1861. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEE. 



118 



The Culture of Flax and Hemp. 



An attempt is to be made at Rockford to intro- 

 duce the culture of flax for its fibre, or as it is 

 now termed fibrelia or cottonized. We have be- 

 fore us a pamphlet of eight pages setting forth 

 the -.rogress and improvement of the enterprise. 

 With the abundant water power at hand, which 

 can be cheaply applied to this use, we think Mr. 

 Clemens has made a good selection. As the pro- 

 cess is new to our readers, we will give it entire : 



DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF S. A. CLEMENS' IMPROV- 

 ED PROCESSES ON FLaX. 



The new system of preparing flax ^-as prima- 

 rily in vifw a near market for raw flax straw, 

 ingathered with the least expense to the farmer 

 — the prosecution of the processes of prepara- 

 tion in central establishments, equipped and or- 

 ganized for operation throughout the year, and 

 the shipment of the material to the linen factory 

 in advanced stage of manufacture. 



As essential, both to save the labor of pulling 

 the crop in the old way, and to facilitate the 

 subsequeiit treatment of the fibre, the flax when 

 the seed is ripe, is out by the harvesting machine. 

 This is easily done with any of the combined 

 reaping and mowing machines which can be ad- 

 justed to cut close to the ground, and allow the 

 flax to be discharged from thejplatform in gravels, 

 like wheat. If the ground has been well pre- 

 pared — thoroughly pulverized by the harrow at 

 seeding, and followed with a good field i oiler, 

 the flax may be cut in this way, low enough to 

 save ail the fibre. In drying weather, the gravels 

 of cut flax should be immediately bound in small 

 bundles, with care to keep the stalks straight, 

 the butts even, and pick out the weeds, if any 

 are present. Then, standing the bundles on 

 end, in small shocks, a few days of prairie sun 

 and breeze servo to cure the straw and seed, 

 when it is ready for stacking, Either on the farm 

 or in the stock yard of the neighboring flax mill. 



At the mill, by a machine, which may also be 

 made portable, and driven by horse power for 

 farm use, both the seed and branching seed ends 

 of the flax are simultaneously removed, the flax 

 bolls crushed, and the seed cleaned, as fast as a 

 workmen can pass the bundles. The straw in 

 bundles, thus divested of seed ends a-id roots, is 

 ready for packing in large fermenting vats or 

 tubs. These are then filled with water sufficient 

 to cover the flax, and the temperature is raised 

 10 about ninety- five degrees, by the admission of 

 steam. At the expiration of two or three days, 

 the fermentation of the contents of the vats, 

 made sure at all seasons of the year by the uni- 

 form heat, has sufficiently decomposed and made 

 soluble the resin and coloring matter of the fibre. 



This method, called steep rotting, is extensive- 

 ly adopted in Ireland, and used both on flax and 

 hemp in this country. Hitherto, the steeped 

 flax has been dried by spreading on the ground, 

 or in large drying houses, heated by costly 

 ranges of steam pipes, without provision for the 

 removal of the soluble substance before drying, 

 and thus prevent discolorations. 



By the new eystem, the wet flax, on removal 

 —2 



from the steep vats, is carefully spread in suc- 

 cessive overlapping layers, upon an endless car- 

 rier or apron. This carrier is at one of a long 

 train of apparatus and machinery, the parts of 

 which operate in unison, and through which the 

 flax progresses in a continuous sheet. Passing 

 from the feed table, the flax is first subjected to 

 a washing proeess, which removes the soluble 

 gum and coloring matter, still soft from decom* 

 positisn in the vats, and leaves the fibres nearly 

 white. Next in course the flax passes through 

 pressure rollers for the removal of water, and 

 thence into a drying aparatus, where it is expos- 

 ed to currents of hot air. The heat for the 

 evaporation of moisture from the flax straw, is 

 derived from a spacious hot air furnace of spe- 

 cial contructien, which, when steam motive 

 power is used, arrests the escape heat on its 

 passage from the boilers to the chjmney. Thor- 

 oughly desiccated in the dryer, the flax straw 

 next progresses through breaking and cleaning 

 machinery, of well proved action, which reduces 

 the woody part into fine shives, and separates 

 them from the fibre, without injurious abrasion 

 to the latter, or material disturbance of the par- 

 alelism of its filaments. From this, the fibrous 

 sheet, still connected, passes through combing, 

 condensing and gill drawing machinery. And 

 finally, the material is delivered from the train 

 in a continuous sliver, or band of clean, gill- 

 combed flax, running into a can, without waste 

 of fibre, and ready for the drawing frames of the 

 linen mill. When the flax sliver is to be shipped 

 for market, it is run from the cans upon a coiling 

 machine, forming packages which are pressed 

 and enveloped, and which, on being opened, and 

 suitably supported, freely run the slivers to the 

 drawing frames of the distant factory. 



The only manipulations which the flax receives 

 after removal from the steeping vats, is in the 

 operation of spreading the straw upon the feed 

 apron of the train. This lays the foandation of 

 the yarn, the subsequent operations being auto- 

 matic, save in transferring the cans of sliver 

 from one machine to another, in the linen mill. 

 The effect of washing the etraw for tbe removal 

 of the soluble matter is not only to add in pre- 

 serving the natural light color of the pure fibre, 

 and leave it of a siiky softness which improves 

 its properties for manufacture, but it also aids 

 the mechanical separation of the woody fibre, 

 and saves much expense in bleaching the fabric. 

 Compared with the best method hitherto in use, 

 the new system saves no less than eight success- 

 ive handlings of the flax, some of which are te- 

 dious and expensive, besides converting more 

 than one-half of the material into tow. 



By the new way, one ton of good flax straw 

 will produce fonr hundred pounds of fiber. At 

 ten dollars a ton for the straw, in connection with 

 the value of the seed, flax is a more valuable crop 

 for the Western farmer than corn or wheat. A 

 flax mill on the above plan, of capacity to pro- 

 duce daily one ton of marketable fiber, is erect- 

 ed a| the outlay of about twenty thousand doK 

 lars. Operated by eixtc en hands, the shives be- 

 ing available for fuel, the daily running expenses 

 may be estimated at less than twenty -five dollars. 

 With a margin, the cost of preparing the ftax is 

 thus one cent and a half a pound, whicfi with 



