106 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



Apkil 



more than that sum, and at the same time ma- 

 king us iudepeiident of the South and of all other 

 countries for our clothing. 



In the adjoining city of Roxbury, a manufac^ 

 tory is now established which imports rouj^h flax 

 from Iowa, converts it into various conditions 

 suitable for mixing with cotton, wool or silk, or 

 to be made into cloth by itself, and we under- 

 stand that it is doing a profitable business. And 

 we do not see why it should not, if a substance 

 equal in value to middling cotton can be produced 

 — as we are assured that it can be — at ten cents 

 a poun'i, and leave an ample profit. We believe 

 the grand secret has been discovered which will 

 convert " Kinc/ Cotton " into a very useful and 

 unpretending servant, and that, as the process 

 goes on, new machinery, or new inventions will 

 be brought in to facilitate the niovemeut, and 

 to make it a regular, important, and permaent 

 business. 



A friend at Boston pent us the above, cut from 

 one of the Boston papers. We shall be glad to 

 hear of success in this direction. The prairies 

 are eminently adapted to the growth of flax and 

 hemp, and if the fibre can be used to advantage, 

 it wi!l f'jrm a valuable crop. For the seed alone 

 it is grown to some extent, and when near an oil 

 mill, will p.ay about the same as wheat and corn, 

 but if the lint is added to this, it will at once 

 command the pooeition of a staple crop. We 

 append a portion of the remarks of the meeting 

 alluded to: Ed. 



Mr. F. W. Tappan said it occurred to him that 

 there are practical men present who would like 

 to ask questions relative to this. The flax dis- 

 played was manufactured in this vicinity a great 

 deal cheaper than cotton. And why ? It is 

 raised Lke hay, not picjked so slowly, but cut 

 with a sythe, and can be raised continually on 

 the same land, and every year, n-ot once in two 

 years, like wheat. Not only is it labor saving, 

 in picking or pulling, but also in curing. He 

 stated an instance where it had been raised, cured 

 and sold in its perfect shape at 15 cents per 

 pound, after being transported to the manufacto- 

 ry, and back to the place where it was raised. 

 By the machines which have been invented, these 

 coarse and long fibres can be made fine and nice 

 for cloth. 



In relation to raising it, it could be done al- 

 most any where. They raise it out west and 

 throw it away. We ohly need to encourage for 

 it a market in New En:;land to insure an ample 

 culture of fibre for a complete supply. 



Mr. iSicholson said it was two years since he 

 had his attention called to this subject, and since 

 then has looked into it a good deal. He displayed 

 the specimens o" the article in its diS"erent stages 

 of curing and manuficture. The long, natural 

 fibre is passed through a machine, stretched and 

 broken. Then it goes through the chemical pro- 

 cess by whch it is bleached, and reduced to a 

 state tit for manufacture. In the transformation 

 flax loses a great deal less than cotton. It re- 

 ceives the coloring as readily as cotton or wool. A 



pound of this cotton will make as much as a pound 

 of Southern cotton. The specimens here presented 

 were produced under his own eye. It costs in 

 the natural growth $5 per ton. Reduced by the 

 machine, this brings 800 pounds, making the 

 perfect cotton about 400 pounds from this quan- 

 tity. 



The Chair said that we could not hope to culti- 

 vate flax as it is cultivated in the west. The text- 

 ure of the cloth is diff'erent from that of linen — 

 not so hard and chilling. As to the manufacture 

 of it, thev only wanted the article brought to any 

 cotton mill,as it was cured and baled by the farmer, 

 and the manufacturers would work it up from 

 that condition. 



In answer to a question, he said the process in 

 England of cutting the fibre has been mostly 

 abandoned. Its parts will not adhere so well 

 when cut as when pressed or drawn apart, as by 

 the old process, in rollers. 



Mr. Randall said the difficulty in this manu- 

 facture has not been in raising flax, but in adapt- 

 ing machinery fit for curing it. He at first had 

 no faith that it could be manufactured upon cot- 

 ton machinery. It could not be done by cutting, 

 but in spite of his prejudice against it, he experi- 

 mented hj pulling ih^ plant apart, ai'.cJ was aston- 

 ished at the success with which it could be man- 

 ufactured after that process into cloth. In his 

 opinion, the flax plant could be cultivated and 

 manufactured here iu the industry ot New Eng- 

 land, so as compete with cotton. It is the hand 

 labor that has made this plant unprofitable to the 

 farmer, and it can only be removed by improve- 

 ments, as it had been retpoved in a great measure. 

 He could hardly tell how much had been manu- 

 factured. He believed in the old commandment, 

 " Thou shalt have no other God but me." He 

 did not believe in bowing down to the fifteen 

 cotton States when we are able to supply our.« 

 selves. 



Hedges and Timber Belts. 



Ed. Farmer : — I cannot too highly commend 

 the article in your February No. on " Hedging — 

 Timber Belts — Railroads," &c. This is the kind 

 of instruction our friends want on these topics. 

 AVe have generally half prepared our ground for 

 our hedge rows, set them too wide apart, cultiva- 

 ted them too little, and especially trimmed them 

 too much the two or three first years. I agree 

 with you perfectly that the higher a hedge is 

 grown, the better, except where it obstructs the 

 view. I think I can raise a better crop, and 

 more stock, on every forty acres of land, or 

 every eighty acres at most, surrounded by a 

 hedge twenty feet high, with a grass turn row 

 fifteen feet wide all round it, than any one caa 

 raise on the same ground, all naked and open, 

 with the cold wind sweeping unchecked over it. 

 No one would believe how much such hedges 

 check the force of the cold wind on crops and 

 stock who have not tried it. I am. now setting 



