Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-04-20
THE FLAX MILLS.

1dle, DclleVe, naQ n Streak or I'M
usually good luck in the spring of 1887
when James Livingston & Co. selected
this place asa location for their flax
mills. If this choice has been q profit
able one for the company it has been
no less SO for the village; for what can
be more beneficial to any community
than the employment of those compos-
ing it? This being the case the people
of Yale, and of the township in general,
should feel extremely grateful and do
all in their power to encourage and
promote this industry. During the
winter months this firm keeps as many
as thirty men while in the summer
when the raw flax is being taken care
of no less than fifty find employment.
During the seven years these mills
have been In operation new buildings
have been erected from time to time,
or the old ones enlarged, to meet the
requirements of this fast increasing
business. At present they are five in
number and although several are new
ones built last year their room is yet
very limited. The mill containing the
threshing, breaking and scutching
machinery is 35xG0 feet and has at one
side brick engine room about twenty
feet square. The heckling shop is n
brick building 35X30 feet containing
the heckling machinery and presses.
The two barns are 35x96 and l00xl40
feet respectively. There is also ware
house 22X60 feet.
Everything about the premises pre-
sents neat and thrifty appearance
and one can see at glance that the
business is under the control of one
well informed in such affairs.
The amount of seed sowed each year
is about five hundred bushels or enough
for nearly four hundred acres of land.
The largest part of it is loaned to farm:
ers who SOW it con their own hook"
and receive ten dollars per ton in the
fall at the mills. What is not loaned
out in this manner is sowed by the
company on land rented for the pur-
pose. Flax seed is sowed at the samo
time and in nearly the same way as
other grains and as it grows fast is
ready to be pulled in July. 1t is at
this time the greatest number of men
are needed for flax ripens at nearly
the same time and shells very easily
when ripe. The flax is allowed to re-
main in the field until thoroughly dry
before 1t Is taken to the mill and
threshed. 1t is then taken to the
spreading meadows where it Is spread
out to rot. 1t is turned several times
that it may rot evenly and is then
bound up in bundles as at first. After
the rotting has been accomplished it
Is taken to the barns and moved away
for future use.
The first machine through which it
goes on entering the mill the second
time is the break. In this machine the
woody part of the stalk is broken up
and the flax is prepared for the scutch-
ing. The scutching machine consists
of rows of knives revolving at n very
rapid rate. In going through this pro-
cess the flax has the woody part entire
ly removed and is made ready for the
next aid most important process-the
heckling. In this process the flax is
prepared for market and as it must be
done carefully none but skilled work.
men are employed. The machinery
used in the heckling room is simple
consisting of boards thickly set with
sharp spikes which comb out the short
fibres and leave nothing but the pure
flax desired The heckled flax is put
up in bales varying in weight from
thirty to fifty pounds and is at last
ready Tor market.
The tow, that part of the flax discard
ed by the different machines receives
attention and is divided
into three grades viz; green, rotted,
and heckled tow. The two last men,
toned are the most important but all
are of sufficient use to deserve the at
tention they receive. The green tow
is obtained from the first process and
is used chiefly in upholstering furni-
ture though 1t has other secondary
uses.
The rotted tow is from the scutching
and is used in making rope,
paper, Irvine, ETC., where strength and
alone are needed.
The heckled tow is composed of
short fibers and such parts as are comb
ed out in the heckling process. 1t is a
much finer quality than the other two
kinds and is used in manufacturing
articles of u finer texture such as carpet
warp and a superior grade of Irvine.
This tow is put up in large bales similar
in size TO bales of hay and weighing
from one hundred-fifty to two hundred
pounds. The pure product of the flax
is shipped to New York and other large
cities where il is manufactured into
thread and linen goods of all kinds.
More seed is raised than is necessary to
keep the mill in flax so great deal is
shipped to the cities where it is made
up into linseed oil, meal, etc.
No person can fully realize the
amount of labor used or the money
expended in preparing this flax for the
market without having first given it
careful attention. The mill is in oper-
alton about nine or ten months out OF
the year and not less than six hundred
tons of lax are used.
This is tho kind of an industry that
helps town like ours and if we but
had several more each of different
nature but spirit no less enterprising
Yale might yet be noted as manu-
featuring city and every citizen would
wear u triumphant smile upon his
countenance. finis
Justin A. Cavanagh.