172 



DICKSON ON- THE FIBRES OF IFDIA, 



Having finished my arguments on Irish Flax as a substitute-, 

 for cotton-spinner's purposes, I must solicit the reader to; 

 peruse the following, as it will be satisfactory to see that one; 

 of England^ most successful merchants, the late Sir W. Brown,, 

 Bart., Liverpool^ so countenanced my movements, as to givej 

 me liberty of referring to him. 



ADVANTAGES TO BE GAINED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF 

 RHEEA FIBRE, FLAX AND HEMP AS ADDITIONAL MATERIAL, 

 ADAPTED TO COTTON-SPINNING MACHINERY. 



Having proved my ability to make not only Eheea fibre, \ 

 but any other flexible fibre, soft, fine, and short enough to be 

 spun on cotton machinery, and through the aid of the firm of 

 Messrs. Birley, Brothers, cotton spinners, Preston, proved that 

 such yarn can be spun from my prepared fibres, I shall briefly' 

 point out and call attention to the importance of such material 

 at this crisis, and the two-fold advantage of such being" 

 introduced into the cotton spinning and manufacturing mills' 

 of Lancashire, a matter thoroughly national. 



First, the economy in cost of the material compared with ' 

 cotton, and seeing from my calculation that Eheea and such" 

 fibres as I have prepared are not at all likely to average more 

 than from 5|d. to 8d..per lb., I reckon the material such as" 

 the No. 20 yams spun from as follows : — 



Suppose 2-3 or 10lb. of Eheea fibre cost 5d. per lb. 4 2 

 Bo. 1-3 or 51b. of Surat cotton cost 1M per lb. 6 3. 



Total 15lbs., mixed in carding, average 8|d. per lb. 10 5 



By such mixture 6|d. per lb. would be the saving by using 

 Eheea, and a stronger article produced ; but suppose it all 

 Eheea, at od or cost 6s. 3d., the saving would be lOd. per lb., 

 and better warp yarn for heavy cloth, as it will bear the strain 

 necessary for the .weft being driven up tightly. 



Secondly, and the most important, is the unquestionable 



