from flax 

 prepared by his process, or v.hat he call "fibrilia 

 cotton," was as durable as that woven from the 

 long fibre, as he knew that the long fibre, so 

 called, was shortened in the bleaching process. 



The lecture was concluded amid loud applause, 

 and the company then crowded around the speci- 



mens Mr. Allen had exhibited, examining them 

 with much interest. 



The subject for discussion at the next meeting 

 is "Agriculhiral Education," and Hon. Richard 

 S. Fay, of Lynn, is expected to preside. 



For the Kew England Farmer, 

 OWIOTf IN THE HUMAN BAK. 



About a year ago I was troubled v/ith a severe 

 ear-ache, and tried all the remedies I coidd hear 

 of, and at last, (being advised to do so,) I insert- 

 ed the heart of a roasted onion ; this alleviated 

 the pain so much, that I tied a handkerchief over 

 my ear, laid down and slept soundly. I had then 

 had no sleep for nearly a Aveek. I slept five hours ; 

 awoke and thought I Avould take my comforter 

 out of my ear ; but in endeavoring to do so it 

 only served to croAvd it in farther, and my ear felt 

 so comfortable, I concluded I Avould let it remain 

 for the time. 



In the latter part of the summer, at times, I 

 Avould be deaf in that ear, and Avithin a month, 

 by pressing ray finger against the loAver part of 

 my ear, I found there Avas a hard bunch, which 

 Avas very painful. This become very troublesome ; 

 I began to be alarmed, and Avas about asking med- 

 cal advise. I had my ear "dug out" with a tape 

 needle, and then put in some bitter-sAveet onint- 

 ment, and let it remain an hour. I then made a 

 Avash of Castile soap and soft water, had it about 

 lukcAvarm. Had that forced into my ear Avith a 

 sjTinge. The third syringfuU I had forced in, I 

 heard a report like a pistol, and I found the heart 

 of the onion Avhich had been in my head a year, 

 and had caused a sore there. When the heart of 

 the onion came out, blood and matter followed. I 

 continued to use the Avash for my ear three times 

 a day, and in three days my ear Avas perfectly Avell. 



Thinking, kind reader, you might be afflicted in 

 the same Avay, I tal-te this opportunity of informing 

 you of a remedy. A. Willard Hallock. 



BrooJcsville, Jan., 18G0. 



WOTHIISrG BUT A PAKMEK. 



The idea is often expressed that the business of 

 farming requires rather physical than mental ac- 

 tivity. The editor of the London Saturday lic- 

 vieiv, after returning from a Cattle ShoAv, gives 

 expression to some reflections on the demands 

 Avhich modern agriculture makes on the mental 

 poAvers of the farmer, from which Ave copy a par- 

 agraph. 



Mere idlers are not the anxious, cautious heads 

 engaged all the Aveek in manipulating and admir- 

 ing the scarifiers and reaping machines and steam 

 plows in Baker Street. If farming is all that its 

 extant instruments and implements betoken, it is 

 among the most difficult of economical pursuits. 

 The British farmer must be an accountant hold- 

 ing his OAvn against Messrs. Qnilter and Ball ; for 

 he must be able to get the exact cost of every 

 bushel of corn raised on his fields, and of every 

 beast and sheep consigned to the butcher. lie 

 must know Avhat he Avins and loses by every acre, 

 and he must be possessed of the natural history 



