ON HEMP. 



271 



and cannot be brought even to a very indifferent colour, till after 

 several months of fatigue and labour. 



The heckles ase various, with respect to their size, form, and 

 fineness, according to the difference of countries, and the beauty 

 of the works they are intended for ; but in all cases, the methods 

 of working, and the end proposed, are the same. Marcandkr. 



When Hemp is intended for coarse yarn, it need only be 

 heckled with a large-toothed heckle ; but if for finer uses, it must 

 be begun with a coarse heckle, and afterwards passed through one 

 or more finer heckles, as occasion may require. The business of the 

 heckler consists in separating throughout the whole length of the 

 fibres of the Hemp, which the brake and scutcher have divided 

 only in part. The teeth of the heckle are of iron, with sharp 

 points. The common coarse heckle is about twenty-one inches by 

 six and three-quarters ; and the teeth in the rows are about an inch 

 and three-quarters asunder ; and extend nine inches and a half from 

 the board in which they are fixed. They are placed in a quincunx 

 order, so that the teeth of the second row are in the centre of the 

 space of the first row. By drawing the Hemp through the heckle, 

 the teeth carry off a part of the gum contained amongst the fibres 

 of the Hemp, in the form of dust, and by dividing the filaments 

 separate entirely the heterogeneous matter contained amongst them. 

 To effect this purpose, the heckle being fixed upon a plank, one 

 side of which inclines from the workman, he takes a handful of 



the 



