0)1 the Cultivation of Flax. 



385 



The process by macliinerj is conducted on the same principle 

 as by hand-labour. The breaking or bruising of the flax-straw 

 is effected by metal groved-rollers, four pair being necessary, 

 fluted in different breadths. The flax is spread on a flat table (a), 

 just as grain in a threshing-machine; the first pair of rollers 

 taking it in and passing it on to the others in succession, until it 

 issues from the last pair (h) completely bruised. This is an improved 

 system of breaking, as it was formerly done in Ireland and Scot- 

 land by three wooden vertical rollers, and the flax had to be 

 frequently passed through ; while the operation was attended 

 with great danger to the labourer, many accidents occurring by his 

 arm being caught in the rollers. The action of the scutch-blade 

 is adopted in machinery by a number of blades of wood or iron, 

 (c) attached to arms [d) like the radii of a circle, and carried round 

 by a shaft (e) which is turned by the motive power ; the flax is held 

 by workers in a groove (f) similar to that in the hand-scutching 

 mode, and the blades in their revolution strike it quickly. The 

 stands are so cased in that the person is in no danger : a plate of 

 iron protecting his hand above and another underneath the strick 

 of flax. He has only to hold the flax until he sees that it has 

 been sufficiently struck, and then to present the other end, turning 

 it frequently that the blade may act equally on all parts. Mills 

 are generally made with 6, 9, or 12 stands. It is considered 

 best to divide the labour of cleaning each strick of flax among 

 three different stands ; a long table runs in front of them, and a 

 handful of flax, as bruised by the rollers, is laid on it. The first 

 man, or buffer , takes it up, presents it to the blades, and lets it 

 have a number of strokes at both ends and sides ; he then lays 

 down on the table, when it is taken up by the second man, or 

 middler, who puts it through the same process with his stand, 

 handing it to the third, oy finisher, who cleans it thoroughly in the 

 same way. The flax, when finished, is tied up in iDundles of 

 16 lbs. or 24 lbs., the former termed the English and the latter 

 the Scotch stone. Each bundle consists of a number of handful s 

 of flax, about 1 lb. weight in each, which are stretched straightly 

 and evenly on the table, a slight twist being given each to prevent 

 it mixing with the rest. It is tied round with three or four bands 

 of flax twisted tightly, and, if well made up, may be tossed about 

 without receiving any injur3^ '^^^ power to drive the machinery 

 may be either horses, water, or steam. In the north of Ireland, 

 of late, much flax has been scutched by steam, as the woody 

 refuse of the stem supplies fuel without any other being neces- 

 sary. The refuse, on being knocked oft^ by the blades, falls into 

 a pit behind the stands, and is cleared away during meal hours.* 



* The refuse of four days' work will drive the engine six days. 



