In the article FLAN, an account is given of the chief processes to which the fibre is subjected in preparing it for tho spinners. A very few additional details will suffice hero, to show how many attempts have recently been made to supply our listen manufacturers by home growth. All agree that some improved mode of retting is necessary to render flax-culture profitable in these islands. Russian, Prusaian, and Belgian flax keep down the price of English and Irish to a point which renders the profit often doubtfuL To lessen the expenses, and im prove the quality in various ways, several new modes of rotting have come under public notice within the last few years. The dese-retting and water-retting are described in the article above cited. The 'Mechanical retting has been conducted in various ways by Lee, Hill, Bundy, Donlan, Davy, and others. It is a quick and economical process, and seems to be applicable when the crop is of too poor a character to pay for the expense of steeping; or in districts where steeping is effected with difficulty ; or in cases where coarse yarns only are required. The steam-retting and the hetecater-retting are intended to effect the sepa ration of the fibre without producing the fermentation which results from ordinary rotting, with its offensive odour and Its waste of substance. Schenk'. hot-water process was patented in 1846, and a rettory was established in Mayo to test its value. Watts, Buchanan, and other inventors, have varied in tnan7 ways the application of heat to the process. The cliemieetretting as founded on the same considerations as those by steam and hot-water : namely, that the dry or mechanical process is not suited to the production of fine yarn, owing to the largo portion of the substance of the plant which remains attached to the fibre. The ordinary rotting is in e.fect chemical, seeing that it is for naentation which sets free the fibre from the other parts of the plant ; the hot-water and steam processes are also chemical, for they dissolve the non-fibrous portions even though they do not ferment them; but the chemical processes here adverted to are those in which alkalies or other agents are added to the water, to increase the separating effect. The systems of Lilljikreuse, Palinquist, Gay Lussae, Berthollet, Claussen, and many others, are chemical in this sense, At one time, Claussen 'e method attracted so much attention that 3000 acres were laid down in flax in Ireland, for conducting the process on a large scale. Some observers have thought, on comparing the results of the dry and wet processes, that the best plan would probably be to combine both—to separate the fibre from the boon roughly by a machine ; to use the boon as fodder or manure; and to sell the fibre to flax preparers, who would apply a wet process for finishing it. Not only have inventors brought forward all these variutua projects, but numerous suggestions have in other ways been made to encourage the home growth of flax. The British government has not recently offered any direct bounty or encouragement for the growth of flax; but the New Zealand govern ment, in 1850, offered 4000/. in various sums as prizes to persons who would produce New Zealand flax good enough and cheap enough to encourage the colonists to attend to this branch of industry. As to joint stock companies, many have been suggested in reference to flax growing and manufacture. One was proposed in 1859, to work out Cator'e plan ; the objects of which were to encourage the growth of flax at home, to buy the plants, to establish rettories, to ret the flax to a certain stage, and sell it to the spinners—thereby relieving the grower, as an agriculturist, from all the mechanical and chemical diffi culties of rotting. Notwithstanding all these efforts, however, the home growth of flax makes slow progress. Ireland had 50,000 acres under flax in 1812; this rose to 110,000 in 1826; a gradual decline brought it down to 53,000 in 1847 ; it rose again to 170,000 in 1553 ; since which year it has fluctuated greatly. Taking the whole of the United Kingdom, we did not in 1858 grow one-fourth of the flax required by our spinners. The Irish produce seems to be about 6 cwt.
of clean fibre to the acre.
Until recently little machinery was used in the production of linen cloth. After the separation of the ligneous fibre of the plant, the distaff and common spinning-wheel were employed for the preparation of the thread or yarn ; and the Land-loom generally, in its simplest form, was used for weaving the cloth. Within the present century the first attempts were made at Leeds to adapt the inventions of I largreaves and Arkwright to the spinning of flax. Mill-spun yarn is now universally employed by the linen-weavers of this kingdom for the production of the very finest lawn, as well as of the coarsest linen ; and of late years the use of the power-loom has been adopted for weaving all but the very finest and most costly fabrics. Those improvements have rendered this country independent of all others for the supply of linen yarn of every quality, and diminished in a most important degree the cost of linen fabrics; so that British yarns and cloths are now profitably exported to countries with which the manufacturers of Great Britain and Ireland were formerly unable to compete, and against which they were protected in the home market by.high duties on importation.
Of the flax-spinning mills there is one at Leeds, belouging to Messrs. Marshall, which ranks among the largest factories in the world. One particular room is, we believe, the largest in existence devoted to manufacturing purposes ; it covers two acres of ground, the roof is supported by fifty pillars, and lighted by sixty-six large conical sky lights.
The flax reaches the spinning-mills in small bundles of a few pounds each. The fibres are first watched out at the ends, by a machine which subjects them to a sort of combing action. They are then broken into three pieces each, the middle section being the best in quality. They are next heckled, or separated, straightened, and cleaned ; this used formerly to be done with the heckle, a sort of large comb with iron teeth ; but it is now effected by a rotating machine, on the periphery of which the flax is fixed, and drawn against or between a series of sharp teeth. The fibres pass through six heckling machines in succes sion, each having finer teeth than the one which preceded it. The heckled flax is then sorted into portions, according to fineness and other desired qualities. The next process, that of drawing, connects the short fibres of flax into one continuous sliver or riband, nearly in the same way as the carding process described in COTTON MANUFACTURE ; the flax is doubled and carded over and over again, until it presents the appearance of a smooth and glossy hand, about an inch in width. When flax has been so far prepared, all the good portion receives the name of line; while the irregular, short, and defective fibres become law. The tow is, however, susceptible of being drawn, doubled, carded, hemp. The heckled slivers of flax are next roved, or converted from a flat riband to a soft small cylindrical cord. The spinning is the next process; this is done on the bobbin and fly principle, and the flax requires to be wet while under the process, thereby differing from cotton, wool, and silk. The flax used formerly to be wetted with, cold water ; but it is now found that finer yarn can be produced when and spun into yarn of coarse quality. Thie tow is not the very rough substance usually known by the name; the latter is the refuse of warm water is used. The essential parts of the apparatus are shown in skeleton in fig. 3.
The 'pun yarn Is applicable either for making thread or for weaving into linen goods. The quality of flax yarn is denoted by numbers describing the numbers of inns (a measure of 300 yards) contained in each pound weight. Thus a pound of No. 60 yarn measures 60 leas or 18,000 yards; No. 5 has only 1500 yards to the pound ; while No. 200 has as much as 60,000 yards. Flax yarn is seldom spun of greater fineness than No. 200, which is fitted for making cambric of good quality. The improvement. effected in the manufacture have greatly increased the average fineness and lowered the price.