206 



Flax^ its Treatment, 



By tills process we have all the advantages obtained by Watts 

 ■ — economy of products — increased economy of time, only four 

 hours being required instead of twelve — and, in addition, great 

 economy of labour. Another great improvement is claimed by 

 Buchanan — his method of drying the steeped straw preparatory 

 to scutching. This is usually a tedious and costly process as 

 regards labour and arrangements. The fibre, too, is to a certain 

 extent liable to be injured by the necessary handling. The 

 ordinary mode is to place the flax thinly spread between two 

 wooden laths, which, when closed by means of hooks or rings 

 over their ends, firmly hold the stems : about fifty-six of these 

 are required for a cwt. of flax. They are then carried to the 

 drying shed and suspended from frames, where they remain ex- 

 posed to the action of the air until they are dry. The time 

 required depends on the weather — from three or four days to 

 as many weeks. In Watts' process, where steam is available, 

 the drying is effected in ""a heated chamber in a much shorter 

 time. Buchanan's method is entirely different. He proposes 

 to effect the desiccation in the same vat in which the flax was 

 steeped, by means of dry warm air, which is driven through it 

 in unlimited quantities, at a very little expense. The air is 

 readily obtained in the desired state by causing it to pass 

 through porous earthenware pipes set across the lower part of 

 the chimney. These communicate on the one side with a 

 blower driven by the engine, and on the other side with a pipe 

 which conveys the heated air to the lower part of the vat con- 

 taining the flax to be dried. This is all the arrangement needed. 

 The blower drives the air through the earthenware pipes ; its 

 temperature is there raised, and moisture abstracted, and enter- 

 ing the bottom of the steeping-vat it comes in contact with the 

 flax and passes through it, absorbing and carrying off the mois- 

 ture, and leaving the flax in a perfectly dry state. It is then 

 ready to be rolled and scutched. The patentee's experiments 

 induce him to believe that by this process the entire operation 

 of converting the straw into dressed fibre may be effected in the 

 working-day, or twelve hours ; and, from the simple nature of 

 the mechanical arrangements and of the materials required, a 

 very moderate outlay would suffice for the formation of an esta- 

 blishment equal to the probable produce of a given district. 

 The steeping process being entirely automatic, the cost of labour 

 is very small indeed, and the whole expenses of the operation 

 materially reduced.* 



In speaking of the treatment of the flax by these different 



* I regret that I am not able to give any results of the working of the process on 

 a commercial scale. I have waited until the last day permitted me, but find the 

 establishment is not yet at work, — J. W. 16th May. 



