A METHOD OR PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING A MATERIAL FROM THE TWIGS OR BRANCHES OF BROOM, MALLOWS, AND RUSHES, AND OTHER SHRUBS OR PLANTS OF THE LIKE SPECIES, TO BE USED IN THE STEAD OF FLAX OR HEMP, AND FOR THE SAME PUR- POSES FOR WHICH FLAX AND HEMP ARE NOW USED
Year: 1810

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HALL, of Walthamstow, in the county of Essex, Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Third day of July, in the fiftieth year of His reign, did give
and grant unto me, the said James Hall, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
James Hall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, during the term of
fourteen years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend the Invention therein mentioned, (to wit), "A METHOD OR
PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING A MATERIAL FROM THE TWIGS OR BRANCHES OF
BROOM, MALLOWS, AND RUSHES, AND OTHER SHRUBS OR PLANTS OF THE LIKE
SPECIES, TO BE USED IN THE STEAD OF FLAX OR HEMP, AND FOR THE SAME PUR-
POSES FOR WHICH FLAX AND HEMP ARE NOW USED;" within that part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the Do-
minion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as to us,
the said James Hall, my executors, administrators, or assigns, or any of them,
shall seem meet; to have, hold; exercise, and enjoy the said licence, powers,
and priviledges therein granted unto me, the said James Hall, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, for and during and unto the full end and term of
fourteen years from the date of the said Letters Patent next and immediately
ensuing, and fully to be complete and ended, according to the Statute in such
cases made and provided; in which said Letters Patent there is (amongst
other things) contained a proviso that if I, the said James Hall, should not

page_text: particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in the High Court
of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all
liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, should utterly cease,
determine, and become void, as in and by the said Letters Patent, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Hall, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, as follows (that is to
say):―
The twigs or shoots of broom of the former year's growth, and the most
vigorous, are always the best, and useful only for the flax of broom, thoy being
surrounded with a double covering, the outer resembling scales or the husks
of wheat, rye, and the like, and the inner a substance of the nature of flax.
The shoots or twigs of broom that are more than a year old have also two
coverings, but the scales are much thicker, and the flax is so intermixed with
gum, oil, and other materials of the kind that a bark is formed, in which the
flax is so embodied that it refuses to be separated. The representation of the
shoots or twigs of broom, as appears in the margin of these Presents, explains
what ought to be taken and what left; all above the double line B in the
twig b, b, being proper, and the rest not, and all above the double line a in the
twig a, a, being proper, and all below not. The small twigs e, c, c, aro
scarcely of any use, and need not be cut, or, if cut with the rest, to save the
trouble of choosing and cutting every individual shoot or twig by itself, they
should be left as not worth the pains. Those, therefore, who cut broom for
the sake of the flax should with a crooked instrument like a reaper's hook,
but with a longer handle to save the trouble of stooping much, cut above the
double lines a and b, but never below them. The shoots or twigs may be
collected or not immediately when cut, and if they lic a month or two
about the bushes from whence they have been cut they will scarcely receive
any injury. With regard to their roots and branches, they should as much as
possible be laid all one way, and be tied up in parcels with bands of broom in
the same way as is done with wheat, flax, hemp, &c. On being steeped three
or four weeks, according to the heat of the season, in stagnant water, or boiled
an hour or two in water, the flax comes easily from the shoots or twigs, and
where there is not machinery for the purpose, may be peeled or stripped off by
children, or others, at any time when not quite dry, in the same way as hemp

page_text: is peeled from the stalks. The shoots or twigs may be cut down at any time,
from the latter end of September, when the growth ceases, till April or May,
that a new set of shoots are forming; but, unless the process is carried on by
boiling the broom, the best season for steeping the twigs or shoots, as also
for preparing the flax for the manufacturer, is during warm weather, as the
hands are often wet during the process, which is unpleasant, and by no means
wholesome either for old or young during cold weather. If water cannot be
conveniently had for steeping them, the twigs or shoots, as already noticed, do
not lose any of their value, tho' kept for years, if kept dry. These, on being
spread out to the dew or rain, or any wet, and then heaped together, soon
begin to ferment or heat; and after this heating or fermentation commences,
which must not be permitted to proceed too far for fear of rotting it, the flax
comes easily from the twigs or shoots in the same way as if it had been
steeped in water. If the twigs or shoots are suffered to ferment or heat too
much, the flax, being thereby damaged, breaks in stripping off, but if they are
not fermented enough the flax adheres and does not come easily from the
twigs. The same is the case when they are steeped or boiled in water; if too
little done, the flax does not come off easily but breaks; if too much, it does the
same, but the breaking arises from the flax being hurt by overmuch boiling or
steeping; those therefore who are employed in this business have only to take a
twig or stalk out now and then and see when the whole is ready by trying a few
individual shoots. Where broom has been steeped the water becomes partly
facted or stinking, and of a darkish colour, and it acquires such a taste as makes
cattle dislike to drink it;. but neither the taste nor the smell is so disagreeable
as that produced by the steeping of flax or hemp. 'Broom swims when first put
into the water, but soon begins to sink, and to have a peculiar tho' not an un-
wholsome smell; this smell gradually disappears both from the flax and the
twigs denuded of the flax as they become more dry. When the flax is stripped
from the twigs or shoots it appears dark, gummy, and seemingly of no use, but
on being washed well in cold water, then rubbed and shaken, which may
be done by machinery or hand labour, the flax begins to appear, becoming
more and more strong and pleasing to the eye as it dries, and is cleared of
the scales or chaff by being rubbed and shaken. If the broom flax is to be
backled, which in general should be left to the manufacturer, the hackle, par-
ticularly the first one, should be like a comb, having only one row of teeth; as
from its nature and the fibres of which it consists not proceeding in strait
lines, but from a variety of smaller branching out from the main stem or
shoot, broom flax does not bear the hackle well, either wet or dry. On being
simply washed, rubbed, or shaken well, broom flax becomes an object of much

page_text: importance to a variety of people, as well as to the paper manufacturer, the
manufacturer of patent floor cloth, also the manufacturer of rugs, carpets, and
other useful purposes. The shoots or twigs of broom, on being cleared of the
flax, boiled a given time or steeped in boiling water, becomes tough and
beautifully white, and admirably calculated for being converted, under the
name of genestawood, the generick term for broom of all kinds, into carpet
brooms, brushes for furniture cloths, green cloths, and rensers for cooks, char-
women, and the like, at the same time into various useful purposes where
things are dusty in the dressing room, coach house, &c, as well as for certain
parts of all kinds of wicker work. In procuring the flax of rushes, which, so
far as is yet discovered, is not any easy matter, the rushes are to be exposed
for months in water, on other occasions they are either to be buried in a stable
dunghill and heaped together to heat or ferment, or to be plunged into some
cheap chemical menstruum or liquid, so as to separate the flax, of which all
kinds of them contain a considerable quantity, from the green outer coat to
which it adheres very tenaciously. When a material for certain kinds of paper
is the object in view, the rushes are to be beat to a pulp by a mill, or otherwise,
in water either hot or cold, as convenient, and then sent through a search or
searches, as occasion may require, for the sake of the fibres and flaxen
materials that do not pass through the searches. In procuring the flax or
fibres of mallows, particularly the malva silvestris which grows in abundance
in many parts of Britain and Ireland, and even in the immediate vicinity of
London, without being thought worth cutting down, the mallows and plants
of that nature are to be steeped three or four weeks in water, or more if neces-
sary, or to be put into a heap to ferment, and then to be denuded of the flax or
fibres by stripping or peeling them off, which is an extremely easy matter, as
these are beautifully white, resembling camels' hair in many particulars. After
being stripped off they require only to be washed either in cold or warm water,
shaken and hackled a little, which may be done while either wet or dry,
previous to their being sent off to the manufacturer of shawls, fancy vests, and
fabrics of that nature, for which they seem admirably calculated. All which
I claim as new and invented by me; and I have set forth the same particularly
in order that my Invention, and the manner of using and applying the same,
may be completely disclosed and understood, so as to be put in practice by
others when my Patent expires.
In witness whereof, I, the said James IIall, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and ten.
JAMES (L.s.) HALL.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-ninth day of August,
in the fiftieth year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Third, the
said James Hall came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the forty-eighth
year of His said Majesty's reign.