New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-05-10

.-.x.essr and nsasfaesue-Pasf, Present No"
- Fufure.

sss Pystsensn nm"
u.vsts the article on Flax Of Tia Csnneef'eH Ha1ey
- I'D Mechanic, elsewhere noticed Though the
- siyss of the progress and present stare OF fiax
s.,n,.e In this country Is far from complete 1t VIII
r;ehly repay perusal;
ha4 upuumbered products OF the EARN ana tne ocexn
Tor man nature has given as out tnree suossnces
e - sLilI has made available for cheap and ser
whies nsns sn The necessities Of polar life and the die
80 III fashion and taste make use o. sun anu Ia'
g,ons Of our race viii ever by clad 10 hoHcS Vi "oob
cotton and hax - A. ILL.,. x.,,o
- III snd climate The sheep, when reared ID not eli
800 = no longer wool b aring animal ana coon ~
me- ~nisr excellence is limited to districts IN warm A
AZ Yhsch afford the reauiste conditions OF soil ana Gil
,s But the far plant more Cosmopolitan 20 Us
engrishes from the equator 10 me ouinos I VI .s
eultare and in any soh iaVof~O'e !" N''
Uxa,;on and manufacture Of fax were known in
.,e;snt times and especially attained great Pseeon IN
Egypt In the absence Of labor svns 5 ear aSss AZ the
lssrest material for CLOTH 1t maintained the prece1ehce
Toy domestic use, il was once extensively groHn IA In
country as evineed BY those monaen ~ ons
Of oar grandmothefs-tno H0~
I'm, he Introduction of power machinery which ban
hed the hand wheel and lcom ana e'pec&y the inVen
s nohng but the intrinsic excellence OF Us fiber saved
: Err conplete abandonment n the competition with its
cheaper rival cotton More recently improved machinery
iii sustained by the wonderful inventions Of Arkwrght
and Whitney cotton leads unrvaled rs the cheap material
or fertile fabrics In this respect the relative change has
beep solely effected by the successful application Of
mechanical science 20 the than 70 the other Aud in
view OF the magnitude and astounding influence Of the cot
ton interest which only be sustained by the same Tea
fvs advantages which suddenly secured its aseenden
ey the comparative extent 70 which new labor saving agen
cs may applied to the two substances well worth our
Ipon coils Of similar fertility the average product Of fax
6ber somewhat greater than that OF cotton but in b7
process Of cleaning the former the excess is more than lost
IN the resulting from the operation In the compare
i've Geld culture required by the two plants there vide
difference While cotton must be planted and during its
growth demands the repeated use OF The pow and hoe
hax Is raised as cheapy oats The labor OF picking the
seed cotton acre is greater than the aggregate re-
0uirtd TO pull like breaoth Of flax, bind IT, remove the
seed handle il in rottng and complete all the processes
until IL Is ready for dressing the hbeT careful e;ti
rate of the comparative labor expended upon the two
crops By the usual treatment shows that up TO the point
OF cleaning the staples for market the cost OF flax averages
but little than half That Of cotton But If the
comparison be followed through the succeeding step this
relation Is reversed. With the cotton GIN one hand and
two horsesesn clean one thousand pounds Of cotton 10
day; while, 10 dress Ike quantity OF flax IN the same
time four horses and thirteen required with the
use Of the best common machinery.
At this point only IN the processes Of production cotton
secures tho ascendancy but is here complete snd trun
plant While single cotton gin performs the labor Of
hundred hands the rotary breaker and scutchng Wheel in
comparison with the old hand break and swinging knife,
save but twOthrds of the manual labor required dress
ing fax and If the greater waste in aud the cost OF
motive power be taken into the account tue absolute saw
ing IL no more than one half
We thus have the economical aspects OF lax and cotton
as they produced The comparative excellence of
the two materials is sufficiently determined by the unver
sal preference for linen fabrics when not overued by re
gard for expense But long cheapnes IS paramount
consideration the future Of flax and especially the hope
for lis general and speedy adoption agricultural staple
by oursrmers depend upon the possibility OF reducing the
present cost Of its production OF this we have the most
confident expectation And hopes based primarily
upon Improvements lately perfected and nowready for gen
eral Introduction
To reour comparisonsnce the question Is one of
economical rivalry-we think the labor of producing Cot
ton cannot further be materially essened The possible
eontrivance Of drill planter adapted to meet difficulty
existing in the downy coating Of the Cotton seed and the
production Of Cotton gin which shall act less inur' usy
upon the fiber than that common use with perhaps better
modes of putting up The staple for transportation 20 market
are the only accable improvements WHEN all this Is
done the cost of production will not be essentially DUNN
h ed long the field culture is Indispensable and from
The nature of the plant Cotton picking is hoPeesy man
In respect to flax we believe that laborsavng agencies
at command and in course of development are sure to
ameiorate its production TO extraordinary degree The
labor of pulling the flax crop is always regarded by the
farmer and tedious and coming rs does at the
busiest Of the year really one OF the greatest him
FRANCES to the cultivation Of the plant for It's fiber When
HE fax stands with rival growth of weeds, hand pulling
Is indispensable separate from the other But when
The crop without these signs of bad husbandy can be
tut with moving machine of the lately improved con
,ruciion. With this machine, on smooth surface boy
md two horses of flax in an hour Iheoss
" inch or two OF the stalk lett on tne root OF no com
parave account the fiber is there light and coarse The
lax Is falls PROSTATE behind the cutter OF the
,hme, and is Immediately taken up by the workmen who
blow and laid side in handus TO receive the sun or
made into small bundles at once being taken 20 keep
ne stalks parallel and their butt ends even The labor OF
ing up the cut fax is somewhat greater than when Il Is
spread after pulling the usual way but the comparative
svDg time and expense is twenty fold and Tor all su6se
,uenthaDdng the flax is better without the root
On the different modes Of removing the seed and rOtng
he fax straw, do not propose TO enlarge we are VII
ing suppose them not susceptible OF material improve
nent Either may be employed 70 best advantage ac
cordng 10 circumstances Dew rotng requires the least
abor and outlay and though the quality and quantity OF
iber inferior 20 that produced by either wateongo
stepping the farmer will find partial compensation IN tue
increased producveneSs of the grass fields upon which the
iax is spread.
In the subsequent operation OF dressing separating the
hbers from the woody portion of the plant which has been
he chief item of expense IN the preparation OF fax we
End ground for the largest expectations. litherto not
nny has the best machinery used tor this purpose proved
NJ small comparative benefit in the dminuton of manual
abor but the decentralization employed strains and tears
he dber which results in the production Of large proper
ion of tow so mingled the woody fragments 90 bsot
little value Besides this waste in dressing the oer which
ordinarily equals onethrd OF the whole the N l. sent %
allied with short broken fber aud on being heoled
Al the mandatory about one half goes to tow The pro
lncon of the valuable long hber It Is technically
esed ne fax is thus reduced 20 one third Of the whole
And the loss the producer IS eXemphed Ia the fact
hst the line tax least five times the average value OF
NV new machine for which in March of this year
oatent was granted TO A. Clemens of Springfield Mass
men are able to dress four hundred pounds of flax in
dav And what is OF scarcely less importance than this
rrea saving of labor su,h the nature OF tue mechanical
.con used that the aggregate saving Of tow in dressing
and hecklpg Is estimated AZ one hall These results
equivalent 10 an entire saving Of the expense of dressing
ax by the old methods In this respect this Improvement
more remarkable than the cotton GIN which more
ess ipures the quality OF the cotton fiber Though the
new machine was designed for working r0ted flax such
b. efficiency OF lis action that unroited fax Saw be