56 



DICKSON ON THE RESIN-BOUND FIBRES OF 



bility of the witnesses I have produced, who were present 

 when the work was performed. 



That it is wasteful in practice to so steep Flax or Hemp, I 

 think I have proved, by a comparison of the produce by the 

 old system and mine. 



1st. Loss by weight. 



2nd. Loss by giving colour that must be removed. 



3rd. Loss by having to bleach in place of wash. 



The above are facts that cannot be gainsaid, whilst linen 

 made from Flax prepared by my system would not require the 

 yarns being boiled, for mill- washing at three farthings per 

 yard would finish linens for the market. 



Having previously described my method of preparing Indian 

 fibres, Flax and Hemp, with the advantages obtained over 

 every other system yet discovered, allow me to call attention 

 to our increasing consumption of continental Hemp and Flax. 

 Our annual reports being from £8,000,000 to £9,000,000 

 sterling in value, the wonder is that our merchants will allow 

 the valuable productions of India to remain so long compara- 

 tively unknown, whilst the slave-grown cotton of America 

 cannot be had to meet the spinning requirements of Lancashire, 

 and applications are being made to Her Majesty's government to 

 encourage its cultivation in India and Africa, — the fibres I 

 allude to can be had without cultivation, and how far their 

 growth might be extended and improved it is impossible to 

 say. Most of us, however, have had some experience of the 

 disfavour with which discoveries are at first received, and the 

 apparent disadvantages under which they are launched, as well 

 as of the small, insignificant circumstances from which the 

 greatest results have arisen. 



I humbly submit to the antiquated " let well alone," system 

 of preparing Flax and Hemp, which in its rude origin so strongly 

 contrasts with the scientific advances in respect to our own 

 agricultural productions, hand labour being now so much 



