404 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



voTired to be combined. The pit into which the 

 water is introduced for this purpose is made three 

 or four months before it is wanted. A pure stream 

 from a soft spring, or where a small rivulet is 

 always gently running through; the pit having 

 only two small apertures at opposite sides for 

 the ingress and egress of the water. This recep- 

 tacle should be about five feet deep, narrow, and 

 of a length proportionate to the quantity of fiax 

 under process. Poles with hooks attached to 

 them are driven in along the sides, the hooks 

 being rather below the surface of the water; a 

 long pole, the whole length of the pit, is fixed 

 into these hooks. The flax is then made into 

 narrow bundles of about two and a half feet long 

 and four feet high, and these being wrapped in 

 straw, are immersed in the water, where they 

 are kept securely by means of horizontal cross 

 poles, which are then introduced between the 

 long pole and the hooks. 



Some cultivators do not steep the flax in wa- 

 ter, but only spread it on the surface of grass 

 ground, exposed to the air and moisture, which 

 is called dew-retting. 



As the fibre gains nothing, however, by ma- 

 ceration in water, it has been proposed, in order 

 to shorten and simplify the process of separation 

 from the woody parts, to omit the process of 

 steeping entirely, and simply to dry and stack 

 the lint when taken from the field as a crop of 

 corn. Afterwards, by machinery, the capsules 

 are separated, and the fibre detached. In this 

 way there is less loss of seed, and less demand 

 for labour at a busy season. The fibre has 

 also all its original strength, part of which must 

 be lost by the process of maceration; and the 

 bleaching and clearing it of all colouring and 

 mucilage must be an easier process from the di- 

 minished bulk of the material. Two patents 

 have been taken out for this process, one in 1810, 

 and the other by Messrs. Hill and Bundy, in 

 1817, the latter of whom also invented an inge- 

 nious machine for the purpose. This process, 

 however, has not yet come into general use. On 

 the first trials it was found that the flax proved 

 too harsh and rough for the purpose of manufac- 

 tures ; and this objection does not seem to have 

 been hitherto obviated. 



For many ages it was the universal practice to 

 separate the flax from the useless parts by hand- 

 machinery, either by beating with mallets, or by 

 the use of an instrument called a hreak. Even 

 now, in those countries where flax is most cul- 

 tivated, the hand-break is stUl used. 



This instrument is a block of wood, about seven 

 or eight feet in length, and seven or eight inches 

 in breadth and thickness. Deep grooves are 

 made in the wood, extending through its whole 

 length, about an inch wide at bottom, and in- 

 creasing in width in such a manner that the di- 

 vi^ons thus formed may present rather sharp 



edges on the surface. Over this block of wood 

 another block is fitted, one end of it being made 

 fast by means of a hinge, and the other shaped 

 into a handle. This upper block has two longi- 

 tudinal edges, so shaped as to enter and fit into 

 the corresponding grooves of the under part of 

 the machine. 



The person who is to perform the operation of 

 breaking takes a quantity in his left hand, while 

 with his right hand he holds the handle of the 

 upper jaw of the break. The flax being put 

 between the upper and under part, the former is 

 raised up and let down several times with all the 

 force of the operator ; this breaks the reed with- 

 out injuring the fibres which surround it, and at 

 the same time effectually separates these fi'om 

 the cellular texture which united them, and 

 which together with them formed the bark. By 

 putting the flax between the two jaws the 

 bruised refuse is partially separated from the 

 fibres. 



Some of the smaller particles still remain en- 

 tangled among the flax; to get rid of these, an- 

 other operation is required which is called scutch- 

 ing. The scutch, the instrument used for this 

 purpose, is merely a kind of long wooden bat ; 

 and the scutching-frame is an upright board, 

 fastened to a horizontal piece, which latter forms 

 the foot-board. In the upright piece a semi- 

 circular incision is made, on wliich the workman 

 places the flax, which he holds in one hand, 

 while with the other he strikes it with the scutch; 

 after giving it several strokes, he shakes it, re- 

 places it on the board, and continues striking 

 till it is sufficiently clean, and the fibres appear 

 tolerably straight. The qualification of a good 

 scutcher is to make as little waste as possible, 

 while he perfectly cleanses the flax. 



This manner of breaking and scutching the 

 flax is very tedious and laborious. About sev- 

 enty years ago a more expeditious method was 

 invented in Scotland, and it has been found so 

 advantageous, that the hand-break and scutcher 

 are now seldom used in this country. The in- 

 vention consists of a miU, having tlu-ee indented 

 cylinders placed in contact, and one above the 

 other. The middle cylinder, by means of a wa- 

 ter-wheel, or other motive power, is made to 

 revolve with a quick motion, which is imparted 

 to the other two through the intervention of 

 cogs. The stalks are introduced between the 

 upper and middle cylinders, a curved surface be- 

 hind causes the flax to return again between the 

 middle and lower cylinder, and this operation is 

 continued till the boon is completely broken. 

 The upper and under rollers are pressed against 

 the middle one by means of weights. 



The boon being now thoroughly broken, the 

 fibres are freed from it likewise by means of the 

 same mill, which gives motion to four arms pro- 

 jecting from a horizontal axle, and so arranged 



