POWNALL’S PROCESS FOR PREPARING FLAX. 211 
out, and the water would wash away almost all the gluten 
remaining in the plant not removed by the fermentation. 
“Tt is impossible to over-estimate the value of this discovery. 
The grand difficulty in the management of the Flax plant had 
always been the difficulty of hitting the happy mean between 
over-fermenting and wnder-fermenting the straw. If the straw 
were not fermented enough, the gluten was not sufficiently 
discharged, and then the woody parts of the plant stuck to the 
fibre so strongly, that nothing short of violent blows of the 
scutching instrument would remove it, and violent blows broke 
much of the fibre into short lengths, called tow, of little or no 
value. On the other hand, if the straw were fermented too 
much, then the gluten was, indeed, sufficiently discharged, and 
moderate blows sufficed to remove the woody matter; but in 
that case the fibre was weakened, and the blows, moderate as 
they were, again broke the fibre into tow. In either case the 
yield of valuable fibre was unsatisfactory, and the reed and 
quality deteriorated, and it was only in those cases where the 
exercise of the greatest care and judgment had enabled the 
steeper to trim most happily between fermenting too much and 
fermenting too little, that a satisfactory yield of fibre was ob- 
tained. Mr. Pownall’s discovery at once triumphed over this 
hitherto almost insuperable difficulty, because it enabled him 
to stop short in the process of fermentation before he arrived 
at the point of danger, and yet remove the gluten even more 
effectually than excessive fermentation had previously done ; 
from which there resulted the following advantages : 
“1st. The squeezing and washing so completely cleansed the 
fermented straw, that the objection to Schenck’s hot-water 
system, arising from the putrid matter re-adhering to the straw, 
and flying off from the straw in dust in scutching, at once dis- 
appeared ; and hence the mills erected for hot-water steeping 
resumed work, and no impediment now exists to steeping being 
carried on all the year round. 
‘2d, Fermentation need never be carried beyond the perfectly 
safe point, and hence the fibre is not weakened. 
“3d. The woody matter is easily removed by moderate blows 
of the scutching instrument, because the sticky matter no longer 
impedes the operation, and hence the yield of fibre is much 
greater. 
