THE PROCESS OF HECKLING. 225 
and the instrument was afterwards sent to Leeds for trial, 
though the Author has not seen any subsequent account of its 
performances. 
The Author further observes it stated in the annual report 
for this year of the Royal Society for the Promotion and Im- 
provement of the growth of Flax in Ireland, under the head of 
“Unsteeped Flax fibre,” that “the plan of preparing the fibre 
without. steeping has, on former occasions, been alluded to. 
It is now being carried out practically, on a very large scale, 
by Mr. Roche, M.P. for County Cork; and the fibre is stated 
to find a ready market in England, for certain coarse purposes. 
The price obtained is considerably under that of steeped Flax, 
but, as the expense of steeping is avoided, it is stated to be 
sufficiently remunerative.” (Belfast, 24th Nov., 1854.) 
Heckliny—Among the operations which have been inci- 
dentally mentioned, but not described, is that of heckling, also 
called hackling. This, however, is more a spinner’s than a 
planter’s business, though the latter do sometimes like to send 
their produce in the best state to market, as noticed even in 
some of the communications from India. It is, at all events, 
useful to know the degree of subdivision of which a fibre is 
susceptible. In this process, the fibres are not only split into 
their finest fibrils, but are also cleaned, and arranged parallel 
toeach other ; while those which are too short for spinning are 
separated, and form the finer kinds of tow. The heckle is a sort 
of comb, with several rows of teeth fixed into round or oblong 
blocks of wood; the whole resembling the hand cards formerly 
used for carding cotton, and for which the jaw-bone of the 
boalee fish is a substitute in carding cotton for the Dacca 
muslins. The teeth of the heckle are of iron or steel, differing 
in length according to their fineness, beautifully polished, 
tapering, and having the points exceedingly sharp. Heckles 
of different degrees of delicacy are employed in bringing fibre 
to the required extent of fineness. 
Mr. Tomlinson has given the following clear account of the 
process: “In heckling Flax, only one card or heckle is used 
at atime. The workman with one hand seizes a strick or 
lock of Flax by the middle, throws it upon the points of the 
coarse heckle, and draws it towards him; at the same time 
with the other hand spreading the Flax, and preventing it 
15 
