The Minnesotian. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1851-1852, 1851-09-17

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ly held by agriculturists, that flax was
an extremely exhaustive crop. Several
specimens Of the flax thus cleaned by the
machine are shown.
The fax thus produced is in this stage
adapted for the manufacture of cloth and
other coarse fabrics, ropes, cordage, &c.
1t requires, however, more minute sep,
aration Of the fbers to adapt it for the
manufacture of finer descriptions Of fab
rics. To make the subject familiar TO the
reader, it win be necessary to explain the
structure Of the flax fiber. The stem of
the nax-plant consists OF three distinct
parts--the shove, straw, or woody matter
which supports the plant the iibers which
cover the outer surface OF the straw, and
the gum or resin, by which the fbers are
/ held together. The machine, as we have
already described, removes the straw on
! ly, and partially disintegrates The iibers
held together by the rcsnous substance.
Hence their coarseness and their suitabil-
ity for coarse fabrics only. In order to
| adopt il for The linen manufacture, as also
to carry it one stage further in the process
ncr, it is necessary to obtain a more COM
plete separation of the fibers. This object
is TO be accomplished by the removal Of
the rcsinous and glutinous substance which
binds them together; and, as it does not
appear that mechanical power will COM
pletely effect this, recourse is had to chem
ical action. These substances are there
fore dissolved by the chemical action of
fermentation, which takes place under the
ordinary modes of sleeping, whether in
hot or cold water; and the application of
mechanical power in the process OF scutch-
ing aiterward separates the fibers, and
leaves them in fit state for the various
manipulations required previous TO flax
spinning. 1t is found, however, that the
present process of sleeping, not only oc-
cupies considerable portion of time, but
that its effects are not sufficiently uniform
10 render it fitting mode to be adopted
in the preparation of fax for spinning OIL
cotton machinery, and that, even when en-
ployed in the preparation Of flax for the
ordinary linen manufacturer. it possesses
many disadvantages which it would be de-
sirableto remove.
A second series of samples shown by
the Chevalier Claussen consists, therefore,
of long flax prepared for the lmen man,l-
iacturer by process which appears COM
! pletely to obviate most of the inconvenien-
ces attending the ordinary Of steep
ing, By this process the flax is boiled
| (either in the straw as ii comes from the
field, or in the state in which it leaves the
growers hands, with its bulk partially re-
duced by mechanical means, for two or
three hours in weak solution of caustic
soda. The action of the soda dissolves
completely the resinous and other sub
stances of the plant, while, by its combi-
nation with the oleaginous matters that it
contains, it produces a soapy kind Of liq-
uid, which removes at the same time all
the coloring matter from the plant--leav-
ing it, unlike flax stepped in the ordinary
mode, perfectly free from all stain and
impurity, and thereby facilitating greatly
the after processes Of bleaching or dyeing,
whether in the yarn or in the finish of
cloth.
Passing from the specimens Illustrative
Of the processes of preparing the flax for
the linen manufacture, we next come to
the interesting series of samples showing
the mode by which the fax is prepared
for the cotton spinner. The first step
necessary in this process is the reduction
of the flax fiber to lengths adapted for
spinning or cotton machinery. These re-
quired lengths are obtained bya very nice
ly adjusted piece of mechanism, similar in
its principle to the ordinary chaG-cutting
machines It is here that the greatest ac-
curacy is required, as, if any Of the tibers
exceed the required length, the yarn pro-
duced will ''bite" in the rollers and pre-
sent the appearance Of being "over-
worked and will also be unequal in
strength. The flax may be cut for this
purpose either in the straw as it comes
from the field, with its bulk partially re-
duced, or after it has undergone the boil
ing process. But in order to spin flax
successfully upon cotton machinery, some
thing more is required than the mere re-
duction of the length of the fiber. After
having undergone the boiling or sleeping
process, and when the glutinous matter
! "Hich oiiius thcHl loDStlci Is IclnoVctt, the
fibers, however fine, are still harsh, coarse,
and unelastic when compared with cotton /;
and the quantity in length of yarn OBJ
tained from equal weights of flax and cot
ton would be SO greatly in favor of the
latter, as completely to preclude the pos
sibility of the former being substituted for
it. For instance, one pound of fair bowed
Georgia cotton, spun into 30's, will yield
f5,2OO yards; while one pound of flax
spun into dine of number about equal
to that of the cotton yarn would produce
but Il GOO yards, giving an advantage of
1000 yards in the pound TO cotton over
flax. In addition TO this, the yarn would
be produced from the raw cotton by cot
ton machinery at an expense OF less than
three-pence, while that OF the flax would