ITS 1705 
 
TS 1705 
 U58 
 
 Copy 2 
 
 / 
 
 LETTER 
 
 THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, 
 
 thaxsmitiixo 
 
 The report of the commission appointed under an act of Congress approved 
 February 25, 1863, "for investigations to test the practicability of cultivating 
 and preparing flax or hemp as a substitute for cottony 
 
 Department of Agriculture, 
 Washington, D. C, February 28, 1S65. 
 Dear Sir: I beg through you to present to the Senate the report of the com- 
 mission appointed by me under an act of Congress approved February 25, 
 1SG3, for "investigations to test the practicability of cultivating and preparing 
 flax or hemp as a substitute for cotton, twenty thousand dollars." 
 
 I regard the report as one of great interest, and suggest to you that twenty 
 thousand copies be ordered to be printed for this department. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 ISAAC NEWTON, Commissioner. 
 Hon. H. B. Anthony. 
 
 7-//0? 
 
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 REPORT OF THE FLAX AND HEMP COMMISSION. 
 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Tb ^e Commissioner of Agriculture ; 
 
 We, the undersigned, who were appointed to act as commissioners to inves- 
 tigate and report upon the subject of textile products, as provided under the 
 act of Congress making an appropriation for this purpose, beg leave to tender 
 our report, after having made earnest and extensive investigations into the 
 subject. In so doing we have to regret that, at the'present stage of our exami- 
 nation of the subjects committed to our charge, we cannot render so full and 
 complete a report as would be desirable, and that we must leave unsettled some 
 very important questions which recent inventions and discoveries b^ve devel- 
 oped in relation to the adaptation of the fibres of flax and hemp for spinning on 
 cotton machinery. 
 
 When we entered upon the labors of our commission we found that the pro- 
 visions of the law were not very explicit as to the mode of conducting our 
 investigations, and we were left free to put our own construction upon the 
 intent of Congress. This induced us to take the most comprehensive view of 
 the subject, and we have endeavored to embrace in our report the results of our 
 investigations into the whole subject of textile plants, so far as they have come 
 under our observation, and presented claims of utility. We have called for 
 contributions to the *Department of Agriculture of specimens of fibres and of 
 the products prepared from them by the several parties who were engaged in 
 the preparation of these materials. These have been critically examined, and 
 when the results were promising, we have further investigated the processes and 
 .apparatus ; and, finally, we have experimented'upon such materials as appeared 
 to be in the most advanced stage of development, and have tested their adap- 
 tation to the machinery of the country. In this way We have endeavored to 
 avail ourselves of the knowledge of those who have devoted years to the inves- 
 tigation, and we have avoided the risk of incurring very heavy expense in 
 repeating the experiments which have already been tried by others, and which 
 have in many cases proved abortive, or at least fruitless of valuable results. 
 We have also availed ourselves of the services of one of the best microscopists 
 of the country, who from years of practice has become an expert in the inves- 
 tigation of fibrous materials, and whose rich and extensive cabinet of these 
 substances has been opened for our examination. To Dr. Ge«>rge C. Shaffer 
 we are indebted for the very interesting exhibition of the cellular constitution 
 of many of the products that have been presented before us. Such a course 
 has been pursued by the commission in the full belief that in this way only 
 they could render to the country the best and most useful account of their 
 stewardship, and furnish a mass of information that would be valuable to the 
 people. 
 
 We suppose that in the brief language of the act, "flax and hemp' 1 were used 
 as representative terms, these plants being universally known and widely culti- 
 vated in our latitudes. But there are many plants, several of them natives of 
 our own country, others that have been successfully introduced, and others 
 that may be introduced with advantage, which present fibres of the greatest 
 value, and which, therefore, should claim the attention of this commission. 
 
 A notion appears to have prevailed somewhat extensively that the appropria- 
 tion of Congress was intended expressly and solely for the encouragement of 
 the preparation of what is familiarly called flax-cotton, which necessitates such 
 
 * These specimens are preserved in the Agricultural Museum. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR IIEJIP FOR COTTON. 3 
 
 r shortening of the beautiful long filaments of the flax-plant as should adapt 
 them for spiuning upon the machinery which a century of improvements has so 
 admirably fitted to the handling of the short staple of cotton. This interpreta- 
 tion appears to gain some encouragement from the words of the act " as a sub- 
 stitute for cotton," and also from the fact that many of the extensive manufac- 
 tories of our country were standing idle, in consequence of the scarcity of the 
 product of the cotton fields, caused by the desolation of the rebellion in the 
 southern States. The radical differences that exist in these substances, as dis- 
 played by the microscope, make it appear almost impossible to substitute one 
 for the other without also introducing some modifications of the machinery to 
 be employed. 
 
 The commission has found it difficult to ascertain the value and amount of 
 fibrous products that have been produced in the United States. The cotton 
 crop has long been one of so much importance to the commerce of the world 
 that its values have been regularly reported, and this has been set forth by 
 the Superintendent of the Census Bureau as having been the subject of a 
 wonderful increase in the last decade, amounting, indeed, to 110 per ceut. The 
 annual exportation at the beginning of this century was less than 5,000 bales. 
 In 1S49 the quantity grown had reached 2,445,703 bales of ginned cotton, of 
 400 pounds each. In 1S59 it had further increased to 5,196,944 bales. 
 
 From the same source* it appears that the product of hemp fibre for 1S50 
 was 3,943 tons, and that of the dressed fibre of flax was 3,783,079 pounds, 
 equal to 1,891^ tons, making a total of these two products of 5,834^ tons, 
 against about 489,120 tons of cotton fibre reported as the product of the same 
 year, so that the relative amounts of these two classes of fibres are widely 
 different. It is true that many reasons exist to explain the comparatively 
 small amount of flax and hemp fibres that have been produced, some of which 
 will presently be considered ; nor is it easy to compute the extended ability of 
 our country to furnish these products, which we firmly believe may be grown 
 in various parts of the United States to any desired extent; and we find that 
 the stimulus of advanced' prices, and still more, the improvements in various 
 agricultural machines, but especially in apparatus adapted to the preparation of 
 the fibres of these plants for market, will have the desired effect, and that they 
 have already had the effect of increasing the area of laud devoted to flax and 
 hemp. Hitherto the leading difficulties have arisen from the supposed necessity 
 of employing hand labor in almost every stage of their production, from the 
 sowing of the seed to the baling of the fiuished product when ready for the 
 market. These obstacles have in a great measure been overcome by modern 
 ingenuity, and we find that the seed may be sown with a drill machine, and 
 more evenly distributed than when cast upon the soil by the most practiced" 
 hand, and in this condition the young crop can- be hoed by horse-power with 
 suitable cultivators, instead of the tiresome and expensive hand-weeding uni- 
 versally practiced in Europe, but which could never be accomplished by the 
 farmers of our country. When we come to the harvesting of the flax, instead 
 of the weary, tedious, and expensive labor of pulling the stalks from the soil, 
 as formerly practiced, we have harvesting machines that cut the crop rapidly 
 and as closely as may be desired, though not retaining the straw in as perfectly 
 straight a condition, it is true, as the regular streiks or handfuls of the European 
 flax gatherer, and yet sufficiently well to answer the ends of the manufacturer, 
 who can afford to lose a percentage in the increase of tow or codilla, caused by 
 the tangled condition of the straw. When dry, the flaxseed may be removed 
 by a very simple apparatus of rollers that separate it without disturbing the 
 straw, or by a slight modification of the common threshing machine, and the 
 bundles are kept straight. When the tangling of the stalks is not objected to, 
 as is the case with the tow machines next to be noticed, the threshing machine 
 
 ^Preliminary Report of the Eighth Census, p. 84. 
 
4 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 or tramping by horses may be resorted to. These tow machines are recom- 
 mended as among the most important appliances in this branch of agricultural 
 improvement. Tangled flax and hemp fibres have been found available in a 
 great many kinds of manufacture where formerly the straight or long line, as 
 it is technically called, was used. With the various improvements in modern 
 machinery an unlimited amount of flax straw may be cheaply adapted to the 
 use of the manufacturers of coarse linens, and may also be prepared for combi- 
 nation with wool in a large class of fabrics into the preparation of which it had 
 already been introduced, in some cases mingling the fibres upon the cards pre- 
 paratory to spinning, and in others, as the linseys and carpets, combining the 
 threads of wool with those of flax when they are woven in the loom. 
 
 These flax machines, as they are called, are found in various parts of the 
 country wherever the raw material is produced in abundance, and they have 
 resulted in rendering valuable and useful an immense amount of fibre that was 
 before wasted, and thus they have stimulated the growth of a crop formerly 
 sown only for the seed. 
 
 In pursuing our investigations, and in making up this report, we have thought 
 that a subdivision of the subject would be advisable, and, therefore, have con- 
 sidered the several topics in the following order : 
 
 1. The agricultural aspect, including the production of the crops, and the 
 most appropriate treatment of the soil and of the plants to be produced. 
 
 2. The mechanical treatment of the product, which is to include the first 
 processes of the preparation of the raw material, and which has been performed 
 by the farmer, but which we think could more appropriately be assigned to 
 such operators as will come near to the seat of production, with machinery 
 adapted to the purpose of separating the fibres of these plants from the accom- 
 panying matters with which they are naturally combined. 
 
 ■3. The chemical processes which are needed, in many cases, to perfect the 
 preparation of the fibres. Some of these processes, such as those of bleaching, 
 are often deferred until after the manufacture of the tissues. 
 
 4. The manufacturing stage, which is the most important part of the investi- 
 gation, since here the thorough utilization of the products is perfected, and 
 because this will be the only safe test of the value of some of the substances 
 brought before us. 
 
 5. Peculiarities of fibres, and their classification, in which their adaptability 
 to certain distinct purposes in the arts will be made apparent, and their unfit- 
 ness for other purposes will be shown, with illustrations of the cells of which 
 these fibrous substances are composed. 
 
 6. Next will follow the consideration of several other textile plants, and the 
 native modes of their preparation in separating the fibres. 
 
 7. Lastly will follow a list of the exhibitors and of the various articles they 
 have presented for the examination of the commission. 
 
 In conclusion, we respectfully submit this report upon these interesting inves- 
 tigations. We have continued the research to a point where the most flattering 
 results appear ready to open, and regret that the limit set upon the commission 
 renders it necessary that the pursuit should be relinquished when the desired 
 end is almost in view. 
 
 J. K. MOORHEAD. 
 JNO. A. WARDER. 
 CHAS. JACKSON. 
 Washington, February 27, 1865. 
 
 Having examined and approved the above report, I respectfully submit the 
 same to Congress. 
 
 ISAAC NEWTON, 
 Commissioner of Agriculture. 
 Washington, D. C, February 27, 1S65. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL. 
 
 In taking up the consideration of this portion of our subject, it is proposed to 
 treat of the culture and production of flax and hemp as farm products, with the 
 necessary details of the. preparation of the soil, culture, and management of the 
 crops, as well as of harvesting and disposing of them, until turned over to 
 the manufacturer. "We conceive it to be very important, in this as in many 
 other branches of agronomic production, that there should be a well-defined limit 
 between what are properly the duties of the farmer and tbose more appropriate 
 to the manufacturer or the manipulator of his crops ; this will establish a sub- 
 division of labor that cannot fail to exert a happy influence upon the productions 
 of agriculture, instead of hampering it by increasing its labors, which are already, 
 in many instances, too onerous. In the case under consideration, it would, we 
 think, be best for the farmer's labors to terminate after the harvesting of the 
 crop, with the separation of the seed and the delivery of the crude straw to the 
 manufacturer. 
 
 In some instances, where the producer occupies an isolated position, it may 
 be found best to use a simple farm-brake so as to enable him to compress his 
 produce into a smaller compass, and thus reduce the expense of transportation ; 
 by this course, too, he would be able to retain a large portion of the waste pro- 
 ducts at home upon his farm to be returned to the soil; but even then we should 
 recommend a division of labor, and think the brakes had better belong to prac- 
 ticed workmen, who should attend to this branch of business in the preparation 
 of the fibre for a neighborhood, going from farm to farm, as is often done for the 
 grain crops by the owners of the modern threshing machines. 
 
 We shall offer some general considerations upon the subject of the culture of 
 this class of crops which will be of interest, and, we hope, of value to the agri- 
 culturist. These will involve the question as to the exhausting properties of 
 these fibre plants, their analysis, and the analysis of the soils best adapted to 
 their production. We shall also examine the facts with regard to the place these 
 crops should occupy in a judicious rotation. 
 
 In regard to the derivation of the word which is in common use to express 
 the products of flax, it is somewhat singular that linen should appear to have a 
 doubtful origin. We generally and most naturally attribute it to the root of the 
 Latin word Itnum, meaning flax, and this is derived from the Greek linon, having 
 the same meaning, as appears from its use by Homer in his Odyssey, referring 
 to linen cloth made from flaxen fibres. But, in the ancient Greek language we 
 also find that the word xylinos means, made of cotton ; this word, however, had 
 another signification — made of wood, which was its more natural meaning, seeing 
 that its root-word xylon was their word for wood. May not this show that 
 those who invented or used this original term realized a similarity in these fibres, 
 such as we now perceive 1 But the great naturalist, Pliny, uses the word 
 xylinum, in his extensive work on natural history, to express cotton, and this is 
 the more remarkable when we consider that the old Irish word for flax and flaxen 
 is so nearly the same, with only the introduction of the peculiar aspirate of that 
 language, and that their word for flax was Ihin. 
 
 HISTORY OF FLAX. 
 
 The flax plant, called by the botanists Linum usitatissimum, or the most 
 useful, has been in cultivation since the earliest historic period, and, therefore, it 
 becomes difficult to decide upon its first origin in a state of nature, but it is gen- 
 erally claimed as European. Be this as it may, the Egyptians are known to 
 have cultivated this plant, to have manufactured it, and to have used it to 
 envelop their mummies, and this is demonstrated to us in modern times, after 
 
6 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 the lapse of centuries, both by their hieroglyphics and by the revelations of the 
 microscope. Upon the pyramids are delineated processes representing the agri- 
 culturist preparing the crop, and with the aid of the microscope we discover the 
 very nature of the substance of the tissues used in embalming their dead. We 
 learn from Scripture, also, that flax was an important crop in Egypt, and that 
 the Almighty sent a plague of hail by which the " flax and the barley was 
 smitten ; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled." Isaiah speaks 
 of those " that work in fine flax, and they that weave net-works," in Tyre and 
 Siclon, when referring to the destruction of those ancient cities in the Levant. 
 
 Having thus referred to its antiquity, which has concealed its origin in a state 
 of nature, we may allude to the fact that botanists describe many other species 
 of flax in different parts of the world. The native country of the flax of culti- 
 vation appears to be an unsettled question among botanists, and this plant i* 
 found growing wild in most countries where the physical conditions are suited 
 to its cultivation. The general opinion, however, ascribes it to the East. Be 
 that as it may, the disposition which it possesses of suiting itself to a vast range 
 of soils and climates is of infinite importance to man, as it enables him to avail 
 himself of the advantages resulting from its cultivation to a far greater extent 
 than he otherwise would be able to do. 
 
 The numbers of the natural family of plants to which our subject belongs are 
 generally remarkable for the tenacity of their fibres, the elegance of their forms, 
 the beauty of their flowers, which are tinted blue, red, or white, and for the 
 emollient and demulcent properties of their oleaginous seeds. All of this family 
 are harmless plants. 
 
 Although the culture of flax has long been quite extensively practiced in 
 many parts of our western and northwestern States, the seed has heretofore 
 been 'the only marketable product, while the straw has been almost wholly neg- 
 lected and destroyed. Many thousands of acres are annually devoted to flax 
 culture, producing from eight to ten bushels of seed per acre, and which should 
 have furnished also about one ton of straw to the same surface. The extensive 
 area devoted to this crop, and the large amount of seed produced, is not a tythe 
 of the productive ability or capacity of our fertile country ; but the same obstacles 
 appear to limit us here, as have so prejudicially retarded the extension of flax 
 cultivation in Great Britain. There is, besides the difficulty of obtaining hand 
 labor and the high price of wages in this country, " the general opinion that 
 flax is an exhausting crop." This question will be separately discussed upon 
 another page. 
 
 The old methods of reducing the harsh stalks into the shining flax, which 
 were slow, expensive, and laborious, after having been practiced from the re- 
 motest antiquity, have at length been supplanted by others which are rapid, 
 simple, elegant, economical, and cheap, so that, by the exercise of a small por- 
 tion of that enterprise which characterizes our countrymen in an eminent degree, 
 everyregion in which the cultivation of the large staple flaxseed exists may be 
 also the recipient of bounties flowing from the sale of a staple of still greater 
 importance, the flax lint, a product which has been an incumbrance to the farmers 
 of our day. 
 
 In former times flax was grown for the sake of its fibre chiefly. ' Every home- 
 stead had its little field of flax, often a mere patch, which was pulled by hand, 
 and by the same hands rotted, dried, broken, heckled, and scutched. Other 
 hands in the same household next took it to the spinning-wheel and to the loom, 
 with which the shining fibres were deftly transformed into the woof and web 
 which constituted their domestic treasures, and which enabled the industrious 
 and frugal spinster to bring a valuable contribution to the establishment of a 
 new household. 
 
 Why should not our American people grow flax aud manufacture linen enough 
 to supply themselves, and give steady and remunerative employment to thou- 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 7 
 
 Bands, and in this way keep at home many millions of dollars which annually 
 go from the United States to Great Britain to pay for the products of this plant 
 which is so well adapted to our own country ? The entire history of the flax 
 products of the past tew years most convincingly shows that prosperity has been 
 a constant attendant upon this crop. And we, in this country, need not go 
 back to the barbarous and uncultivated condition that was so long suffered by 
 Europeans — we can begin with the benefits of their improvements and our own. 
 We know that in Belgium, the German states, Great Britain, and France, they 
 struggled through centuries of bad management of the flax crop, but Americans 
 have the advantage of all their experience to commence with, and those of us 
 who would now enter upon this new field of enterprise may have a bright future 
 promising success. 
 
 PROFITS. 
 
 The following cases are cited to show what may be done with this crop. It 
 is reported in the American Agriculturist for February, 1S64, that Aaron Kim- 
 ball, near Worcester, Massachusetts, planted one hundred and thirty-six square 
 rods, rather more than four-fifths of an acre, which yielded him for the 401 
 
 pounds of flax $106 26 
 
 130 pounds tow 5 20 
 
 8 bushels seed 36 80 
 
 Total product 148 26 
 
 Deduct expenses 54 58 
 
 There is left clear profit 93 68 
 
 Or to an acre about 110 00 
 
 Mr. M. B. Brown, of Alleghany county, Pennsylvania, communicates the fol- 
 lowing results of a flax crop : 
 
 He ploughed four acres of creek bottom, a very rich black loam. He made 
 the soil as fine as a garden, by using the roller and harrow. On the 18th of 
 April he sowed broadcast at the rate of one bushel of seed per acre, and covered 
 with a light harrow and followed with the roller. In four days the seed came 
 up very evenly. Owing to a long-continued drought the straw was short — say 
 about two feet high. On July 14 it was cut with the scythe, and cured like 
 hay, in the swath. He carted it to the barn and threshed it August 1st to 10th, 
 using a horse-power threshing machine and separator, receiving fifty bushels of 
 seed, which sold for $2 25, or $112 50. The straw was spread on a meadow, 
 and occasionally turned, for two months, when it was taken to Pittsburg and 
 sold for $25 per ton, two tons making $50. Thus the crop from four acres 
 yielded $162 50, or $40 62 per acre. 
 
 He considers it a pleasant crop to handle, giving about as much trouble as 
 wheat. In a wet season he thinks it would produce much more flax, and that 
 the quantity sown is about right for a crop of both seed and. lint. 
 
 IS FLAX AN EXHAUSTIVE CROP ? 
 
 It is often asserted the flax is an exhaustive crop. Let us look into this 
 question and sound it by the light of scientific experiment and inquiry. Some 
 investigations were made by Dr. Hodges for the purpose of ascertaining the 
 relative proportions of the produce of flax, and of the distribution of inorganic 
 
8 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 matters in them. The flax had been steeped, and contained .173 of ashes. Of 
 the dried straw 4,000 pounds were taken, which produced — 
 
 Of dressed fibre 500 lbs. 
 
 Of fine tow 132 lbs. 
 
 Of coarse tow 192 lbs. 
 
 Total of fibre 842 lbs. 
 
 These products contained — 
 
 In the dressed flax 4.48 lbs. of ashes. 
 
 In the fine tow 2.08 lbs. of ashes. 
 
 In the coarse tow 2.56 lbs. of ashes. 
 
 Making a total of 9.12 lbs. of inor- 
 ganic matter; so that 59.08 pounds which the crop had withdrawn from the soil 
 remained in the useless portions, while only 9.12 pounds were carried off in the 
 dressed fibre. Comparing these results with those obtained from an analysis of 
 an acre of wheat, we shall see that that crop, in grain and straw, abstracts about 
 365 pounds of inorganic matter from the soil. 
 
 Flax has been cultivated in Ireland from a very early period, and its intro- 
 duction into that island has been attributed to the Phoenicians. Irish writers 
 claim that their ancestors cultivated and manufactured this staple before the 
 English became an agricultural people. That they very early were possessed of 
 a knowledge of its treatment is evident, and it has ever since been eo important 
 a crop with them that Irish linen is proverbial. In their language, the name 
 for thread is Ihin, which was also applied to flax. The early Brehan laws 
 required that the farmers should be acquainted with the mode of working flax. 
 
 It appears, however, that it was not until the Huguenots settled in Ireland 
 that the manufacture of linens became well established. Among them was 
 Lewis Crommelin, who settled near Lisburn, to whom Ireland is indebted for 
 the permanent establishment of the linen manufacture. He had looms, imple- 
 ments and spinning-wheels imported from Holland, by means of which an 
 improved style of goods was produced. Government aids were bestowed upon 
 the manufacture, so that it was well fostered. The Royal Dublin Society, as 
 early as 1739, exerted itself to supply the cultivators with practical instruction, 
 by means of agents who had been trained under the skilful flax-growers of Bel- 
 gium. The great impetus, however, was given by the establishment of manu- 
 factories to spin the thread by machinery ; and at the same time there was an 
 irregularity in the supply of raw material from the continent, which induced the 
 manufacturers of Ulster, in 1811, to organize the society " for the improvement 
 of the growth of flax." This society was fostered by government, and extended 
 its operations over the island, and now has its headquarters at Belfast, and 
 actively diffuses information among the farmers, and offered liberal premiums 
 for improvements in machinery. 
 
 The committee of this society congratulate tho members in the following 
 terms in the report of 1850 : 
 
 " The society has now been nearly nine years engaged in its arduous labors 
 to accomplish the great national object for which it was formed. Although it 
 has had many difficulties to surmount, and many prejudices to contend with, 
 and although the complete attainment of its aim is apparently yet distant, a 
 dispassionate review of what it has already accomplished must show that it has 
 been productive of much good, and that its further progress will be more rapid 
 than the past. During the period that has elapsed since its foundation in 1841 
 ft has succeeded, notwithstanding the opposition that prejudice and long-rooted 
 hq,bits have presented, in generally improving the growth and preservation of 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON". 9 
 
 the flax-plant in all the districts of Ulster to which its operations have been 
 extended. It has introduced scutching machinery of a very superior descrip- 
 tion to that formerly in use, and has thus accomplished a great economy in 
 labor and material. It has induced the saving of a large portion of seed, formerly 
 lost in the steep pools, thereby enabling the grower to increase the profits of 
 his crop by the sale of the seed, or its use in feeding his cattle. It has pro- 
 tected the farmer from the frauds under which he frequently suffered in the 
 purchase of seed for sowing, and has succeeded in establishing his legal claims 
 for redress, in cases where there has been a deception on the part of the seller. 
 
 " Since its attention has been directed to the districts of the other provinces, 
 it has done much towards the great extension of flax cultivation at which it has 
 aimed. Outside of the twenty-three counties of the provinces of Leinster, Mun- 
 ster, and Connaught, its operations have been extended to twenty -one. In 
 some of these — Cork, Mayo, Limerick, Tipperary, Queen's, Wexford, and 
 Lowth — it may now be said to have firmly taken root ; and in the rest, it is in 
 a greater or less state of progress, according to the circumstances of the districts 
 or the period at which the society took them in charge. Where the flax has 
 been extensively grown during the late years of distress, it has been of the 
 utmost service to the poorer class of farmers by enabling them to reserve for the 
 support of their families and live stock the food crops that would have otherwise 
 gone to pay rent and taxes, but whose place for this purpose flax has supplied. 
 The amount of employment thus given has been very great, more especially to 
 the weaker classes of the population. And it has paved the way to an improved 
 system of husbandry by the attention which it exacts in the preparation of the 
 soil. 
 
 " When the society was instituted, flax was the only crop in which the Irish 
 farmer had to maintain an open competition with the foreigner. While all kinds 
 of grain, produce, and cattle were subject to high duties on importation, the 
 duty on foreign flax had been reduced to a mere nominal amount. This pre- 
 mium upon other crops resulted in the neglect of flax, notwithstanding the 
 peculiar suitability of our soil and climate for its growth. A change, however, 
 has now occurred in this respect." * * * * * 
 
 England has become famous for her threads, and at the present time there 
 arc upwards of eighty spinning-mills in Ireland, in which fully half a million of 
 spindles are daily employed, and the manufacture is now ahead of the agricul- 
 tural production. 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 Mr. Ward tells us m nis pamphlet that, of the 150,000 tons of flax annually 
 consumed in the United Kingdom, 70,000 tons only are of home growth, while 
 S0.000 tons are imported. Of this, Russia supplies 60,000 tons, which was- 
 formerly rendered at from $120 to $144 per ton. 
 
 The extensive cultivation of flax in that country is mainly owing to the alh> 
 vial soil upon which it is grown, and the low price of labor among the serfs. 
 The vast plains of the interior are traversed by large rivers which annually 
 overflow and leave a rich deposit upon the soil, which encourages the growth 
 of the crops. The soil is well adapted to the flax culture, but a want of care 
 accounts for the low grade of Russian flax. The quality of the fibre varies, 
 however, and is partly distinguished by its color. The silver-colored is the 
 best, and that from Wasnikow and Carelia is remarkable for a shining white- 
 ness. It is mostly brought from beyond Moscow by water, in large, flat-bot- 
 tomed boats or barges. Several thousand of these reach the lake Ladoga in 
 the spring and summer. Greater care is taken in sorting the flax at Riga than 
 at St. Petersburgh, hence the superiority and greater trade at this point. 
 
 The following table will show the sources from which the British demand is 
 
10 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 in a great measure supplied, giving Russia credit for a still larger share of the 
 supply: 
 
 From Dickson's work it appears that the Belfast flax spinners report, that in 
 1832 the yams exported from Ireland were valued at $25,000 ; but that — so 
 great had been the increase of the production daring the next twelve years — 
 in 1843 the export amounted to $6,000, 000. 
 
 The linen manufactures of Great Britain are estimated by the same author 
 at more than twenty millions of dollars. 
 
 The average annual production of fibre, in the chief countries where flax is 
 grown, is given by Dr. Ure as follows : 
 
 Russia 130,000 tons. 
 
 France 48,000 " 
 
 Belgium 18,000 " 
 
 Holland i- 9,000 " 
 
 Austria 60,000 ■ ■ 
 
 Prussia ■ 32,000 " 
 
 Ireland 35,000 " 
 
 Egypt 10,000 " 
 
 Total 342,000 " 
 
 Adding all other countries, the amount may be estimated at 400,000 tons. 
 The value of this fibre may be $100,000,000, and of the seed produced, 
 $25,000,000, making a total value of the raw material of flax amounting to 
 one hundred and twenty-five millions, which has its value very much enhanced 
 by the processes of manufacture into woven fabrics or into oil. 
 
 From Morton's Cyclopaedia of Agriculture we learn that in six years the 
 total importation of flax was : 
 
 In 1840 62,662 tons. 
 
 1841 67,368 
 
 1842 55,113 
 
 1843 - 71,857 
 
 1844 79,174 
 
 1S45 70,921 
 
 Total ' 407,095 
 
 Thus the flax imports during those six years give an annual 
 average of 67,849 tons, which, at a fair valuation, or <£67 
 ($335) per ton, is equal to .' $22, 729, 415 
 
 Add annual imports of flax-seeds for sowing and feeding, 616,000 
 quarters, (English,) valued at <£4 per quarter, being twenty 
 shillings per quarter below the price for many years in Ire- 
 land 12, 320, 000 
 
 Add annual imports of oil-cake, S6.000 tons, valued at £9 
 
 per ton 3, 870, 000 
 
 Total 38, 919, 415 
 
 The same authority informs us in respect to the individual and personal ad- 
 vantages which flax culture will confer on the farmer. The following instances 
 are actual facts bearing on this subject. Flax has been grown to leave a profit 
 of $100 per Irish acre, (eight of which are nearly thirteen imperial acres,) after 
 paying expenses, which is verified by the following statement : 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 11 
 
 Dr. Flax. 
 
 Kent of one acre of land <£ 1 6s. 9<2. 
 
 2£ bushels seed - i 10 3 
 
 Ploughing aud sowing 15 
 
 12 hands, weeding 12 
 
 12 hands, pulling 18 
 
 6 hands, watering and grassing 10 
 
 Lifting and carting home S 
 
 Scutching 60 stone 3 
 
 Taxes and rates 1 
 
 Total 10 
 
 Contra Cr. 
 By produce of one acre of second quality of flax, 60 stone, at 
 
 10 shillings c£30 0*. Od. 
 
 Deduct rent and expenses 10 
 
 Net profit 20 
 
 Or $100 00 
 
 Again : Mr. Warnes, of Trimmingham, of Norfolk, in one of his published 
 letters on this subject, says: "A great proportion of my flax is produced at the 
 rate of one ton from three acres of land, or at <£S5 per ton, at the rate of c£28 
 per acre; or at c£53 per ton, at <£17 10.?. per acre, exclusive of seed, which, in 
 fome instances, amounted to twenty -six and twenty-eight bushels per acre; 
 but taking twenty as the average, at the present prices of English linseed, <£7 
 per acre may be added to the above sum." 
 
 By this statement Mr. Warnes, it appears, can, by growing the coarse quality 
 of flax at <£53 per ton, have for the produce of one acre: Flax, c£17; seed, 667; 
 gross produce, c£'24. 
 
 And I may add a few certificates in further proof of my assertions as to the 
 profits made by flax culture when a proper system has been followed: 
 
 Model Farm, Caledon, November 29, 1845. 
 Sir : In answer to yours of the 24th, I have much pleasure in favoring you with an account 
 of the flax crop, and expenses thereon, grown on the Earl of Caledon's model farm in 1845 : 
 
 CROP. 
 
 Produce of 1 acre, 1 rood, 39 perches, sold at 1 Is. 3d. per stone £55 16s. Id. 
 
 Tow, (or shorts of the flax) 8 8 
 
 130 bushels of bolls, which I consider worth 8s. per bushel 4 6 8 
 
 60 14 3 
 
 EXPENSES OF CROP. 
 
 5 bushels of seed, at 15s. 3\d. per bushel £3 16s. Gd. 
 
 Weeding 10 
 
 Pulling, rippling, and steeping 4 3 8 
 
 Taking out of steep and spreading 2 1 4 
 
 Lifting; and tying 12 8 
 
 Scutching 4 9 4 
 
 16 3 6 
 
 Leaving a balance of £44 10s. 9d, or, at the rate of £29 13s. lOrf. per acre after deducting 
 all expenses. 
 
 It is but fair to add that we had to cany the flax to and from the steep on barrows for eight 
 perches, as the steep was in a bog. 
 
 JOHN BARR, Manager. 
 
 J. W. Adams, Esq. 
 
12 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE CROPS. 
 
 Professor Kane read a paper before the Irish Academy, in which he pointed 
 out that many of our most valuable vegetable productions were composed chiefly 
 of simple compounds of a few elements combined with very small portions of 
 the mineral elements of the soil; among these are sugar, gum, starch, and 
 ligneous fibre. 
 
 Though the valuable product be thus constituted, it is observed that the 
 plants Avhich are most productive of these substances must be in a vigorous, 
 healthy state of growth, and that, in their development, various mineral elements 
 of the soil must be consumed by them; therefore they are exhaustive crops. 
 But as the valued product does not contain them, the waste portions may be re- 
 turned to the soil to keep up its fertility. 
 
 Prof Kane presented a series of analyses, which he had made to determine 
 their constituents. 
 
 The stem of hemp, dried at 212° Fahrenheit, he found to contain — 
 
 Carbon 39.94 
 
 Hydrogen 6.06 
 
 Oxygen 4S.72 
 
 Nitrogen 1.74 
 
 Ashes 4.54 
 
 100.00 
 
 The leaves of hemp contained — 
 
 Carbon 40.50 
 
 Hydrogen 5.98 
 
 Nitrogen 1.82 
 
 Oxygen 29.70 
 
 Ashes 22.00 
 
 100.00 
 
 The ashes of the hemp-plant consisted of — 
 
 Potash 7.48 
 
 Soda 72 
 
 Lime 42.05 
 
 Magnesia 4.88 
 
 Alumina .37 
 
 Silica 6.75 
 
 Phosphoric acid ^ — 3.22 
 
 Sulphuric acid 1.10 
 
 Chlorine 1.53 
 
 Carbonic acid 31.90 
 
 100.00 
 
 Dressed hemp fibre gave but 1.4 per cent, of ashes, after having been dried 
 at 212° Fahrenheit. Its organic composition is similar to that of woody fibre, 
 and devoid of nitrogen. The characteristic constituents are lime and nitrogen. 
 The substances dissolved by water hi steeping hemp contain a narcotic principle 
 used in medicine. Sir Robert Kane evaporated some of this liquor to dryness 
 and analyzed the product, with the following results : 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 13 
 
 Hemp extract. 
 
 Carbon 2S.28 
 
 Hydrogen 4.16 
 
 Nitrogen 3.28 
 
 Oxygen 15.0S 
 
 Ashes 49.20 
 
 100.00 
 
 Exclusive of the ashes, in the same proportion, we have — 
 
 Carbon 55.66 
 
 Hydrogen 8.21 
 
 Nitrogen 6.45 
 
 Oxygen 29. 6S 
 
 100.00 
 
 Approaching azotized animal substances in its composition, and forming a 
 very rich manorial application. The ashes of the hemp-leaves contain only 
 S.05 per cent, of soluble matter, while those from the hemp extract had 60.4 
 per cent, of soluble matter. 
 
 He next examined the stem after it had been steeped and peeled. After dry- 
 ing at the usual temperature, he found tbat this matter consisted of — 
 
 Carbon •. . 56.80 
 
 Hydrogen 6.48 
 
 N itrogcn .43 
 
 Oxygen 34.52 
 
 Ashes 1.77 
 
 100.00 
 
 The ashes contain but a trace of alkali, and the nitrogen is in very small 
 quantity. Hence it appears that, though hemp be an exhausting crop, the val- 
 uable fibre takes up but a small portion of the wealth of the soil, and that the 
 valuable elements are left upon the farm. 
 
 Mr. Kane's examinations as to the composition of flax led to similar conclu- 
 sions, as will appear from the following analysis : 
 
 The stems of flax dried, with some leaves, yielded — 
 
 Carbon 38.72 
 
 Hydrogen 7.33 
 
 Nitrogen .56 
 
 Oxygen 4S.39 
 
 Ashes 5.00 
 
 100.00 
 
 The flax contains very little nitrogen. In hemp there is more oxygen than 
 necessary to form water with tbe hydrogen; but in flax there is an excess of 
 hydrogen. The composition of the ashes is also different, as will be seen by 
 the table : 
 
14 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 Potash 9.78 
 
 Soda 9.82 
 
 Lime 12.33 
 
 Magnesia 7.79 
 
 Alumina 6.08 
 
 Silica 21.35 
 
 Phosphoric acid 10. S4 
 
 Sulphuric acid 2.65 
 
 Chlorine 2.41 
 
 Carbonic acid 16.95 
 
 80.38 « 
 
 100.00 
 
 Lime is in smaller proportions ; soda, potash, magnesia, and phosphoric acid 
 are in larger proportion ; hence the exhausting properties of the crop are ex- 
 plained. 
 
 The extract from the steep water, properly dried, yielded — 
 
 Carbon 30.69 
 
 Hydrogen 4.24 
 
 Nitrogen 2.24 
 
 Oxygen 20.80 
 
 Ashes 42.01 
 
 100.00 
 
 The ashes of the plant yielded 33.90 per cent, of soluble matters ; that from 
 the extract gave sixty per cent, of soluble matter; bence the value as a manure 
 of the steep water. The composition of the waste, or stem, from which the fibre 
 had been removed, was very similar to the corresponding portion of the hemp. 
 
 "We should also investigate the constitution of what are considered the waste 
 products of the flax crop, and in so doing we are delighted to find that, accord- 
 ing to the analysis of Mr. Way, the shives contain, of oil and fatty matters, 
 7.02 per cent.; of albuminous matter, 9.93 per cent.; of starch, gum, sugar, &c, 
 26.29 per cent.; so that this dry woody substance, as it appears when cursorily 
 examined, is really a valuable substance for stock-feeding. How much more so 
 when separated from the unrotted straw may be readily imagined. 
 
 Professor Hedges gives a somewhat different result as derived from his inves- 
 tigations, with other specimens. He found of nitrogenous matters 3.23 per cent.; 
 of oil and fatty matters, 2.91 per cent.; of gum and soluble matters, 14.66 per 
 cent. 
 
 An analysis of the residual oil-cake by the same authority gives, as the 
 average of seven examinations — 
 
 Nitrogenous matters 28.47 per cent. 
 
 Fatty matters 12.90 
 
 Gum and soluble matters 39.01 " 
 
 Showing the great value of this material for stock-feeding. 
 
 It must be remembered that the seed crop is brought to the market for two 
 distinct purposes — for sowing as seed, and for the production of oil and the re- 
 sulting oil-cake. Different regions of the globe are called upon to furnish sup- 
 plies for these several objects. That which is sold for sowing is all produced 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR UEMP FOR COTTON. 15 
 
 in the northern countries, while that which is purchased exclusively for the man- 
 ufacture of oil is brought from Russia, Hindostan, aud the southern portions of 
 Europe. In a large portion of the United States also this crop is grown almost 
 exclusively for the production of oil. 
 
 Professor Hodges, of the Society of Belfast, gives the following comparative 
 analysis of the New Zealand flax, Phormium letmx, and of common flax, grown 
 in Ireland : 
 
 The ashes, respectively, contained — 
 
 New Zealand. Ireland. 
 
 Potash 14 93 20.32 
 
 Soda 5.38 2.07 
 
 Chloride of sodium S.75 9.27 
 
 Lime 23.52 19.5S 
 
 Magnesia 1.41 4.05 
 
 Oxide of iron 1.21 2.83 
 
 Sulphuric acid 4.64 7.13 
 
 Phosphoric acid 18.96 10.24 
 
 Carbonic acid 13.12 10.72 
 
 Silica 3.S6 12.80 
 
 100.78 99.01 
 
 [From Morton's Cyclopaedia.] 
 
 ANALYSIS OF SOILS. 
 
 " The composition of the soil on which the cultivation of flax may best be carried on, being 1 
 a problem of the highest practical interest to this country, the Flax Improvement Society of 
 Ireland commissioned their agent to make analysis of some soils which had produced re- 
 markably good flax. The soils were light clay loams, and afforded the following results, 
 which are extracted from the report of the society : 
 
 No. 1. No. 2. No. 15. 
 
 Silica and silicious sand 73.72 G9.41 64.93 
 
 Oxide of iron 5.51 5.29 5.G4 
 
 Alumina G.b'5 5.70 8.97 
 
 Phosphate of iron (J 6 .25 .31 
 
 Carbonate of lime l.U'J 53 1.G7 
 
 Magnesia and alkalies, with traces of sulphuric and muriatic acids .32 .25 .45 
 
 Organic matters 4.86 6.67 9.41 
 
 Water 7.57 11.48 8.73 
 
 99.78 99.58 100.11 
 
 The organic matter in these soils was rich in nitrogen; their fertility is, therefore, from the 
 analysis, easily understood. 
 
 At a meeting of the society Sir Robert Kane said : 
 
 "Every farmer present is aware that crops exhaust the soil; that the plants take out of the 
 ground a number of materials, and that it is necessary to restore similar materials to the soil 
 in order to keep up its fertility; therefore, the manure which the farmer puts in with or be- 
 fore his seed is, in a degree, the raw material of which the grown crop is made. It is just 
 as much a part of the plant as the seed itself. Then the farmer sells and sends away his 
 grown crop to be used for food, as in the case of wheat, oats, and potatoes — he thereby sends 
 away and sells the essence of the manure which he had put into the ground; and as he thus 
 gets paid for the manure which he has exhausted, he must pat in as much more for tho next 
 crop, which is to be dealt with in the same way. Now, in the case of flax, there is the im- 
 portant peculiarity that it is not eaten, and hence does not return to the land any manure in 
 the ordinary way, whilst it takes out of the soil just the same materials as oats or potatoes, 
 so that it is really a very exhausting crop, if we look only to the growing of it. But the flax 
 crop differs from other crops in this, that the value of oats or potatoes, and all food crops, 
 depends on wdiat they take out of the ground, whilst the valuable part of the flax is the fine 
 fibre, or thread, which has taken nothing out of the ground. If you bum a bundle of flax stalks 
 it will leave behind a large quantity of white ashes, which consists of the different substances 
 
16 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 which the plant took out of the ground; but if you burn a bundle of well-dressed flax it will 
 leave no ashes. They have evidently been carried off with the waste parts of the plant in 
 the steeping and scutching. They are thrown away, and yet they are materials of which 
 the plant had robbed the soil, and which should be given back to the land in order to keep 
 up its fertility. To the practical farmer it is, therefore, of the greatest importance to recollect 
 this principle, that the fibre, or valuable part of the flax, is not formed by the exhaustion of 
 the soil, but the materials which the plant takes out of the land are all found in the steep- 
 water and the chaff; and that if these be returned to the earth they will restore its fertility, 
 and that thus the flax crop may be rendered one of the least injurious to the ground and 
 most remunerative to the farmer." 
 
 The true analyses of the fibre, as given above, show that it does yield ashes, 
 and that this doe3 contain inorganic or mineral matter, though in very small 
 amount, as will be shown. We must now present some testimony of an 
 opposite character and equally imposing : 
 
 Professor Hodges states that the "result of an analysis of the fibre of the flax plant proves 
 that that part of the plant is not destitute of matters derived from the soil," and that the 
 scutching tow contained a still larger proportion of such elements. The professor admits 
 that "flax is an exhausting crop; that is, like every other plant that is cultivated for food or 
 clothing, or that springs up along the highway, it takes certain matters from the soil. When 
 only a part of the plant, like wheat, is sent to market only a part of the matters of the soil 
 is lost to the farm, and its exhaustion is delayed." But he claims that flax is not so exhaustive 
 as some other crops, and gives the following table showing the amount of phosphoric acid 
 and alkalies contained in a hundred parts of the ash of several plants : 
 
 Thosphoric acid. Potash & soda. 
 
 Flax 7 12 
 
 Wheat straw 3 13 
 
 Oat straw 3 29 
 
 Bean straw 7 55 
 
 Red clover 8 ' 36 
 
 Cabbage 12 32 
 
 Potat o'stalks 7 44 
 
 Turnip tops 9 34 
 
 Mr. Ward says that flax cannot be an impoverishing crop to the farmer, as 
 the seed and chaff make better manures, when the cattle are fed with it, than 
 any other fodder. Liebig states that the seed and refuse of the plant are rich 
 in phosphates. 
 
 It has been ascertained in Scotland and in England that the finest crops of 
 wheat may be grown immediately after flax in a rotation, and this is confirmed 
 by the statements of some of the most intelligent farmers of Ohio, many of 
 whom speak very highly of the flax crop to take the place of a naked summer 
 fallow as a preparation for wheat, and some very fine crops of wheat have been 
 harvested after flax. 
 
 Hence it may safely be concluded that flax is not a remarkably exhausting 
 crop, although it belongs to that class called man-crops, in England called 
 white-crops, which do not usually make any important return to the land, and 
 which may therefore, to the extent of the valuable elements they withdraw 
 from the soil, be fairly considered exhausting. And yet flax is to be continued 
 in a suitable rotation to take its place with other profitable crops. 
 
 It is fortunate for us that flax has a very wide range of soils in which it may 
 be cultivated : Sands, loams, light and heavy clays, gravels, chalk, marls, 
 alluvials, peat, and reclaimed marsh lands, are all seen, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, to produce a crop of this fibre. Sandy loams and alluvials appear, 
 however, to be best adapted to its cultivation. In Ireland large crops are ob- 
 tained on peat bogs, with a clay substratum. This plant needs an open soil 
 through which the water may percolate freely, as its roots are of a fibrous 
 nature and extend both laterally and vertically to a considerable distance. The 
 conditions required for its successful cultivation are that the soil be deep, in 
 good heart and in good tilth, well drained, and free from weeds ; if these exist, 
 we may, under ordinary circumstances, expect a good crop. Owing to the 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OE HEMP FOE COTTON. 17 
 
 rapid growth of the plant, ant! the consequent shortness of time it occupies the 
 land, it offers many opportunities to the grower, and admits of more changes in 
 the rotation than most other farm crops. 
 
 In some of the best Belgian flax districts the soil is a sandy loam, containing 
 as much as ninety per cent, of silicious matter, and depends for its superior ex- 
 cellence entirely upon the persevering industry of its skilful cultivators. A 
 moderately tenacious subsoil, neither so loose as to allow the water to run away 
 too rapidly, nor so compact as to cause it to stagnate about the roots of the 
 plants, is considered by the continental farmers as the most desirable. The 
 soil must be deep, and the Belgians have a popular saying that the flax has 
 roots which go as deep into the soil as the stem grows above the ground. 
 
 In our own country we find a great variety of soils that appear well adapted 
 to the production of this crop. River alluvials, level uplands, mucky flats, and 
 the deep, black prairies of the west, particularly those that rest upon a strong 
 clay subsoil, sufficiently deep below the surface, are all of them well adapted to 
 the growth of flax. 
 
 Mr. Denman, a Belgian gentleman* who was employed by the Royal Flax 
 Society of Ireland as a teacher of the proper methods of managing the crop, 
 recommends as of the greatest importance in the culture of flax that the land 
 be well drained and repeatedly and carefully cleansed from weeds, and thus 
 reduced to the finest, deepest, and cleanest tilth, in order to facilitate the pene- 
 tration of the roots, which often go to a depth equal to the height of the plant 
 above ground. 
 
 "A light ploughing immediately after harvest is required for all soils ; but if they be heavy 
 ami stiff, they should be laid iu ridges before wintt-r, and thus to remain until a fortnight before 
 sowing, when they should bo deeply ploughed. Light soils may have their last ploughing 
 before the setting in of winter. 11' the land be not sufficiently rich, licuud manure or rape-cake 
 powder should be applied before sowing the seed, alter which it should be harrowed and rolled, 
 and should look like a garden." 
 
 As the expense of preparing grass land directly for flax may be too great, he 
 advises that some other crop should intervene, of such plants as do not occupy 
 the land long, and which require the frequent stirring of the earth, such as 
 beans, peas, turnips, &c ; we should say Indian corn. This cultivation will 
 have the effect of rendering the sod sufficiently fine and loose, and will help to 
 kill the weeds which would otherwise be a serious injury to the flax crop. It 
 is asserted that the Livonians, when clearing a forest, burn the wood upon 
 the surface as a preparation for flax, and that they prefer soil thus prepared to 
 all others. Stiff soils should be exposed to the action of winter frosts, to loosen 
 their textures, and when not too wet in February, some rotten manure may be 
 ploughed in. 
 
 Denman recommends from two to two and a half bushels of seed to the acre, 
 when sowed broadcast ; but if the land is rich and the season favorable, there 
 may be danger of sowing too much seed, as the flax will lodge, and the fibre 
 will be materially damaged. When drilled, a smaller quantity will be sufficient ; 
 and if the intervals be wide, half the quantity will suffice. He recommends 
 from the mido^le of March to the middle or end of April as the best time for 
 sowing in that country. In the south of Europe it is sown in September and 
 October, but these autumnal-sown crops are not so productive in fibre as the spring- 
 sown fields, though their product of seed is better. It is laid down as a general 
 rule that land intended for flax should be brought to an exceedingly fine tilth 
 before the seed is put in, and that it should be enriched by suitable manure. 
 
 The roots of flax penetrate deeply ; therefore the soils best adapted to the 
 crop are such as consist of a deep loam, which is not liable to be surcharged 
 with moisture on the one hand, nor to become too dry on the other, and which 
 is susceptible of receiving a very fine tilth ; river bottoms are generally of this 
 character. If water exist permanently a short distance below the surface, it is 
 Ex. Doc. 35 2 
 
18 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OB HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 by some considered an advantage to the crop, as is the case in Zealand, which 
 country is remarkable for the fineness of its flax, and where the soil is deep 
 and rather stiff, with water almost everywhere at one and one and a half or two 
 feet below the surface. If well manured and well tilled, and if the seasons be 
 not too dry, fine flax can also be produced on elevated lands. The soil should 
 neither be too rich, so as to make the flax coarse from its luxuriance, nor too 
 much exhaused, so that the yield would be small. Neither light sandy soils 
 nor hungry gravels are recommended for this crop. 
 
 A great deal of our prairie lands in the western States contains a soil which 
 is admirably adapted to the production of flax, and the experiments which have 
 been stimulated within a few years by the high price of seed, and by the intro- 
 duction of machinery for the preparation of the product, have most abundantly 
 demonstrated the admirable character and adaptability to this object of im- 
 mense tracts of land in the prairie States which now are lying in a state of nature, 
 or merely used for grazing. 
 
 Flax culture requires very careful preparation of the land ; deep tillage, and 
 thorough pulverization of the earth is ve\y essential to success. By these 
 means flax may be grown to advantage on almost any soils, though some are 
 much better adapted to it than others. The best is considered to be a sound 
 clay loam, or a dry loam with a clay subsoil; but this must not be too compact, 
 and is always better for being loosened, and by all means well drained, for if 
 saturated with water above or below, it will injure the flax. Nor is it consid- 
 ered in Flanders good policy to grow successive crops of this plant ; once in 
 ten years is sufficient. In this country farmers pay little attention to the subject 
 of rotation of crops, which is found to be a matter of great importance in the 
 improved agriculture of Europe. 
 
 A favorite rotation in Flanders is : 1st, potatoes ; 2d, barley, seeded with 
 grasses ; 3d, meadow, cut for soiling stock ; 4th, pasture ; 5th, flax, or one 
 half in oats, so that on the return of the rotation the part that was in oats may 
 be put into flax. 
 
 After wheat one ploughing is deemed sufficient in Ireland on light soils ; but 
 two are still better, and three are better still. In this country a fall ploughing is 
 very desirable, and this should be stirred as early as practicable in the spring ; 
 the harrow should follow, reducing the soil to a very fine tilth ; if the ground be 
 very loose on one hand, or at all cloddy on the other, it will be well to roll 
 before sowing. After applying the seed as evenly as possible, a brush harrow, 
 or light harrow with short teeth, should be drawn across the surface, and in 
 some cases the roller should be applied to render the field as smooth as possible 
 and to compress the earth about the seed, so as to insure its early vegetation 
 aud to have it come up as evenly as possible. 
 
 The quantity of seed sown per acre is a question upon which there is great 
 diversity of opinion among farmers as well as among writers upon this subject, 
 the amounts varying from half a bushel to three bushels and a half. The 
 smallest quantity is that commonly applied in this country, where the farmer 
 grows this crop exclusively for the seed and takes no care for thg fibre. The 
 plants not being crowded, branch freely and produce a greater amount of 
 flowers and seed to each individual than where crowded. This error, which is 
 very injurious to the character of the fibre, should be combated by all who 
 desire, to see the highest results from the encouragement of this important crop 
 in our country. 
 
 Mr. Todd, author of the prize essay offered by the American Agriculturist, 
 insists upon a thorough preparation of the soil ; but, having sown the seed, he 
 will not allow a hoof to trespass upon the mellow earth, preferring to use a light 
 brush harrow drawn by hand, which, he says, can be done almost as fast as 
 the seed is sowed. His objection to the introduction of the team with either 
 brush, harrow or roller upon the soft, mellow earth, is that the heavy tramping 
 
 \ 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 19 
 
 of the animals cannot fail to make depressions that would bury portions of the 
 seed too deeply and cause it to vegetate unevenly. He thinks a light brush, 
 which merely hides the seed, covers it sufficiently. The brush harrow is made 
 by boring holes in a piece of scantling, into which bushy twigs two feet long 
 are fastened. If more brush is needed, additional pieces are nailed on to the 
 scantling ; a light pair of shafts are secured to the brush-head, by which the 
 machine may be dragged steadily by a man or boy. 
 
 Our western farmers, especially, who grow the crop almost exclusively for 
 the seed alone, sow but half a bushel, or at most three pecks ; but in the eastern 
 States, on poorer soil, the farmers desiring to secure crops both of seed and of 
 fibre, sow five pecks, and it is found that they obtain a larger amount of. seed 
 per acre than the average in the west. In Europe two bushels, and even more, 
 is a very common allowance for seeding an acre, where it is desirable to produce 
 a fine lint, and they also often harvest twenty bushels of seed. Some experi- 
 ments in heavy seeding in the United States have not proved entirely satisfac- 
 tory, for though the stalks were very fine and slender, and the lint produced 
 was very fine, the straw was too short; thi,3 may have arisen from the poverty 
 of the soil where the thick seeding was tried. In the thoroughly fanned and 
 highly manured fields of the flax region of Belgium, we find the largest amounts 
 of seed are sown with the best results ; on such lands, deeply cultivated and 
 highly enriched with liquid manures, three bushels of seed to the acre has 
 yielded crops of flax that gave very fine lint, the straw being three feet high, 
 and valued at one hundred dollars per acre in the field ; for, in Belgium the 
 farmer sells his crop to the manufacturer, and is relieved from further care after 
 it is ready to harvest. 
 
 There are immense tracts of excellent flax lands in our country, and there is 
 no doubt that, with proper care and sufficient seed, our rich alluvions will pro- 
 duce a superior quality of lint whenever the enterprise of the manufacturers 
 shall elaborate and produce proper machinery for the preparation of the crop ; 
 a desideratum which this commission is happy to announce has already come 
 near to its accomplishment, as will be shown under the head of machinery in 
 the mechanical section of the report. 
 
 But to return to the seeding : we consider it very important that a sufficient 
 amount of seed be applied to the soil ; whatever that amount shall be, must be 
 settled by the experience of the farmer in each section of the country. In sowing 
 the flax it will be of the greatest importance to the crop to have it evenly spread 
 upon the surface, and this, while a matter of great moment, is not easy to accom- 
 plish. The seed is very smooth and slippery, and great skill, derived from long 
 practice, is necessary to distribute it evenly. It has been suggested that this 
 work may be best done by the use of some of our broadcast sowing machines 
 properly adapted to this seed. The drill machines may be used if properly 
 adjusted for this crop, but the rows must be made very close to prevent the 
 straw from branching. In broadcast sowing the plants should stand at about 
 one inch apart over the field. Great care should be taken to have the seed per- 
 fectly clean, and the soil selected for flax should not be foul with seeds of weeds, 
 which are very injurious to the flax crop ; nor can we ever expect to hand-weed 
 our fields in this country, as is constantly done in the flax culture in Europe. 
 
 In the flax regions of the Old World there is a great prejudice against using 
 home-grown seed, and we have found in this country also an impression in favor 
 of importing seed, under the idea that the plant has got used to yielding lint 
 ^ there, and has become habituated to yielding seed only in this country. This 
 is a mere theory without any foundation whatever; and, on the contrary, the 
 American and Riga seed are preferred in Europe for the opposite reason, as it is 
 argued that, where the crop has been grown for the seed alone, these will have 
 been better ripened and more robust than when the crop has been crowded and 
 prematurely harvested for the sake of the fibre. Some very carefully-conducted 
 
20 
 
 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 experiments to ascertain the value of different kinds of seed are reported in the 
 proceedings of the Flax Society of Ireland, from which it appears that the 
 home-grown Irish seed yielded the best results, as will be seen from the tables 
 given. The season having been very unfavorable, the amounts are not large, but 
 answer for a comparison : 
 
 Kind of seed. 
 
 Clean flax. 
 
 Seed. 
 
 Flax per acre. 
 
 Seed per acre. 
 
 
 Pounds. 
 42 
 54 
 • 49 
 70 
 45 
 
 Quarts. 
 46 
 40 
 44 
 42 
 40 
 
 Pounds. 
 336 
 
 432 * 
 391 
 540 
 360 
 
 Bushels. 
 
 
 10 
 
 Dutch 
 
 11 
 10* 
 
 10 
 
 Old Riga 
 
 * 
 
 
 In Europe, aftei the ground has been pulverized and well cleaned, it is rolled 
 and sown ; and if the land has not been ploughed in ridges, the surface is 
 marked off in divisions eight or ten feet wide. After sowing, the seed-harrow is 
 passed over the ground three times, forward, back, and across, or anglewise, so 
 that the seed shall be equally spread, and the land furrows be filled up. The 
 work is finished by the roller, which compresses the soil about the seeds, that 
 are buried about an inch deep. It is desirable to have them vegetate as evenly 
 as possible. Grass seeds are sometimes sown with the flax, but if they grow 
 well it must be at the expense of the crop. 
 
 The writer of the prize essay, above alluded to, makes an admirable sugges- 
 tion with regard to sowing flaxseed, which is a process that is universally rep- 
 resented as a very nice matter, to be well executed, on account of the smooth 
 and slippery character of the seed. He advises and reports as his practice the 
 partial soaking of the seed, and then rolling it, or rather mixing it, while wet, 
 with ground plaster, that enables him to handle it readily, and to distribute it 
 evenly upon the ground, where its early vegetation is accelerated by the addition 
 of this material. 
 
 From the latest accounts of the statistics of Ohio, it is manifest that the flax 
 crop has been much increased in area. Mr. Mansfield, the statistical reporter of 
 that State, reports that the breadth of flax in 1S62 was 52,546 acres, but in 1863 
 it had extended to 95,170 acres. 
 
 The following very practical remarks were communicated to the commission 
 by W. S. Lowrey, of Saratoga Springs, New York, and are introduced on 
 account of their worth and brevity : 
 
 In this section the past year flax produced but one half the crop of ordinary seasons of 
 both seed and fibre. 
 
 Soil. — Heavy clay loam stands first best as regards both fibre and seed. Gravelly loam 
 second best, or produced but half a crop. Light sandy loam and coarse gravel third best, 
 or from one-fourth to one-sixteenth of a crop the past season. 
 
 Preparation of soil. — We plough well. Harrow three or four times previous to sowing, to 
 form a good seed bed. Time of sowing from the 15th of May to 30th. Flax, to coat well, 
 must grow in cool weather. Quantity of seed I sowed, one and a quarter bushel per acre ; 
 one and a half would have been better. 
 
 Time to pull. — This should be done when one-half to two-thirds of the bolls are brown 
 Allow me to remark that work on the flax crop has just commenced at this period of its 
 growth, and that, if the flax is uneven, poorly coated, and in the wet spots badly lodged, it will 
 be impossible by any method to produce good fibre. On the other hand, if the flax is in 
 quality and yield of fibre prime at this stage, and care be not exercised in handling and rot- 
 ting, the result will be the same. Many of the best crops in the country were spoiled the past 
 season by carelessness in handling and overrotting. Acres were badly damaged, and hundreds 
 of dollars lost by making too large bundles to cure well at the time of pulling. They should 
 be just large enough to reach around with both hands, fingers and thumbs touching. 
 
 Method of pulling. — Clasp several straws in the right hand, pass them to the left, and pull 
 with both hands. Repeat this until the hand is full, lay this down, repeat again, and then 
 tie both handfuls in one bundle. At night we set up all that is pulled during the day in 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OE HEMP FOE COTTON. 21 
 
 loose stooks. This method preserves uniformity in curing, and part of the flax is not sun 
 burned while the other is green and unfit for sheltering. As soon as it is dry draw it into 
 the barn to whip. 
 
 Whipping. — Place a flat stone on the barn floor, with one edge inclined to an angle of 
 forty-five degrees, set another under it to block it up, clasp the bundle with both hands near 
 the roots, raise it, and, with a smart stroke bring it down across the stone. Eepeat it several 
 times, until the seeds are mostly broken from tho straw. Clean'the seed with a fanning mill. 
 
 Rotting. — The common method is to spread the flax in thin swaths on close fed meadows, 
 exposed to the dew, until the shive parts readily from tho fibre. It is then turned bottom 
 side upwards by running a pole under the straw ; after three or four days longer it is raked 
 and bound to convey to the barn. A better method is to place tho straw in large beds on the 
 surface of a shallow pond of soft water, roots uppermost and tops down, place some slabs 
 or boards on the roots loaded with stones to sink it, and in from twenty-four to forty-eight 
 hours, and from that to two weeks, according to the temperature, it will become soft, and the 
 shive will part readily from the fibre. We then take it out and dry it on the grass by spreading 
 it in thin swaths, and when dry rake, bind, and set it in stooks to air. When it is well aired 
 it is not splintery like the dew-rot, but wiry and tough like a witho. The best way to rot 
 flax we think we have discovered. This method is the perfection of simplicity, enabling any 
 man who has an unfailing supply of soft water, with less than five hundred dollars capital, 
 to rot flax for five dollars per ton, in from twenty-four to forty -eight hours, and in less time 
 with larger capital and conveniences ; the fibre every way being equal to water-rotted flax 
 by the common method. 
 
 Why water-rot is better than dew-rot. 1st. It saves from fifty to one hundred pounds 
 dressed flax to the ton, of the same quality. 2d. It finds a ready sale at the highest market 
 price, and buyers assure us that in largo lots it will command a premium over the dew-rotted. 
 3d. It is more durable. For proof, lay flax rotted by the two methods side and side, exposed 
 to the action of the weather. 4th. The first method rots ; the second cures. 
 
 Why we rot flax. 1st. There is a market for rotted flax at fair prices. 2d. We have at 
 present no better method of preparing flax fibre. 3d. Wo rot because manufacturers leave "for 
 the farmer to do what should be doue at the mill — a serious difficulty in the way of its ex 
 tensive cultivation, which we believe can be obviated'by adopting our method. 
 
 Severe sickness in tho family prevents my writing but a few facts. Those few, however 
 can be proved. 
 
 Yours, for the success of flax culture, 
 
 WM. S. LOWEEY. 
 
 Herman von Bielke, of Bon, Schleswig, who is said to be a practical flax- 
 grower, makes tlie following statement : 
 
 " Although in, general the saving of seed is rather injurious to the flax, yet it is very desira- 
 ble, for many reasons, that every flax-grower should yearly appropriate a small part of his 
 flax ground, and especially that whero it grows the thinnest, for the saving of seed. In the first 
 place, because the Russian seed does not generally produce such fine flax as that which has been 
 saved on the spot ; secondly, because the grower is certain that, by proper and careful treat- 
 ment of the saved seed, he will have what ho can depend upon. This is not always the case 
 with Russian seed, which is frequently either too old or too much dried by storing, from 
 which it always suffers, or it is mixed by the dealers with other seed. Thirdly, because 
 the Russian seed is often at so high a price in the spring. The seed should be allowed to 
 ripen well before harvesting, and may be treated according to the Courtrai method; that is, 
 dried in bundles in the field and not rippled till the winter or spring following. The capsules 
 should not be threshed clean at first, to separate only the best seed. Seed of two or three 
 years old is better for producing fine lint. If new seed be sown, it should first be thinly 
 spread upon an airy floor, and frequently turned. It is not necessary to renew the seed from 
 abroad if proper care be taken to select it. A small part of the crop may be allowed to stand 
 till fully ripe." 
 
 Some of onr best agriculturists have arrived at similar conclusions with re- 
 gard to the choice of seed, and consider it always safest to select a portion of 
 their own crop from which to save their seed. This is allowed to ripen fully, 
 and, when dry, it is subjected to just so much action in threshing as shall 
 separate only the ripest and heaviest seed, which is kept by itself, after being 
 thoroughly cleaned from admixture of the seeds of weeds and imperfectly developed 
 grains. This seed should be very carefully preserved, so that it shall neither 
 contract moisture, nor be subject to heating in bulk. It should be moved oc- 
 casionally from one cask to another to prevent the latter result. 
 
 In purchasing seed, the heaviest, brightest, and plumpest should always be 
 selected, and that which has not been mixed from different crops should be pre- 
 ferred. 
 
22 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 Mr. Ward tells us that the successful cultivation of this crop does not so 
 much depend upon the quality of the soil, the nature of the climate, or the 
 amount of capital and labor applied to it, as upon the favorable influence which 
 the first two may exercise when combined with the judicious application of the 
 others. When all these elements of production are in harmonious co-operation 
 the result may be easily predicted ; but when one or other of them is deficient, 
 or partially defective, it becomes no easy task to assign to each its power or 
 agency. This complication of production is widely extended in Belgium, and 
 largely predominates in the flax districts ; for the general condition of the soil 
 is by no means so favorable for agricultural processes as that of Ireland, nor is 
 the climate comparable to that of the latter as regards the flax plant; but the 
 amount of labor which the Belgians so energetically and so judiciously apply 
 to their soil more than compensates for any elementary deficiency that may 
 exist. The old maxim that success crowns labor, therefore, deservedly charac- 
 terizes agricultural pursuits in Belgium, and its application is never more justly 
 felt than when it gives point to a material fact such as the flax cultivation of 
 that iudustrious country presents. 
 
 A great portion of the soil of Belgium is alluvial, partly formed by the re- 
 cession of the sea, and partly by the elevation of the land, the country being 
 chiefly made up of the deltas of the great rivers of Europe — the Rhine, the 
 Scheldt, and the Meuse. The agriculture of Holland and Belgium is therefore 
 arable ; artificial means are requisite to bring the soil under cultivation. The 
 soils are generally inferior, but this is overcome by the labor of the people, who 
 often commence with an almost hopeless sand whose loose and undulating sur- 
 face seems to defy all vegetation." The first crops are generally oats, rye, or 
 broom ; the former are used for forage, and the tops of the broom are similarly 
 applied, though the plants remain for three years, when they are ploughed in to 
 enrich the soil. When the farmer is able to keep a cow, by growing turnips or 
 clover, the manure of every kind is saved with care, and the conversion of the 
 arid sand into productive soil is quickly effected. 
 
 The great feature of Flemish husbandry is deep cultivation. This is per- 
 formed either by the spade or plough, and often by both conjointly. The land is 
 gradually trenched to the depth of twenty inches or more. It is laid out in 
 stitches about six feet wide, with the plough; between these a -ditch is dug with 
 the spade, about a foot wide, and the soil thrown upon the stitch. The next 
 year a foot in width is taken from one of the stitches and thrown into the ad- 
 joining trench, so that in the course of six seasons the whole soil will have been 
 trenched over. 
 
 All plants do not equally require a depth of soil, but many that appear super- 
 ficial in their wants will frequently extend their roots much further than is 
 generally supposed. The root of the flax plant, for instance, is known, under 
 favorable circumstances, to go as deep below the surface of the soil as the top 
 ascends above it. The object of the Belgian farmer is to obtain a deep and 
 friable soil, equally enriched throughout, which is only accomplished with great 
 care and attention. The land has the appearance of the most perfect garden 
 cultivation. 
 
 The mode of subsoiling in Belgium is worthy of notice. After the plough, 
 laborers follow with the spade, dig out the bottom of the furrow, throwing the 
 soil upon the ploughed land to expose it to the action of the atmosphere ; the next 
 furrow being thrown into this opening, the soil is inverted completely, and this 
 is trenching rather than subsoiling, and is not applicable where the subsoil is 
 so tenacious as to retain water. . Great attention is also paid to drainage. 
 
 Tn the Courtrai, Plock, and Tournoi districts, where the best flax is grown, 
 the land is prepared with the utmost care, and the health of the plants is secured 
 by the most unremitting attention. In these districts flax is rarely sown upon 
 the same land oftener than every eighth year, and it generally follows wheat or 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OE HEMP FOR COTTON. 23 
 
 oats. The portion of land set off for flax the ensuing season is covered with 
 farm-yard manure immediately after harvest. Twenty-five or thirty cart-loads 
 per acre are frequently applied. This is spread and ploughed in four or five 
 inches deep, and remains for three or four months, when it is harrowed and 
 ploughed in again a little deeper ; and it is also trenched with spades at the same 
 time. In this state it remains during the winter, and in the spring it is har- 
 rowed, and the roots are removed. Liquid manure is then applied to the extent 
 of 2,500 gallons per acre. 
 
 It is then harrowed, picked, and rolled, and afterwards harrowed with a light, 
 wooden harrow to loosen the surface, when the seed is sown at once. The 
 average quantity is 166 pounds to the acre, the harrow follows, and, after pick- 
 ing and rolling, the work is done. 
 
 In Courtrai the flax is dried in the field, and then stacked without rippling, 
 and left for steeping until next spring. To insure the preservation of the seed, 
 the straw is put into stooks without tying it into sheaves. These are placed on 
 cradles to preserve them from the damp. The seed ends are put in alternate 
 layers, and the stooks are from four to six sheaves in height, and from three to 
 four wide, and the whole thatched with straw. When perfectly dry, these are 
 brought together and put into stacks like ordinary grain, and is considered to 
 be improved by three years' keeping, as it will then scutch more easily and 
 profitably. 
 
 Belgian flax, treated upon this method, commands almost fabulous prices, 
 amounting very commonly to a yield of from c£40 to <£60 per acre; and for the 
 finest quality from <£'S0 to c£100 has been obtained. . The export of this fibre 
 to France and England is one of the chief sources of profit to Belgium, and 
 this has amounted to nearly one million of pounds sterling per annum. In 
 Leeds and Belfast the finest numbers of yarn, those of 160 leas, or 15 hanks 
 to the pound, are almost exclusively spun from the Belgian flax. This is con- 
 firmed by the reports of juries at the international exhibitions, which will be 
 presented upon another page. 
 
 Some of these fine qualities are worth c£70 per ton, some as high as c£150 
 per ton, and the finest c£200 per ton. But these prices are excelled by the fibre 
 from which the Brussels and Mechlin lace is made, which has been known to 
 sell at o£4 per pound weight, nearly c£9,000 per ton. Yet even this is small 
 compared to the value of the manufactured article, since a lace handkerchief, 
 weighing about two ounces, has been known to sell for <£100. 
 
 The climate of Belgium, we are told by Bravoine, is not altogether favorable 
 to the growth of flax, because about the first of April they often have a drought, 
 and if the land is at all cloddy the vegetation of the seed is irregular, and that 
 which springs is exposed to the ravages of insects. 
 
 Weeding is considered an essential part of the treatment, and is done by 
 hand, when the flax plants are about two inches high. In Belgium the weeding 
 is done by women and children, who creep about over the field upon their 
 hands and knees, and always work towards the wind, so that the young flax 
 plants may be raised again by the current of air coming in an opposite direction 
 to that in which they have been pressed down. 
 
 In this country we shall not soon resort to hand-weeding, on account of the 
 expense involved, but we must be careful to avoid as much as possible the ne- 
 cessity by selecting clean ground, and, with our perfected machinery, we afe 
 already able to avoid sowing the seeds of many weeds that are frequently 
 mingled with foreign flax, because we can separate them with our superior win- 
 nowing apparatus. When, however, weeds make their appearance, they are 
 either neglected, or, in some cases, they may be cut off with the scythe just 
 above the heads of the flax-plants, or, better still, the coarsei weeds may be cut 
 at the ground with a sharp knife and carried out of the field. 
 
24 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTOX. 
 
 The flowing directions are taken from Morton's Encyclopaedia : 
 
 "In order intelligibly to detail the right method of flax culture, I shall suppose myself 
 about to cultivate a farm of one hundred acres of such soil as I have named — hardly suited 
 to wheat culture. Then, as draining is indispensable for flax culture, I should drain the land 
 and commence my rotation thus, giving flax the lead: 1851, flax; 1852, clover; 1853, grass; 
 1854, oats; 1855, turnips; 1856, barley; 1857, clover; 1858, grass; 1859, oats; 1860, turnips. 
 Then supposing the field to have been in barley in 1850, it should have been ploughed in 
 October of that year as deeply as possible in ridges about six feet broad. After being ploughed 
 the furrows should be deepened with the spade twenty inches deep and eighteen inches wide, 
 and all the stuff thrown npon these ridges to remain until spring under the frost and snow of 
 winter. About the end of March I plough the field again deep and level ; then harrow it, 
 and mark it lightly in ridges, so as to direct me in top-dressing it with the liquid manure; 
 and in a day or two after I apply the manure, I sow broadcast about two and three-fourths 
 bushels of good new seed per acre, taking care not to have mixed seed, (the seed of 1849 and 
 1850, ) for the reason that they do not vegetate together. The seed being sown, I then apply 
 a light short-tooth harrow to cover it, and on giving it a finishing stroke I sow the clover and 
 grass seed ; and after one stroke of the harrow I use the roller in order to close the ground. 
 Frequently ; clover and grass seeds are left until the first weeding of the flax is about to 
 be performed ; and being sown, the treading of the persons weeding, and the pulling up of 
 the weedl, affords sufficient covering for the seed. The flax being a short time on the land, 
 being pulled sometimes in July and at others early in August, when vegetation is still active, 
 the pulling up of the flax stalks moulds the young plants of clover and grass, and they gen- 
 erally make rapid progress afterwards. I seldom, if ever, knew failures of clover to occur 
 when sown with flax. 
 
 ' ' It is most important that a sufficient quantity of seed be sown, as the fibre must be re- 
 garded the chief consideration, and its quality is essentially improved by thick sowing. This 
 arises from the closeness of the plants forcing themselves upwards with a single stem to gain 
 access to the air, and thus prevent their branching, which shortens and renders the fibre 
 irregular. I could not have the quantity of seed by sowing two and three-fourths or three 
 bushels to the acre that I should have if I only sowed two bushels ; but, in the cultivation of 
 this plant I would make everything subservient to the formation of a long and delicate fibre, 
 as to it alone I must look for remuneration. 
 
 "The flax crop in Ireland is in general sown much too thin, and this is the chief cause of 
 the inferiority of" the produce. This appears strange and unaccountable when we consider 
 that the seed is seldom saved. If flax be sowed thin, say two bushels or two and one-fourth 
 to the acre, you are certain to see it branch off when about one foot or so high, and thus pro- 
 duce a great quantity of seed ; but when we understand that this object is effected at the ex- 
 pense of the fibre, which is not only rendered coarse but very deficient in quantity, we 
 should guard against such losing practices. The cause of deficiency in quantity must be 
 attributed to not only a lesser number of stalks per acre, but it will be found also to arise 
 from the shortness of the fibre, as there never will be flax produced on the branches, and as 
 a consequence we can only have fibre from the branched or forked part to the root end ; 
 therefore the production of seed in quantity is incompatible with the large returns from the 
 fibre ; and as it will be the wish of every well-doing farmer to practice the culture of that 
 which will be most remunerative, the fine, long, and delicate fibre of the flax plant being the 
 most valuable, he should regard the production of the seed as a secondary consideration. I 
 have often observed in a field where the crop had been thick and abundant that the plants 
 had rarely more than two or three seed bolls on a short forked top : the stalks, like trees 
 planted closely in a young forest, spring up quickly without branches, whilst those scattered 
 thinly are covered with branches. The weeding I should direct being done as the Flemish 
 farmers do; no better mode can be taken." — (See Flanders, Agriculture of.) — Morton's 
 Cyclopedia. 
 
 HARVESTING. 
 
 This is recommended by all European writers to be done by pulling — a slow, 
 tedious, and expensive process which will never be performed by our farmers in 
 the large way, and we know of many operators who are sowing some hundreds 
 of acres apiece who could not possibly procure the labor necessary to pull their 
 flax. Machinery again comes to our aid, and with proper care in the laying 
 down of the land our improved harvesters may be adjusted so as to cut the crop 
 very close to the surface of the ground. There is a prejudice, that is not with- 
 out foundation, that one inch of the straw at the base is worth two at the top of 
 the plant, but the roots themselves are of little value for lint. With proper 
 care the straw may 'be delivered from the machine sufficiently straight for all 
 practical purposes, and the amount wasted by being tangled is much more than 
 compensated for by the cheapness of the process compared to hand labor. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 25 
 
 The proper period for harvesting the straw is a point of great importance. 
 When gathered for the lint alone the seed should not have become fully ripe, 
 but if gathered too soon there will be great waste in the scutching and hackling, 
 though the fibre may be very fine ; whereas, when too ripe, the fibre, though of 
 greater weight, is also coarser and more harsh. When the seeds begin to turn 
 brown, and the stalk is turning yellow for about two-thirds of its length, the 
 crop is considered sufficiently ripe for harvesting. It is desirable to keep the 
 buts of the gavils as snug and even as possible ; in all the operations, therefore, 
 attention should be paid to this point if the crop be designed for the preparation 
 of long fibre, which is much the most valuable. The flax should be set up as 
 ^soon as possible that it may dry thoroughly, and at the same time shade itself 
 to a degree from the scorching sun, which injures the fibre. The bundles should 
 be made quite small. Dickson considers exposure to the sun very injurious to 
 the fibre. 
 
 Rippling consists in separating the seed bolls from the straw ; it is performed 
 either at once in the field, or it may be done in the barn during the winter. In 
 Ireland a great deal of the flax is immersed in the steeping pool without haviug 
 the seed separated. This* is a most wasteful plan, and should never be allowed. 
 The loss to the Irish farmer is estimated by Mr. Ward at from d£3 to <£i per 
 acre. Rippling is performed by drawing the heads through a coarse heckle, 
 made of iron or steel teeth, or pointed rods, that are set in a solid block of wood. 
 The workmen seize small handfuls or streiks firmly near the but end, and draw 
 them across this comb. The apparatus, if in the field, should be placed upon a 
 large winnowing sheet, or the space around may be smooth and tramped hard 
 to receive the seed ; or the rippling may be done on a tight barn floor more com- 
 fortably, and with greater economy of time during the winter, but in case of 
 stacking or storing in the barn we must guard against the injury from rats and 
 mice. 
 
 One of the best methods for separating the seeds from the straw, when we 
 desire to keep this straight, is to pass the heads through plain rollers set pretty 
 close ; the bundles may be spread out and allowed to pass between tbem, or 
 they may be held, as in rippling, but kept in the direction of the axis of the 
 rollers, the heads only passing into the bite, when the bolls are crushed and the 
 seeds separated. 
 
 The crop should not be allowed to remain in the field any longer than is 
 necessary to have it thoroughly dried, when it should at once be stored away in 
 the barn, or carefully put up in stacks, and these should be made sharp and 
 covered with straw, or even thatched, so as to exclude the rain entirely. 
 
 With regard to the choice of seed it should be of a blight, brownish color ; it 
 should feel cold and oily to the hand, and should be heavy. The European 
 authorities tell us that the seed from Holland ripens sooner and yields a greater 
 quantity of fibre than most others ; they say that American seed produces good 
 flax ; that from Riga is coarser in fibre, but more productive in seed than any 
 other, and is adapted to a great variety of localities. It is supposed by some 
 that this Russian seed, coming from a poor soil, feels the improved condition of 
 better land, and produces a luxuriant crop, which will incline to be rank. They 
 think that if it be resown upon the same land after the interval of a year it will 
 produce the best quality of fibre, but that it becomes degenerated afterwards. 
 
 It is also considered very important that the seed to be sown should all be 
 of the same age, that it may vegetate evenly, and thus all the plants of the crop 
 will start together. Some farmers think that old seed will produce the best lint. 
 
 FARMING OUT THE SEED. 
 
 It is a very common practice in some parts of this country for those who have 
 oil mills to furnish flaxseed to the farmers, with an agreement that they shall 
 
26 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 have the refusal of the seed produced. This custom has a tendency to encourage 
 the culture of flax for the seed alone. In this case it may be the interest of both 
 parties to use as little seed as possible, so as to produce as large a proportionate 
 yield of seed as can be obtained. 
 
 From a series of data based upon the amounts of seed issued in this way by 
 the dealer, and the returns made to him by the farmer, it appears that in the 
 fertile valley of the Miami, in Ohio, the yield was only seven bushels and three- 
 tenths per acre last year, 1864, though in one case, where a single bushel of seed 
 had been sown upon two acres, the yield had been thirty-two bushels, or sixteen 
 bushels per acre. • • 
 
 On the contrary, we are assured that, by proper management and under favor- 
 able circumstances, even larger crops than this last mentioned have been har- 
 vested, besides a heavy yield of good long straw, so that it is not considered 
 impossible to combine the profitable cultivation of flax for both' its valuable 
 products, and thus it stands pre-eminent among all the competitors for favor both 
 as an oil-producing and as a fibre-yielding plant. There is now a new element 
 in the field encouraging the production of this crop ; those who have machinery 
 to prepare the fibre have also adopted the plan of loaning seed to the farmers 
 as well as their predecessors of the oil mills, and it is to their interest to have 
 the farmers sow more ,seed, and to produce taller straw with better lint. 
 
 This is well set forth by a writer in the Prairie Farmer who is thus interested. 
 Mr. Clemens says that " the pursuit of the crop for the seed only will never 
 secure the firm establishment of flax culture. The additional inducement of a 
 production of the valuable fibre is necessary to make flax culture a leading farm 
 interest. Crops of flaxseed may be grown with poor cultivation and thin sow- 
 ing, when the straw will be worthless from its coarseness and the weakness of 
 the lint, and from the admixture of grass and weeds. To obtain flax of the 
 highest value for the seed only, it is advisable that the cultivation be conducted 
 with special reference to the production of the largest yield of good fibre in the 
 straw. This conclusion is justified by the fact that the average product of flax- 
 seed per acre in those districts, in the eastern States where flax is grown more 
 especially for the lint, is greater than at the west, where the seed only has been 
 souo-ht for, while the quality of the eastern seed, grown with the crop of lint, is 
 also superior. The carelessness of management attendant upon growing this 
 crop for the seed, in connexion with thin sowing, tends to deteriorate the quality 
 of the flaxseed for oil-making, as well as for the production of lint.'" 
 
 Mr. Dodge, in his article in the agricultural report of the department for 1863, 
 p. 103, gives an instance of success in the combined production: "In Henry 
 county, Illinois, upon two acres of prairie land, well ploughed, and sown with 
 one bushel of seed, thirty-five bushels of clean seed and two tons of straw were 
 produced ; the straw yielded eight dollars per ton. In Boone county, Illinois, 
 three and a half acres yielded thirty-five bushels of seed and five tons of straw. 
 The net profit was $28 35 per acre. 
 
 SUMMARY OF CULTURE. 
 
 Adopt a judicious rotation of crops, and avoid the too frequent recurrence of 
 flax, placing it after a cleansing crop, if possible. 
 
 Select suitable soil, a good loam of sufficient depth, but not too rich. 
 
 Plough deeply in the fall, and leave the soil exposed to the frosts of winter 
 Plough again shallow, as early as possible ifi the spring ; harrow perfectly level 
 and smooth, removing all roots and obstructions. 
 
 Sow, as soon as the ground is in suitable condition, from one half bushel to 
 two bushels and a half of the best and cleanest seed that can be obtained, cover 
 very lightly with a short-toothed harrow, or with a brush drag, draw some very 
 light water furrows, and then roll the land smoothly. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTOX. 27 
 
 Harvest as soon as the seeds begin to ripen and the stalks are turning yellow; 
 dry as rapidly as possible, set in open shocks to shade itself, ripple the seed, and 
 secure the crop from the weather as soon as dry, and sell the straw to the nearest 
 manufacturer. 
 
 HEMP. 
 
 This plant, called by the botanists Cannabis sativa, has obtained as wide a 
 range as flax, being grown in almost every country from the tropics to the 
 extremes of the temperate zones. Hence, with its excellent fibre, it has 
 long been extensively cultivated and highly valued among civilized nations. 
 Like flax, the hemp plant is composed of a central, woody stem, upon which 
 are disposed very strong fibres, made up of bast cells, arranged parallel to the 
 axis of the stalk, and united together in long filaments. These are covered ex- 
 ternally by a coating or epidermis that envelops the whole stalk. Like flax, 
 hemp needs to be treated in such a manner as to separate these groups of bast 
 cells from the external bark and from the internal woody portions. All of 
 these parts being intimately connected together by an agglutinating substauce, 
 as is the case with the flax plant, similar means and processes are required for 
 their separation. 
 
 Soils. — Hemp is a coarse plant, growing rapidly to the height of several 
 feet, and requires a good, strong soil for its production. Any good, rich, 
 loamy land is adapted to this crop, which is largely cultivated in the rich blue- 
 grass region of central Kentucky, in the limestone prairies of western Missouri, 
 and in the fertile plains of Illinois, but it may be produced in the greatest 
 abundance in most of the States of the great northwest. 
 
 In Europe and Asia hemp is found to grow remarkably well upon suitable 
 lands, both in high and in low latitudes, for, being an annual plant, requiring 
 but a short period for its maturity, it finds an appropriate season even in the 
 brief summers of northern Europe, and is very largely cultivated in Russia, 
 which country is indeed as noted for its hemp as Ireland has long been for its 
 linens. 
 
 A deep friable loam, especially a rich alluvial soil, with natural or artificial 
 drainage, is best adapted to the production of hemp. 
 
 Preparation of the soil. — What has been already stated as a suitable prepa- 
 ration of the soil for flax is equally applicable for this crop, and may be briefly 
 repeated. The ground should be thoroughly and deeply stirred; if ploughed in 
 the fall or winter so as to receive the meliorating influence of the frost, heavy 
 soils especially will be much improved for the reception of the seeds. In the 
 early spring the land should be again stirred, and for both of these crops it is 
 advised that the ploughing at this season should be quite shallow, so as to retain 
 at the surface the mellow soil that has been acted upon by the frost. In this 
 condition it furnishes a fine seed-bed for the crop, which hastens its germina- 
 tion, and it is also asserted by some practical farmers that these plants do best 
 when the deeper layers of soil have not been recently loosened, but have lain 
 still and become partially compacted since the deep ploughing of the previous, 
 autumn ; still, the roots descend deeply, and they require that land should 
 have been thoroughly broken up at the fall ploughing. 
 
 Seeding. — After the spring ploughing, which may be done with any of the 
 cultivators in use upon our farms, the ground may be allowed to lie a few days 
 to receive the genial influences of sunshine. If the land be foul with weed- 
 seeds, as is often the case with fields that are adapted to the growth of flax 
 and hemp, this spring cultivation will have destroyed the first crop of weeds, 
 many of which start into life very early in the season ; then by waiting a few 
 days another crop will soon germinate, and these may be destroyed by the use 
 of the drag-harrow, which also pulverizes the soil and thoroughly prepares the 
 
28 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 seed-bed for the legitimate crop, which should be sown as early as possible after 
 these arrangements and preparations have been completed and the soil is 
 sufficiently dry and warm. The hemp will then have an opportunity to start 
 evenly with the weeds, and by its vigor it will maintain a proper ascendency 
 over them to insure success. 
 
 From two to three bushels of fresh seed should be sown, as evenly as possi- 
 ble, upon the recently harrowed surface, and immediately covered with the 
 brush, or with the light short-toothed seed-harrow, followed by the roller, to 
 compress the soil and thus accelerate germination, but neither the harrow nor the 
 roller should be used when the soil is at all wet or sticky, as they will prove 
 very injurious to the crop if used under such circumstances. ' 
 
 With careful preparation of the land as above directed, and judicious selection 
 erf good fresh seed, properly committed to such a fine seed-bed as has been re- 
 commended, the hemp crop will now take care of itself, and occupy the field to 
 the exclusion of all intruding weeds. Indeed, hemp has been proposed by some 
 agriculturist to be introduced into a rotation as a cleansing crop, to precede flax, 
 for the sake of its destructive effects upon the weeds natural to the soil. While 
 this effect of hemp is acknowledged, the farmer need not be reminded that the 
 great principle of alternation, which should regulate all crop rotations, is here 
 lost sight of, and though, in some of our very fertile alluvial soils, the results 
 might be satisfactory, it would not be wise to pursue such a course of cropping 
 as would bring these fibre crops in continuous succession. 
 
 Seed-plants. — In growing hemp for fibre it is sown so thickly as to run up to 
 its full height without any branches. This gives us long, straight, undivided 
 rods, that are evenly clothed with the valuable fibre. When allowed room to 
 develop itself, however, the hemp plant branches at almost every leaf from 
 near the ground to its summit, and these branches produce their inflorescence 
 at the axils of their leaves. Hemp is dioecious, bearing its male and female 
 flowers on different plants, so that a portion of them only are- productive of 
 seed. To produce the best result, a portion of land is planted in hills or drills, 
 for the especial object of seed-growing ; the plants are cultivated and thinned 
 out to allow of their fullest development. Some farmers only sow a corner of 
 the field thinly, or trust to failures in parts of the crop, where the plants stand- 
 ing thin on the ground will produce seed. 
 
 Harvesting. — Hemp was formerly pulled by hand, and this was done at two 
 operations ; the first pulling was performed when the male plants had shed their 
 pollen, and were turning yellow. The female plants were left to mature their 
 seed, and were taken at the second pulling. 
 
 The male stalks were ready for steeping as soon as dried ; but the female 
 plants were first divested of their seeds ; if the seed crop was not wanted, all 
 was pulled or cut together. The female plants require about three weeks to 
 
 fterfect the seed after blossoming, and they may be allowed to stand until the 
 ower seeds begin to ripen, when they should be carefully pulled or cut, and 
 the bundles set up in shock to dry. These seeds shatter very easily, and if 
 not carefully handled much will be wasted. They are nutritious food for birds, 
 and produce much oil, but are chiefly preserved for seeding. 
 
 The original method of pulling hemp has given place to cutting, at or near 
 the ground, with heavy knives made for the purpose. These are crooked on 
 the edge, and bent towards the shaft of the handle in such a way as to sever 
 the stalks near the ground when thrust against them by the harvester with a 
 rapid stroke. Hemp-cutting, though a great improvement upon pulling, is still 
 hard work, and the usual length of the stalks requires a wide space to be cut, 
 upon which the crop may be spread to dry. Care should be taken to keep the 
 but-ends even as the stalks are laid down and taken up. 
 
 When the crop is of moderate height, and has been sown so thickly as to be 
 of slender growth, farmers often prefer to use the common grain-cradle for 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OE HEMP FOR COTTON. 29 
 
 harvesting hemp. A careful hand, who carries his scythe low, and cuts a level 
 swath, may do excellent work in this way, hut many workmen will waste too 
 much of the best portion of the stalk, by leaving a high and tfneven stubble. 
 Then again, cradling hemp is very hard work, and we turn hopefully to the 
 reaper to solve the difficulty by substituting horse-power for human muscle. 
 Harvesting machines are easily adapted to this crop by a modification of the 
 platform, suiting it to the length of the stalks of an average crop of hemp. 
 
 After the crop has lain upon the surface long enough to dry, the leaves will 
 chiefly fall off as it is taken up to be tied in bundles of moderate size, which 
 should be set up in shocks to dry perfectly before being stacked. 
 
 The proper period for harvesting may be known by the condition of the 
 male plants, which, very soon after blossoming, cast their leaves, and the stalks 
 begin to turn yellow, while the female plants continue green, and the bunches 
 of seeds at the axils of the leaves near the top increase in size and weight. 
 The crop is then ready for the knife. 
 
 Hemp is considered an exhausting crop ; and so it is, for it removes from the 
 soil a considerable portion of inorganic matter, but these substances, as shown 
 by analysis, are not abundant in the fibre, which is taken off of the farm, but 
 are chiefly found in those portions of the plant which constitute the refuse, and 
 which may be returned to the soil as manure. Unfortunately, in our country 
 little attention is ever paid to this restoration for the sake of maintaining the 
 fertility of our soils. 
 
 Fortunately for our unphilosophical and wasteful system of agriculture, the 
 hemp crop makes its own return to the soil to a certain extent, in the falling 
 leaves and in the stubble and deeply penetrating roots, that when cut are in 
 full vigor and remain to decay in the soil, which is left in a very fine condition 
 after this crop. Valuable as is this contribution of carbonaceous matter to the 
 humus of the soil, acting both chemically and mechanically for its melioration, 
 it still does not compensate for the abstraction of the mineral constituents which 
 the crop of hemp has taken from the land, and which a wise agriculturist will 
 restore to maintain the fertility of his soil. 
 
 In the fertile hemp-fields of the west, particularly in Missouri, there is no ap- 
 prehension felt as to the exhausting nature of this crop ; on the contrary, many 
 farmers speak of it as an improver of the land, like clover, and they claim that, 
 while its deep roots descend into the lower strata of soil in search of nourish- 
 ment, they bring valuable elements to the surface ; besides which, they add a 
 large amount of carbonaceous matter in the leaves of stubble, which has been 
 gathered by the plant from the atmosphere. Certain it is that many fields have 
 been planted in hemp for twenty-five successive years without apparent dimi- 
 nution of the crop, which continues to produce an average of 800 pounds of 
 clean lint. In the hemp regions it is considered essentially a negro crop, and 
 is esteemed on account of its affording steady occupation to the large farm force 
 during the winter months, when they would otherwise be idle. 
 
 The annual production of hemp fibre in the United States, as reported in the 
 last census, amounts to eighty-seven thousand one hundred and ninety tons, of 
 which eighty-three thousand two hundred and forty-seven tons were dew-rotted, 
 and only three thousand nine hundred and forty -three tons were water-rotted. 
 There is a decided preference among the manufacturers for the water-rotted 
 material, and the navy regulations indicate that experience considers this the 
 preferable mode of preparation. But few of our farmers are willing to take the 
 trouble to adopt this process ; indeed few have the necessary skill and appliances ; 
 but it would be performed to much better advantage by those who make it their 
 especial business, and who have prepared suitable vats for the purpose. Some 
 of our correspondents in Illinois appear to have made extensive vats, with the 
 expectation of 1 rotting largely. This is a suitable subdivision of labor. 
 
30 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 From the kindness of Mr. H. F. Driller, assistant secretary of tlie Board of 
 Trade at the Merchants' Exchange, St. Louis, we have learned the product of 
 hemp in that State for three years to he as follows : 
 
 In 1S62, arrived at this port 88, 720 hales. 
 
 " arrived at other ports, ahout 22,100 " 
 
 Total 110, 820 hales. 
 
 In 1863, arrived at this port 68, 131 hales. 
 
 " arrived at other ports 17, 000 " 
 
 Total 85,131 " 
 
 In 1864, estimated at this port 74, 150 bales. 
 
 " estimated at other ports 20,100 i' 
 
 Total 94,250 « 
 
 Total in three years 290, 201 bales. 
 
 Average per year 96, 733§ bales. 
 
 Kentucky and Missouri are the two leading States in which this crop has 
 always been of considerable importance. 
 
 Farmers generally complain of hemp that it is a hard crop to deal with, on 
 account of the manual labor which it requires, but it is also urged that it is un- 
 certain in its results because of the fluctuations of the market value. Its chief 
 value is for cordage, bagging, and sail-cloth, but the fibre is very similar to that 
 of flax ; the ultimate cells are almost identical under the microscope, and it is 
 applicable to the preparation of linen cloths. The manufacture of bagging and 
 bale-rope in Kentucky having been mostly suspended, since the withdrawal or 
 suspension of the demands of the cotton-fields, the extent of the crop has also 
 been diminished, and the fibre has been largely worked into tow, and shipped 
 in the bale to eastern and European factories. 
 
 George M. Campbell, of Lewistown, Illinois, writes that he has grown hemp 
 for more than twenty years — first in Kentucky, and afterwards in the prairie 
 State — and that he finds the latter produces the best and largest quantity of lint. 
 He says that his crops average 1,000 pounds per acre, and that one season he 
 obtained the unusual amount of 1,380 pounds. He thinks Illinois could supply 
 the world with this fibre, if the farmers would turn their attention to its 
 culture. 
 
 He prefers a rich deep loam, which is well prepared with the plough and 
 harrow, when he sows five pecks of seed per acre, and harrows both ways. If 
 dry or cloddy, he also rolls. With what he calls a drag-hook he cuts half an 
 acre a day. When cured, he ties and shocks the stalks till dry, when it is 
 stacked. 
 
 He advises cutting as soon as the blossoms fall, but the seed crop is planted 
 in rows, and the seed plants are left for the seed to mature, when they are to be 
 cut and shocked, and left three weeks to cure. 
 
 MACHINERY. 
 
 When they were considering the subject of treating the flax-straw by any 
 of the chemical operations to which it has been subjected- for the purpose of 
 aiding the separation and preparation of the fibres, whether these consisted of 
 dew-rotting, water-rotting, or other more scientific or more elaborate processes, 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 31 
 
 the commission endeavored to set forth the great importance of a proper sub- 
 division of labor, so that the farmer, with his manifold and pressing cares, might 
 be relieved from the responsibility of conducting these delicate operations, for 
 which, indeed, he is not always qualified. Here again we desire to urge upon 
 those engaged in making arrangements for further treatment of the material by 
 the mechanical handling of the straw, and its conversion into the beautiful fibre, 
 the great advantages that will result from a separation of these duties from 
 those appropriate to the farm. Indeed it is so apparent to us that the rotting 
 and breaking of flax are truly manufacturing processes, requiring skilled labor 
 and experienced management, that the continuance of their assignment to the 
 farm laborer can only be viewed as a remnant of those peculiarities of the early 
 stages of civilization which are here and there found to cling to us in an ad- 
 vanced condition of society. In former times the farmer, with the assistance 
 of his family, was obliged to produce the raw material, to prepare it for manu- 
 facturing, to spin, and to weave it upon his own premises ; but as we advance 
 from such a primitive condition, the better subdivision of labor is progressively 
 introduced, and we believe, as stated on a previous page, that the former's duty 
 should always end with the harvesting of the crop, the separation of the seed, 
 and the delivery of the straw to the manufacturer. In portions of Belgium, to 
 which country we may well look for the highest degree of development in the 
 preparation of flax, since there the finest fabrics are produced, we find that the 
 ownership of the crop is transferred from the agriculturist to the manufacturer 
 so soon as its prospective value can be safely estimated, and this is immediately 
 after it has blossomed in the field ; so that the farmer's duties and interests 
 terminate at a still earlier period than that we have recommended to our country- 
 men. 
 
 Notwithstanding our urgent desire for a proper subdivision of the labors of 
 the production from those of the preparation of flax, and other textile plants, 
 we know that in many parts of the country, where flax and hemp may be profit- 
 ably grown by the farmer, the mechanic has not yet made his appearance with 
 the needed machinery for operating upon the product. Indeed, the raw material 
 is not to be found in sufficient quantities to justify the erection of large estab- 
 lishments for its preparation in many regions where it is and should be grown. 
 Therefore we congratulate those isolated farmers who may be induced to culti- 
 vate this class of crops upon the fact that our ingenious mechanics have already 
 provided for their wants by inventing and erecting farm machines, of moderate, 
 capacity, and at reasonable expense, which will enable individuals so situated* 
 to utilize their products, and put them into a condition that will bear trans- 
 portation to market, or that will readily prepare them for home consumption. 
 
 In early times the most rude and simple apparatus was used in the prepara- 
 tion of these fibres, and we find remnants of these barbaric customs still re- 
 maining. In some parts of Europe the flax is broken by women, who hold the 
 straw across the top of a post and crush it by beating with clubs ; and it is 
 claimed that in this way they prepare the nicest and softest flax. 
 
 Laying the straw upon a hard floor and beetling it with a maul or beetle, the 
 face of which is grooved, is still recommended as the initiatory process of 
 breaking. In some parts of Ireland the straw is spread across the hard road, 
 and crushed by the wheels of carts that are passed over it preparatory to its 
 being taken to the scutch-mills. 
 
 In Egypt, where Ave expect to find remnants of primitive modes of work, it 
 is found that, after water-retting, the natives crush the straw with flat stones, 
 and then strike it against a wooden post to free the shives. And yet the early 
 Egyptians made cambrics that were finer than the modern fabrics. 
 
 The breaking of these plants consists essentially in so comminuting the woody 
 materials, and separating the interstitial matter and the enveloping epidermis, 
 that the filaments, or groups of true bast cells, may be set free from the matters 
 
32 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OE HEMP FOE COTTON. 
 
 with which they were associated in the straw. The original brakes consisted of 
 wooden blades or jaws that closed into one another in such a way as to crush 
 the boon or woody matter into shives, while the more resisting harl or fibre waa 
 liberated. The adhering portions of woody fibre, and the remaining interstitial 
 matter, as well as the remnants of the outer covering or epidermis, were next 
 separated by the process called scutching. This consisted in beating the hand- 
 fuls or streiks of fibre with a blunt knife while it was held over the sharpened 
 edge of an upright board. Finally, after being cleansed as perfectly as possible 
 by these means, the filaments or bundles of cells were still further subdivided, 
 and the loose portions that had been separated as tow were removed by drawing 
 the streiks through elastic pointed wires, which constitute what is called the 
 hatchel. This is a combing process, and is applicable only to the preparation 
 of what is known as long-line, or the normal condition of the finished flax pro- 
 duct. All of these several processes are performed by hand labor, but the 
 inventive genius of the age has brought its mechanical appliances to the aid of 
 the laborer in each of these processes, and we now find a multitude of contri- 
 vances to substitute manual labor. Many of these are admirable, and some of 
 them are adapted to the use of the small farmer, who is thus enabled to prepare 
 his crop for market, where, formerly, the formidable amount of hard work that 
 was required of him prevented its being converted into any useful condition, and 
 it was wasted or burned upon his farm, and sometimes cast into the mire-holes 
 of the public highway. A few of these machines will be mentioned in this 
 report, some of which have been found to produce satisfactory results in actual 
 practice under our observation. 
 
 The multitude of inventions that we find in this department of labor-saving 
 machinery may be classified not only as small and great machines, adapted 
 severally to the farmer, or to the manufacturer, but they may be divided into 
 two great classes according as they are calculated for the preparation of the 
 perfect long-line flax from straight straw that has been carefully handled, or for 
 the production of the confused mass of fialments, commonly known as tow, which 
 can be separated by these appliances from the tangled straw. This is the com- 
 mon result of the flax crop in most parts of the country where it is grown 
 especially for the seed, cut by the scythe, or by machinery, tramped out by 
 horses, or otherwise threshed, and left in a confused mass, from which it could 
 never be extricated in the form of long-line, but in which, nevertheless, lies a 
 valuable product that may be separated in shorter filaments, and used in the 
 production of important manufactures. These last are the tow machines which 
 have come into use extensively within a few years in the flax-producing regions, 
 fitting the crop for transportation. The necessity for some suitable machinery 
 to aid and relieve human labor in breaking and preparing the fibres of flax and 
 hemp was very early felt, and efforts were made to supply the deficiency. Of 
 this there is manifold testimony in the collection of models at the museum of the 
 Patent Office, where every conceivable application of power is represented 
 
 Some inventors contented themselves with applying machinery to the old 
 fashioned brake ; others used beaters and stampers of various kinds ; but most of 
 the inventors, and those are among the most successful, have adopted the appli- 
 cation of rollers, which are generally fluted ; these flutes are coarse and fine, and 
 of varying form, so as to crush the boon as the straw is passed through them. 
 In all of them it is somewhat difficult to preserve the parallelism of the stalks of 
 straw during the process so as to keep the fibres straight, and thus avoid tang- 
 ling and waste in the subsequent processes of its preparation. These machines 
 break up the boon, but generally leave the broken pieces, called the shives, 
 entangled among the fibres, from which they must next be separated. 
 
 One of the earliest plans adopted for the application of power to this purpose 
 was based upon the principle of the old bark mill, rolling and dragging a wheel 
 round a pivot upon a table or floor that received the flax which was thus crushed, 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 33 
 
 but left full of shives, which Were difficult to separate. A modification of this 
 was introduced in the hemp brake of Kentucky, which consisted of a platform 
 of strong triangular pieces of hard wood laid like the radii of a circle, and having 
 spaces open between them. Upon this circular table a large conical fluted log 
 of wood was made to traverse by a horse walking round the outside periphery. 
 By this arrangement the shives were broken, and the turning of the hemp 
 loosened them so that they fell through to the ground below. 
 
 Of all the various machines that have been attempted to be introduced for 
 breaking flax and hemp, those which apply the crushing power of fluted rollers 
 appear to have been the most successful, and yet among these there is a great 
 diversity. Some have very coarse flutes, and some have them exceedingly fine ; 
 some revolve slowly, and some with great rapidity. In some machines the straw 
 is passed repeatedly through a single pair of rollers, while others, being made 
 of a number of pairs, effect the breaking while the material is passing once 
 through them. In some of these multiple roller brakes the gearing is so arranged 
 as to make them all traverse with the same speed, and in some it is accelerated 
 in the forward rollers which thus tear up and shorten the fibre ; these will not 
 make the long-line. 
 
 Many, indeed most of these machines, require a considerable power to drive 
 them, and they are generally found in flax mills, where also the scutching is 
 done by machinery, in a simple arrangement, by which four or fire swingling 
 knives are placed in the rim of a pulley about thirty inches in diameter. Several 
 of these sets of knives are attached to one shaft, which as made to revolve rap- 
 idly, bringing the blades close to the scutching boards whore the workmen hold 
 the flax that is to be operated on. 
 
 Mr. 0. Beach, of Penn Yan, New York, has invented a machine for grinding 
 up the straw, and thus separating the fibres. The straw is first cut, then passed 
 under a wheel, within a cage, that rubs off the fibre, and a strong draught of air 
 blows out a large portion of the shives and dirt. It is claimed for this machine 
 that it is equally adapted to unretted as to retted flax, and that it will clean 
 from one to two tons of flax straw in ten houi-s. It requires fifteen horse-power, 
 and costs $1,000. As operated at Toledo, Ohio, there appears to be a great 
 waste of fibre. 
 
 Crowell's flax brake and scutching machine is a combination of fluted rollers 
 that is said to be adapted for retted or unretted flax straw, leaving the fibres 
 clean and fine, either- broken into short lengths for carding, or in full length for 
 long-line, as may be desired, taking a ton or more of straw in ten hours, from 
 which six hundred pounds of clean fibre per ton is said to have been produced. 
 This, we think, is too large an estimate. 
 
 Randall's brake is a very successful application of fluted rollers, and is used 
 with great satisfaction in many of the flax mills of the country. 
 
 The most successful application of machinery to this subject that we have seen 
 is the arrangement of fluted rollers, with an oscillating motion backward and 
 forward, but advancing more than it retrogrades. This is the Mallory & Sanford 
 machine, which they call " a portable flax and hemp dresser." Owing to the 
 peculiar form and motion of the rollers the boon is crushed into shives of less 
 than a quarter of an inch in length, and the harl is rubbed off from the straw 
 with very little breaking of the filaments, while at the same time the shives are 
 nearly all shaken out of the flax which is broken and scutched at the same 
 operation, and appears to need very little after scutching to finish it. This 
 machine saves a great deal of fibre ; indeed, there is scarcely any found with 
 the shives which are nearly clean, instead of being, as they are often seen, a 
 tangled mass of filaments and shives about the brakes. 
 
 The latest modification of this apparatus, wherein the rollers are arranged in 
 a vertical series fed from above, was tested in the presence of the commission 
 with very satisfactory results, and they do not hesitate to declare that the work 
 
 Ex. Doc. 35 3 
 
34 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 was performed rapidly and well. The apparatus was new, and therefore some 
 allowance should be made for its working capacity. The large machine is said 
 to require a driving force equal to two horse-powers, and its capacity for work 
 is estimated at one and one-eighth tons of straw per day. The makers of this 
 machine in its later or upright form, with a succession of fluted rollers placed 
 horizontally and set one above the other, when they use two breakers and one 
 finisher combined, all feeding from above, claim that they can produce one thou- 
 sand pounds of clean fibre per diem, with the assistance of four hands to the 
 brakes, one hand to scutch, and two boys to assist. 
 
 As originally constructed, we have heard it objected to these machines that 
 their mechanism involved a hard motion, and apprehensions were felt that the 
 machinery might give way. At an establishment in Pennsylvania, it was stated 
 that four scutchers were needed to cleanse the fibre produced by three workmen, 
 running three thousand pounds of straw eacl) day through one machine. We 
 cannot help thinking that this result, so different from our own observations, 
 and from the testimony of many practical workmen who have adopted these 
 machines, must have arisen from a want of experience in the laborers, and from 
 their attempt to put through too much straw ; and that, had they attempted to 
 break less, they would have found the scutching a small matter, with revolving- 
 knives. 
 
 Messrs. Mallory & Sanford's machines have been recommended for breaking 
 straight straw for the preparation of long-line, and as being equally well adapted 
 for the breaking of the most tangled flax, that it comes from the threshing 
 floor. It is also claimed that they will separate the shives from green or 
 unretted straw more perfectly than any other apparatus. Specimens on exhi- 
 bition, and others broken in our presence, are entirely satisfactory evidence 
 that such breaking can be done where desirable, though at the expense of a 
 partial rupture of the filaments themselves, which, in the preparation of long- 
 line, would be productive of a larger percentage of tow or tangled fibre than 
 results from the handling of properly retted straw. 
 
 In the preparation of short fibres this partial rupture of the filaments is a 
 matter of no consequence, but, on the contrary, the breaking without previous 
 retting, and its attendant staining of the fibre, is considered a great desideratum 
 by those who desire to manipulate the fibres in their processes of cleansing and 
 disintegration to which they subject this material in preparing it for spinning 
 upon cotton machinery. It is found much easftr to bleach and prepare the 
 fibres of unretted, than those of retted straw, and the result is much more 
 satisfactory. 
 
 Before dismissing the consideration of the Mallory & Sanford machines, 
 which have given the commission such satisfactory results, and which present 
 great encouragement to our farmers who have heretofore been deterred from 
 flax-growing by the labor attendant upon the preparation of the fibre, the com- 
 missioners desire to mention an additional appliance to these brakes, by which 
 the most tangled mass of straw has its stalks straightened out, and presented 
 to the fluted rollers at a right angle, so as to be most perfectly acted upon in 
 its passage through the machine. By this means the efficiency of the brakes, 
 when acting upon tangled straw, is greatly increased. 
 
 Scutching consists in separating the loose shives and dirt, but also results in 
 the removal of a considerable portion of the fibre, as coarse tow ; the first ex- 
 posure of the broken flax to the scutching knives removes the most of the 
 shives and makes the coarse tow ; the second scutching gives a more valuable 
 tow product; but the next or heckling process produces the fine tow, which 
 consists of the tangled and broken filaments that are combed out of the streiks 
 of flax as they are subjected to this instrument. Heckling is almost exclu- 
 sively done by hand. Heckled tow contains very little shives. 
 
 Rowan's scutcher is a series of metallic beaters which revolve with great 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 35 
 
 rapidity on the periphery of a drum, in close proximity to a breast or plate of 
 iron, over which the workman holds the streik, so as to expose the ends alter- 
 nately to the beating process. The work is done rapidly, and the cleaning is 
 very well performed, but with the production of a large amount of waste tow. 
 This machine is also used as a brake, but appears to waste a great deal of 
 fibre, which falls with the shives. The advantages of this machine are, small 
 space occupied, and rapid work. 
 
 One of the most promising scutching arrangements we have seen is that of 
 a model of Mallory & Sanford, which consists of a vertical drum four feet in 
 length, composed of clamps for holding the streiks of flax. These are made 
 to revolve very rapidly after being charged with the fibre. The centrifugal 
 force beats the flax against the edge of an upright scutching board that is fixed 
 near the periphery of the revolving drum of clamps. When the ends of flax 
 are cleaned the machine is stopped, the clamps are removed, loosened, and the 
 flax is shifted so that the other euds of the streiks shall be exposed to the 
 scutching process. It was found in experiments before the commission that 
 this machine, with one scutching-post, would clean both ends in fifty seconds, 
 and by applying four upright scutching-boards, and four clamps to each drum, 
 it was estimated that the whole charge would be cleaned in half a minute. 
 
 In confirmation of our favorable impressions of the Mallory & Sanford ma- 
 chines, we subjoin some extracts from the report of the special committee on 
 flax machinery of the New York State Agricultural Society. This committee 
 report : 
 
 " That they carefully examine*} the machine presented by Messrs. Mallory & Sanford, New- 
 York, and tested it under a great variety of circumstances. 
 
 ' ' Experiment 1st. Ten pounds three ounces of unretted straw, precisely as it came from the 
 field, was passed through the breaking machine. The time occupied was two minutes fifty 
 seconds and the weight after breaking was six pounds ten ounces. The scutching process 
 occupied six minutes, and the flax weighed after scutching just two pounds. 
 
 "Experiment. 2d. Ten pounds of halt retted flax (dew-retted) was passed through the break- 
 ing machine; the time occupied in the process was two minutes fifty seconds, and the flax 
 weighed five pounds. It was scutched in nine minutes and twenty seconds, and weighed two 
 pounds three ounces. 
 
 "Experiment 3d. Twenty-one pounds one ounce of thoroughly retted (dew-retted) flax 
 straw were passed through the machine in three minutes fifty seconds, and weighed nine 
 pounds. The broken straw was scutched in eight minutes thirty seconds, and weighed four 
 pounds fourteen ounces. With the ordinary facilities of a factory, two men could do with 
 ease what it required four men to do at the trials. 
 
 "The averago work of the machine during these three trials was 1.158 ounce per second, 
 which at ten hours work per day would be equivalent to 2,(ki8 pounds of flax straw. 
 
 "The total weight of broken straw in these three experiments was twenty pounds ten 
 ounces, which was scutched in twenty-three minutes fifty seconds, which is equal to 0.772 
 ounce per second. Running steadily for ten hours, a scutching machine will dress 1,737 
 pounds of broken flax-straw. 
 
 "It, of course, would be difficult to work the machines regularly as fast, or to do as much 
 work wi:h them as was done at these trials, but we have no doubt that the brake could run 
 through 2,n00 pounds of straw daily, and that two scutching machines would dress the flax 
 as fast as it was broken by the first machine. Six-horse power would probably be amply 
 sufficient to run the brake and the two scutchers. 
 
 "The unretted flax in these experiments yielded 18.9 per cent. The half-retted yielded 
 21.9 per cent. The well-retted yielded 23.1 per cent, of dressed flax. 
 
 "The day devoted to these experiments was a very rainy one, and the straw had lain upon 
 the ground for several hours ; it had therefore imbibed much moisture, and was in a v«ry 
 bad condition for dressing. If the experiment had been tried in a clear, dry air, much better 
 results would have been obtained.'" 
 
 In conclusion they say: 
 
 "1st. That the machine of Mallory & Sanford does more work, with less power, than any 
 other. 
 
 " 2d. That it detaches more of the worthless from the valuable portions of the straw than 
 any other. 
 
 " 3d. That it wastes less of the fibre. On a careful examination of the shive after the 
 experiments, we could not detect a single particle ef the fibre. 
 
36 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 "4th. It is cheap and durable and not dangerous to either life or limb. The cost of the 
 largest machine is $355; the second size, 255; the third, $155. 
 
 " 5th. It doe-! not require skilled labor to operate it. This remark applies to the brake, and 
 not to the scutcher. 
 
 "6th. It requires but a very small space; the largest size occupies but four feet square and 
 weighs 1,1U0 pounds." 
 
 Mc Bride's machine is in operation at Delaware, Ohio ; as a scutcher it is 
 very efficient and ingenious. The flax is applied in the bite or twist of a double, 
 endless rope, which receives the streik at one side, carries it through the 
 scutcher, where it is well dressed throughout; during its passage, the rope 
 shifts its hold of the flax by the torsion action, so that all is scutched and de- 
 livered to the workman at the other side of the machine, who lays away tho 
 bundles of clean flax. This machine will dress from four hundred to six 
 hundred pounds a day. 
 
 Mr. Mc Bride has also constructed a machine for treating tangled straw, by 
 which he says he can dress from three to four tons of rough straw per diem, 
 and which, he thinks, will produce from one to one and a third ton of clean 
 fibre, at a cost of half a cent per pound. This machine is to cost about five 
 hundred dollars, and, he thinks, will produce 30 per cent, of clean fibre from 
 retted -straw. 
 
 Several of the machines already noticed are adapted to the preparation of 
 long-line or of tangled tow, according to the condition of the flax straw, 
 whether it has been carefully handled and kept straight from the time of 
 harvesting, or has been left in a tangled and confused mass by the, harvesting 
 machine, and afterward by the threshing operation and subsequent treatment. 
 Since, in a large majority of cases in this country, where flax has been grown 
 or the seed alone, and little or no care has been bestowed upon the straw, this 
 material is in a tangled condition, it becomes a matter of the highest import- 
 ance to provide apparatus that can take this product and reduce it to a marketa- 
 ble condition; receiving it in the bulky form of straw from the neighboring 
 fa-mers, machinery is needed to break and clean the fibrous product, which can 
 then be baled and compressed so as to adapt it for transportation to market. 
 
 Many of the machines already mentioned will work equally well with tangled 
 or with straight straw, and lay in th^ir claims to public favor for this purpose ; 
 but there are others which are essentially tow-machines. One of the first of 
 this class was introduced by Mr. Allen, of Boston, who claimed the production 
 of " fibrilia," or shortened filaments of flax and hemp. 
 
 The extended culture of flax in some portions of our country for seed alone 
 has also yielded an immense quantity of the fibre-bearing straw, which it is de- 
 sirable to utilize so as to add to the wealth of the nation. For this purpose ma- 
 chinery has been supplied in addition to the flax brakes already in use, and 
 which were especially adapted to the preparation of long-line. These machines 
 have been constructed for the purpose of breaking and of cleaning the tow, 
 without having any regard to the length of the fibre, and in some instances pur- 
 posely calculated for shortening it, by the arrangement of pickers and beaters, 
 and also of alternating rollers, that revolve in common with increasing speed 
 upon the advancing sheet of fibre as it passes through the machine. 
 
 A great variety of apparatus is employed for this purpose, but one or two 
 of the inventions need to be noticed. 
 
 One of the most powerful of these tow-machines is that of S. A. Clemens, 
 now at Chicago, Illinois, the capacity of which is such that it requires two active 
 men to supply the raw material upon the feeding-apron, and the product of 
 pretty well cleaned tow amounts to about a ton per diem. Mr. Clemens has 
 long been engaged upon flax inventions. 
 
 G. P. Davies & Co., of Dayton, Obio, have put up a machine which possesses 
 the merit of cleaning tow in a very thorough manner by purely mechanical 
 means. The fibrils are broken and divided, and reduced to a commendable 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 37 
 
 degree of fineness and shortness, so that the inventor feels confident that this 
 substance, which he calls "erolin," or flax-wool, may be spun on cotton 
 machinery. That it will work well with wool has been demonstrated. This 
 machine will be more particularly described in the section on manufactures. 
 
 CHEMICAL. 
 
 When we come to investigate the details that properly appertain to this sub- 
 division of our subject we must again observe what is the natural condition 
 of the agricultural product which is to be dealt with, its composition, and its 
 condition as it comes from the field, and thus Ave shall be prepared to appre- 
 ciate the difficulties that lie in the path of improvement, and to understand the 
 object of the various processes to which the material is subjected. 
 
 The round stalk of flax or hemp is composed of a woody heart or central 
 portion, which is hollow. Around this .column, closely packed together, and in 
 immediate contact with the woody matter to which they are intimately attached, 
 we find the delicate and strong fibres that give value to the plant. Outside of 
 these is the exterior integument or skin, called the epidermis. These fibres are 
 composed of regular bast cells, united together into filaments or bundles of 
 cells, which are connected with other filaments, and also cemented to the ad- 
 jacent tissues by a nitrogenous substance that has been called gluten; it is an 
 albuminous compound, which is extremely difficult to remove by mechanical 
 agencies. 
 
 When these stalks have been exposed to the action of the weather for some 
 length of time, the bast cells are found to be in a state of partial separation, and 
 the long fibrous material, which is gathered by the birds for the construction of 
 their nests, was no doubt very soon collected by man and applied to his pur- 
 poses. 
 
 This slow and uncertain separation of the fibres must have attracted atten- 
 tion, and there is little doubt that artificial means for accelerating and regulating 
 the process were very long ago applied ; and we now find very primitive races 
 of men making use of similar products of many plants, which are treated in 
 different ways to induce them to part with these interesting bundles of cells or 
 fibres, to be applied to economic purposes. 
 
 It is almost universally conceded that some process is necessary to prepare 
 the dry straw before attempting the separation of the fibres; a partial decom- 
 position is to be effected to set them free from the aglutinating material that 
 attaches them to the woody matter or boon constituting the stem. 
 
 This is generally effected by the process called retting, and is done by ex- 
 posing the straw to moisture, with or without artificial heat. Water-retting or 
 steeping is done by immersing the straw in tanks or pools of soft water, in 
 which a degree of fermentation is soon set up, causing the decomposition of the 
 nitrogenous matters, and rendering the woody portion short and brittle, so as to 
 be easily broken and removed, while the more tenacious fibres have resisted the 
 decomposition and retain their strength and value. Dew-retting more nearly 
 resembles the natural process of disintegration which is often observed in many 
 fibrous plants that have been exposed to the weather where they grew. 
 
 The process of retting may be considered under three different heads, In 
 the first, the separation of the fibre is effected by fermentation simply. An in- 
 cipient decomposition is made to separate the parts. This is steeping, or water- 
 retting and dew-retting. In the second, the liberation of the fibre is due to the 
 abstraction of the azotized extractive principles by the agency of chemical sol- 
 vents, which are chiefly alkalies. In the third, simple water is used, either 
 heated or introduced as steam. 
 
 In the first method fermentation is carried on at the expense of the matters 
 contained in the plant, either originating within itself, or introduced from with- 
 
38 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 out. In either case offensive and noxious products are generated by this pro- 
 cess of retting. In the second method the combining matters are removed by 
 the aid of chemical ingredients ; and by the third process the whole of these 
 substances may be preserved in a state that is useful, and that may be applied 
 as a valuable feeding material. 
 
 The process of steeping, including also dew-retting, is the one generally 
 adopted over the country, and the commonest and most ancient mode consists 
 of dew-retting. The straw is spread out upon the grass, and exposed to the 
 natural moisture of dews and rains, or it is carefully watered by artificial means, 
 so as to have a supply of moisture sufficient to set up and maintain fermentative 
 action within the tissues of the plant. This is a tedious process, requiring 
 several weeks, and in cold weather a longer period; and yet, with all its un- 
 certainties, it is a favorite method, particularly when conducted in the winter 
 season, and many manufacturers prefer snow-retted flax. The period required 
 for natural retting will depend upon the heat and humidity of the atmosphere, 
 and in a dry season this will be very much extended, and will require from 
 three to six weeks. 
 
 The usual method is that known as water-retting, when the flax-straw is im- 
 mersed in tanks or pits constructed for the purpose, where the liquid may be at 
 rest, or very slowly changed by the ingress of a small stream of water. It is 
 advised that the water used for this purpose be soft, and that it be collected in 
 a reservoir and allowed to stand for some days before being admitted to the 
 straw to be acted upon by it. Slowly moving streams of water are sometimes 
 selected for the rotting-pools, in which the flax is introduced and left until the 
 desired decomposition is effected. In Belgium, where retting constitutes a 
 distinct branch of the trade, wooden crates, twelve feet long, eight feet wide, 
 and three feet deep, are made, which, when filled with the flax, are carried into 
 the stream and weighted down, and left to be retted, and removed from the 
 water so soon as sufficient decomposition has taken place. This is done chiefly 
 in the river Lys, the water of which stream is believed to have superior qualities, 
 so that flax is brought from a great distance to be retted in it, and the product 
 is made into the finest linens, shirtings, cambrics, aud damasks. Nothing pecu- 
 liar has been discovered by analyses. A similar arrangement has been con- 
 templated by a flax company in the northwest, who are to pack their straw in 
 large crates, to be transported into the water on wagons from which they can 
 be unloaded, left there till retted, and then removed by the same wagons and 
 transported to the drying grounds. 
 
 In the tanks or pools, whether these be in the open air or under the cover of 
 buildings, the flax is placed nearly upright, inclined, but loose; the water, is let 
 in, and the straw is weighted down to keep it under. This weight often needs 
 to be increased during the progress of fermentation, which is indicated by the 
 appearance of scum upon the surface of the liquid, and by the escape of bub- 
 bles of gaseous matters extricated below, and by the rising of the bundles above 
 the surface of the water. 
 
 Constant care is required in this process, that it be not carried too far, and 
 result in the destruction of the valuable fibre as well as that of the foreign 
 matters associated with it. Close attention must be paid to the condition of the 
 straw, and at this stage repeated trials should be made to ascertain if it be 
 sufficiently retted, when it must be immediately removed from the vat, for a 
 little too much retting will destroy the value of the fibre. Experience is neces- 
 sary to enable the workman to decide when the proper period is reached, and 
 this matter is usually intrusted to one who has made himself an expert, and 
 who has the necessary judgment. If the fermentation have not been carried 
 far enough, the fibre will be coarse and harsh; but, if overdone, though soft 
 and fine, it will be tender, and there will be great loss in tow when the flax is 
 heckled. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 39 
 
 Steeping in pools is not so slow and tedious a process as dew-rotting, but 
 still considerable time is required, generally from ten to fourteen days, according 
 to the temperature; but in streams, which are still colder than the ponds in 
 which the fermentative action affects the temperature, from two to three weeks 
 will be required. In all cases much depends upon the quality of the water and 
 upon the temperature. Impurities, such as lime and iron, are considered in- 
 jurious, and thought to retard the fermentation as well as to injure the fibre. 
 
 Schenck's process depends upon the use of hot water, by which the fermen- 
 tative process is hastened, and yet it may be controlled. By this plan a saving 
 of time is effected, as from seventy-two hours for the fine qualities, to ninety- 
 six for the coarse, is all that is needed, instead of two or three weeks. This 
 process will be explained in detail upon another page. 
 
 Chemical methods. — Mauy plans have been devised for dissolving out the ex- 
 tractive matters of the straw by the use of chemi.cal agents, both acids and 
 alkalies ; even weak solutions of these substances are found to have this desired 
 effect. Their action is accelerated by temperature. The Chevalier Claussen 
 patented a process for this purpose, which will be considered in detail in the 
 section of this report which will be devoted to the consideration of the claims 
 and merits of flax-cotton. 
 
 All of these processes for the separation of the filaments from the wood and 
 from one another will be understood when we recollect the nature of the inter- 
 stitial substance that unites them. Being nitrogenous, it acts as afermentwhen 
 exposed to a gentle heat and moisture, either in the retting vat or in the open 
 field. The elements of decay are present, only awaiting circumstances favora- 
 ble to the establishment of that process. In the case of chemical agencies their 
 action depends upon the solvent power which alkalies exercise upon the inter- 
 cellular matter combining the celli% and cell-bundles into the fibres and filaments 
 that we desire to separate. 
 
 In the processes next to be mentioned, though a separation be effected, it is 
 important to recollect that certain elements of destruction are still left in the 
 fibre thus treated, which are liable at any future period to undergo fermentation 
 if they be subjected to circumstances favoring such action. 
 
 Hot water. — The use of simple solvents, such as water or steam, remain to 
 be considered as agencies to remove the foreign matters from the fibre and to 
 cause its ready separation from the stalks or boon. By the use of such means 
 we find the process accelerated, and as we have no fermentative action, we not 
 only avoid the noxious and disagreeable effluvia and exhalations, but we save 
 the use of expensive and sometimes dangerous chemicals ; there is less prospect 
 of injuring the fibre, and the products of the operation are found to be valuable. 
 This is called Watt's method, and will be fully described on another page. 
 
 This method presents a great advantage in saving of time, as it only requires 
 thirty-six hours from the commencement until the flax is dried and scutched 
 ready for market. There is also claimed a great saving of fibre, for the product 
 was found to be 18 lbs. of fibre per cwt. of crude straw, or 26| lbs. per cwt. of 
 the steeped and dried straw, which by this process had already been divested 
 of a large portion of its original matter, washed out with water. 
 
 Hitherto the first four processes in dealing with the crop of flax have been 
 the separation of the seed from the straw, the steeping of the straw, and the 
 drying afterwards, and the separation of the fibre by breaking and scutching. 
 These operations have been agricultural, whereas they ought to have been 
 manufacturing processes. It is manifest that all of them may be performed 
 Toiuch more systematically and economically in the routine of a factory, with 
 practiced hands, than could be done by the slovenly laborers of the farm. 
 
 Mr. Ward urges the Irish farmer to confine himself to growing the flax and 
 to harvesting it in proper condition ; when the crop should pass into other 
 hands, who, with more efficient aid, would convert it into a better quality of 
 
40 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 fibre. If the farmer performed his part judiciously, which he is more likely to 
 do by omitting subsequent processes, manufactories could be introduced which 
 would be beneficial to him. If the straw be not carefully harvested its fibre will 
 be lessened in value to a large extent ; this loss no subsequent treatment, how- 
 ever judicious, can possibly obviate. If, therefore, an improved method of prep- 
 aration be introduced, it must, in a great measure, depend upon the co-opera- 
 tion of the farmer. 
 
 From report of Juries at the International Exhibition 1851. 
 
 ' ' Schenck's method has been introduced into Ireland and found economical of time and 
 labor. The Royal Society at Belfast recommend it highly. Mr. McAdarn, secretary of this 
 society, gives the following account of it : 
 
 " Simple wooden sheds contain the vats and drying shelves. In one end of the buildings 
 are four vats ; these are made of inch deal, fifty-six feet long, six feet broad, and four feet 
 deep. There are false bottoms perforated with holes ; underneath these are steam-pipes 
 crossing the vats and having stop-cocks, to let on or cut off the steam as' required. This is 
 generated in a small boiler, which also works the two hydro-extractors, which drive off a 
 portion of the water as the flax comes from the vat. The flax is packed in these vats on 
 the butt end, half sloping, only one layer deep ; then the water is let on, while a frame on 
 top confines the straw in its position. The steam is let in by turning the stop-cock, and the 
 w r ater is eighteen or twenty hours in becoming heated to eighty-five or ninety degrees ; when 
 fermentation commences no more steam is required, but the process continues forty hours, 
 or sixty hours from the commencement, when the flax will be perfectly retted. If the water 
 be heated before it is put into the flax, or if the temperature be raised above ninety degrees, 
 the process is not hastened, but the fermentation is rather retarded. The gradual heating of 
 the water is necessary if we wish to preserve the quality and color and to have a uniform 
 retting. 
 
 " When thus retted the flax is taken out and the vat is emptied and cooled for the reception 
 of a fresh charge of straw, water, and steam as before. As taken from the vat, the flax is 
 placed in the hydro-extractor, where it is rotated rapidly to displace the water by the centri- 
 fugal force. From thirty handfuls placed in this apparatus twenty pounds of water are ex- 
 pelled in from three to five minutes, so that a few hours suffice to treat the contents of one 
 vat, amounting to two tons of the flax straw. The flax is dried of its remaining moisture in 
 the summer by spreading it, upon the grass, but in winter it is spread thinly upon lattice 
 shelves, protected by a shed that is heated by steam pipes ; the shed should hold the contents 
 of one vat daily ; when dried the flax should be made up into small beets or handfuls suitable 
 for feeding into the rollers of the breaking machine. 
 
 ' "Such an establishment can ret about ten vats per week, equal to twenty tons of straw, 
 producing two and a half to three tons of fibre, thus making 120 to 150 tons of flax ready 
 for market annually, the produce of 400 or 500 statute acres. 
 
 "The saving in time accomplished by this process is not attended by any depreciation of 
 quality or loss of material in the manufactured article. This is thus corroborated by the 
 Belfast Society. The doubts raised as to Schenck's process were, let, that the yield of fibre 
 would be less than the ordinary mode of steeping ; 2d, that flax so prepared would be 
 weakened ; and 3d, that linen made from it would not bleach properly. Experience has 
 proved that the last two are altogether baseless. As respects the first objection, we are 
 of the opinion that, either by the common method or by Schenck's, the yield of fibre will bo 
 lessened if the fermentation be allowed to proceed too far. The uniformity of temperature 
 insured by the latter would induce the belief that the yield of fibre should be increased. This 
 is borne out by two experiments. In the one conducted at Lisburne by Mr. Davison in 1847, 
 112 pounds of flax straw, after steeping and drying in the ordinary way, gave twenty pounds 
 of scutched fibre ; and 112 pounds steeped by Schenck's process and dried gave twenty-four 
 pounds, an increased yield of twenty per cent. In another experiment 112 pounds of straw 
 gave, by the old process, fourteen pounds five ounces, and as much, by Schenck's process, 
 yielded seventeen pounds eleven and a quarter ounces, or twenty-three and a half per cent, 
 in favor of the latter. As respects the quality of the fibre the result was equally favorable to 
 the Schenck process. In the first experiment, the flax steeped in the ordinary Avay spun to 
 ninety-six lea yarn, that by Schenck's spun to one hundred and one lea. In the second, the 
 ordinary gave sixty lea, Schenck's seventy lea." 
 
 Watt's method. — The flax straw is delivered at the null dry and with the seed. The seed is 
 separated by metal rollers and afterwards cleaned. The straw is placed in cast-iron close 
 chambers, laid upon a false bottom of iron, and when the doors are closed tightly steam is 
 thrown among the straw. The first effect is to drive off certain volatile parts that, with the 
 water, are caught in the condenser placed above, and returned upon the straw ; as this fluid 
 accumulates, with portions of the extractive matter from the straw, it is drawn off from time 
 to time. After being thus treated from eight to twelve hours, during which the resinous 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 41 
 
 matters are removed from the straw by the water, it is taken from the chamber and passed 
 through rollers that separate most of the water and split it longitudinally and crush the Doom. 
 It is then dried and in a few hours it is ready for scutching. — Condensed from Society's report. 
 
 The chairman of the committee of the society for the promotion of the growth of flax in 
 Ireland gives the following account of the result of his investigations : 
 
 "A quantity of straw was taken weighing 13f cwt. After removing the seed, which, 
 when cleaned, measured 3 J imperial bushels, the remaining straw weighed 10 cwt., 1 qr., 
 21 lbs. It was then placed in the vat and subjected to the steaming process for eleven 
 hours; after steeping, wet-rolling, and drying, it weighed 7 cwt. 11 lbs., on being scutched 
 the yield was J 87 lbs. of flax fibre, and of scutching tow 12 lbs. 6| oz. fine, and 35 lbs. 
 3 oz. coarse. The yield of fibre in the state of good flax was, therefore, at the rate of 13£ 
 pounds from the hundredweight of straw, with the seed ; 18 pounds from the hundredweight 
 of threshed straw ; 164; pounds from the hundredweight of steeped and dried straw, equal, 
 respectively, to 12, 16, and 14^ per cent. The time occupied in the actual labor in the processes 
 after removing the seeds from the flax was 13£ hours, beside the eleven hours consumed in 
 steaming and the time spent in drying. The scutching by four stands occupied six hours 
 sixteen minutes. Thirty-six hours is supposed to be the time necessary to perform all the 
 processes, reducing straw into clean fibre. When sent to the spinning mills to be heckled and 
 valued it was declared to bo quite satisfactory to the hecklers, and worth from £56 to £70 
 per ton. 
 
 " The committee concaive that the most prominent and novel feature of this plan consists 
 in the substitution of maceration or softening for fermentation. In the steeping of flax, both 
 by cold and hot water, the gum is separated by being decomposed, while on Watt's system 
 the maceration simply loosened the cuticle and gum, which are further separated mechanically 
 by the crushing, and which, after the drying of the straw, readily part with the wood in 
 scutching." 
 
 The water from these vats is found to be nutritious instead of noxious, as is 
 the case with common retting when it becomes putrid from decomposition. It 
 is only an infusion of the gums, and is used with the chaff of the seed bolls 
 for feeding swine, and thus may be returned to the soil in the manure they 
 produce instead of becoming a nuisance. 
 
 The following is a statement of the amounts of labor and time occupied in 
 the process : 
 
 Process. Persons. 
 Seeding 4 men, 8 women ] 
 
 Placing in vat 3 do 
 
 Cleaning seed 1 do 
 
 Taking out of vat 2 do 
 
 Wet-rolling and placing in dry room 1 do 
 
 Robing for scutching do 
 
 Strieking for scutching do 
 
 4 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 do 
 
 3 
 
 do 
 
 16 
 
 do 
 
 11 
 
 do 
 
 7 
 
 do 
 
 49 
 
 
 
 
 do 
 
 Hre. 
 
 Min. 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 
 15 
 
 3 
 
 00 
 
 
 30 
 
 2 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 47 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 Total 11 
 
 Scutching 4 do 
 
 Professor Hodge stated to the British association for the advancement of 
 science that — 
 
 "This new method which is in operation at the extensive works of Messrs. Leadbetter, 
 Belfast, appears to offer striking advantages. It is peculiarly adapted for rendering the 
 separation of the fibre a manufacturing operation. No disagreeable odors are evolved, and if 
 experience confirms the expectation of the patentees with respect to the quality of the fibre 
 obtained, and if the cheapness of the plan be demonstrated the new process will contribute 
 largely to the extension of flax culture in this country. The utilization of the residual liquor 
 is another argument in favor of Watt's plan. " 
 
 Experiments as to the comparative value of fibre prepared by steeping in the 
 old way, and by Watt's method, give the following results : Watt's process in 
 one set of experiments gave forty-five per cent, more of scutched fibre, and was 
 considered worth o£10 more per ton. In another set of experiments the green 
 straw yielded twenty per cent, more of scutched fibre ; the dry straw yielded 
 seventy-five per cent, more of fibre. 
 
 Breaking without retting. — The commissioners have found several machines 
 that will break and clean the unretted flax straw, and they desire to say a few 
 words upon this subject, as obviating the necessity of this troublesome and 
 
42 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 expensive process, would appear to be a great desideratum in the culture and 
 production of fibrous plants. In a valuable paper upon this subject by 0. S. 
 Leavitt, in the Patent Office Report for 1861, the following statements occur: 
 
 " In 1812 Lee took out a patent in England for a machine and process for breaking and 
 working flax straw in the natural or unretted condition ; and so important did Parliament 
 consider the invention that the peculiar privilege was accorded to the inventor of having his 
 specification filed for seven years in the secret archives of the government. This plan con- 
 templated making linens entirely by the dry process. The Irish linen board expended £6,000 
 in their endeavors to introduce it into the flax districts. In 1817 the same was patented by 
 Hill and Bundy. Other similar attempts were made on the continent, and all failed for the 
 following, among other reasons : 
 
 ' ' 1 st. The breaking machines were very imperfect ; greatly inferior to those which have 
 been of late worked with better success in this country. 
 
 "2d. The flax, broken out and cleaned in the most perfect manner, in the unretted condition, 
 is coarse, harsh, and totally unfit for fine yarns, on account of the great cohesive force of the 
 glutinous matter connecting the filaments so firmly that no heckling, brushing, or other 
 mechanical means can separate them sufficiently for fine numbers. What may, in this condi- 
 tion, appear to be but a single filament, will, upon close examination, prove to be a bundle of 
 filaments, cemented together by the incrusting matter. 
 
 3d. It was found that in attempting to divide the harls sufficiently many were ruptured, 
 making a far greater proportion of tow than by the retting process, while the tow was of a 
 very inferior quality — merely wide harls, with more or less adhering shives. Many harls 
 were torn off abruptly, making what the spinners call stumpy ends, and the whole very 
 harsh, and only suitable for inferior rope-yarn. 
 
 4th. By neglecting, as many did, to boil their yarns or goods properly in an alkaline solu- 
 tion, the azotized incrusting matter, when exposed to moisture, would cause the goods to 
 mildew and decay more rapidly than when made from retted flax ; but this was not the main 
 cause of failure in working unretted flax, as many have alleged." 
 
 With the improved brakes now in use we have seen unretted straw 
 broken very nicely, though there is always an amount of tearing of the fila- 
 ments that must damage the material for the preparation of long-line ; even if 
 the fibre be exposed to the solvent action of alkaline solutions, the amount of 
 tow is necessarily increased. For some of the processes to which these fibres 
 are now exposed in their preparation for spinning as shortened fibres, however, 
 we conceive that these objections are overruled, seeing that our brakes are more 
 perfect ; the design is to prepare and to use shortened fibres ; and in the later 
 operations of disintegrating the filaments, the material is exposed to suitable 
 solvents of the incrusting or interstitial matters which are entirely removed. 
 
 Mr. Ward gives an account of a mill at Trebolgan, Ireland, where seven 
 hundred hands are employed, and where the flax is broken in the dry way.* 
 The flax is first taken from the stack to the mill, where it is seeded, by passing 
 the straw through rollers and then beatiug it against timbers. It is then dried 
 in a room artificially heated, and passed through the breaking machine, which 
 prepares it for scutching. When the shives have been separated by the 
 scutcher, and the fibre is brought to the desired state, it is tied up in bundles. 
 This is the largest mill in Ireland, using an engine of twenty-five horse-power. 
 The tow is also cleaned by machinery and rendered marketable. The pro- 
 prietor, Mr. E. B. Roche, has a great advantage in the combination of this 
 factory with his farm, as all the refuse may thus be consumed. The corn- 
 bam is attached to the mill so as to have the use of the steam-power for 
 threshing and winnowing. Near the engine are arrangements for cooking food 
 for the cattle, which is done with the waste steam, by means of which from ten 
 to twenty tons of mangold wurtzel may be prepared at ouce. The condensed 
 steam is saved to mix with the flax bolls, as a very rich food. The shives 
 from the straw thus treated in the dry state without retting are not only useful 
 as fuel, but are found to be nutritious, and are valuable as food in combination 
 with the steamed roots, with which they aid digestion. An oil mill, in addition, 
 is all that the establishment needs to make it complete. 
 
 'Condensed from Ward's treatise. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 43 
 
 The Belfast society say in regard to this method : 
 
 " It is sufficiently obvious that so simple a mode of obtaining flax fihre as its mechanical 
 separation from the stems of the plant must have been the earliest methods adopted when 
 this substance was first used for textile purposes. It is probable that accident first made 
 known the fact that by immersing "the flax stems in water, when above a certain tempera- 
 ture, the fibre could be divested of impurities by the decomposition of the foreign matters, 
 which, with the woody portion of the stem, are united to it. In 1815 the Irish linen board 
 adopted the dry preparation, then brought forward by Mr. Lee, and their it-cords show that 
 its principle was almost identical with Donlan's. After expending £6,000, the board aban- 
 doned it on account of insuperable defects. In 1~16 Mr. Pollard, of Manchester, pro- 
 posed to make an article from flax by a dry method which could be spun on cotton machinery. 
 This also fell to the ground. The committee state as their opinion ' that the fatal defect 
 of the dry methods is the retention by the fibre of the gummy and resinous matter incorpo- 
 rated with it. This, being subject to fermentation at moderate temperatures if moistened, 
 and to decomposition by alkalies and acids, is not only useless, but absolutely pernicious, if 
 thus retained, since, in the process of manufacture, it is exposed to these agencies.' And 
 further they state that the matter may be summed up thus: 'In the retted flax a nearly 
 pure fibrous matter is produced, and the material is thus in the fittest state for spinning even 
 yarn and making good linen. In the dry worked llax, along with the fibre is combined a 
 foreign substance, which must be got rid of afterwards, to the detriment of the spun and 
 woven fabrics.' " 
 
 The following very interesting view upon this subject is taken from the 
 reports of juries at the London exhibition : 
 
 " During the last few years great efforts have been made to extend and improve the man- 
 ufacture of this valuable fibre in various parts of the world. The increase under the last 
 head in the preceding table for 1849 is chiefly due to the importation of flax from Egypt. 
 It must be remembered thatflu addition to the above-mentioned quantity of flax annually im- 
 ported, the manufacturers of England have consumed rather more than a quarter as much 
 again, cultivated in various parts of the British empire, chiefly in Ireland. This proportion 
 has als.o considerably increased during the last twenty }'ears, and a most marked improve- 
 ment in the quality of the flax itself has also been produced ; a change in great measure to 
 be traced to the persevering and most praiseworthy efforts of the Royal Society for the Pro- 
 motion and Improvement of Flax in Ireland. The value of flax depends, in part, on the 
 climate and soil in which it is cultivated, and in part, also, on the mode in which the fibre is 
 prepared, on th« care and skill in which the process is conducted, and on the constant and 
 vigilant attention which is paid to it through the various stages of the operation. According 
 to its quality, its value varies from about 40 pounds to 18(1 pounds per ton. 
 
 Another circumstance which has given a considerable impetus to the cultivation of flax, 
 and is likely to produce, ere long, even yet more marked effects, is the introduction of the 
 late R. B. Schenck's new process of steeping. 
 
 "Many different modifications and peculiar modes of retting"are followed in the various flax 
 districts of Belgium, Holland, and France, and in different localities dissimilar modes of ret- 
 ting have long been in use, often invo.ving very considerable variations in principle. Thus, 
 at Courtrai, the flax crop is dried in the field and stored for some months in barns before it 
 undergoes the process of retting in the river Lys. Iu the district of Waes it is retted imme- 
 diately after being gathered, the green stems being at once thrown into pits of sta^naut 
 water. As, however, the whole operation, in every kind of water retting, depends on the 
 amount of fermentation produced, (which must be enough to insure the decomposition of the 
 glutinous matter, but not enough to cause any injury to the fibre.) the process is necessarily 
 slow, tedious, and very uncertain, especially towards the close of the operation, because then 
 the flax must be most carefully watched, in order to put a stop to the fermentation as soon as 
 the desired effect is produced. A slight chauge of tempature, or a few hours' exposure, when 
 the fermentation is complete, may produce the most disastrous effects, the fibre being, in fact, 
 ruined Dew-retting is, of course, even slower than water- retting, depending, as it neces- 
 sarily does, on the nature of the season, and being greatly retarded by long continued dry 
 weather. In the very dry autumn of 181') it was found impossible to prepare flax by this 
 method, and recourse was obliged to be had to other methods of retting " 
 
 "During the last half century various attempts have been made to effect tho separation of 
 the fibrous from the woody portion of the flax stem by chemical and mechanical means. In 
 several cases the results ut hist appeared to be very promising; but in every instance it was 
 soon found that there were insuperable practical objections, which more than counterbalanced 
 the advantages. Among chemical agents solutions of .sulphuric acid, caustic potash, caustic 
 soda, quicklime, and soft soap were all in turn tried and discarded ; and among mechanical 
 processes the ingenious contrivances of Mr. James Lee and Messrs. Hill & Bundy shared 
 the same fate. 
 
 "In 1817, and, therefore, before the publication of Lee's specification, Messrs. Hill & 
 Bundy took out their patent for machinery for breaking and preparing raw flax and hemp. 
 The rival claims of these two inventors were investigated in ltilT by a committee of tho 
 
44 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 House of Commons; but whatever may have been the comparative merit of the two processes 
 in the course of a very few years both were relinquished and forgotten. Since that time 
 various other ingenious mechanical arrangements have been devised, but hitherto they have 
 had very little success. 
 
 "Schenck's process, for which he obtained a patent in 1846, is undoubtedly a very import- 
 ant improvement. It consists merely in steeping the flax stems in warm water, heated arti- 
 ficially to the temperature best suited to fermentation. By this simple means tbe operation 
 is rendered rapid and certain, all uncertainty from fluctuations in the temperature and weather 
 is avoided, and the whole process is entirely under the command of the manufacturer. The 
 temperature best suited for this purpose is about 50°, or from 80° to nearly 90°; above this 
 point the process proceeds too rapidly, and the fibre is almost sure to be more or less injured. 
 The time required is from seventy to ninety hours. 
 
 '"From the facts and evidence brought forward by various independent exhibitors, it ap- 
 pears satisfactorily proved that the warm-water steeping increases the percentage of fibre 
 obtained from the flax stem over that obtained by the old modes of retting by nearly one-fifth; 
 and that, whilst the fineness and spinning qualities of the fibre are increased, the strength is 
 in no way weakened or diminished, unless the process be permitted to proceed too far, an 
 effect which need never happen, from the complete control over it which the manufacturer 
 has throughout. Although there is no doubt as to the practical value of the use of warm 
 water in flax-retting, yet the introduction of Schenck's process is far from removing all the 
 difficulties of the flax manufacture. Much still remains to be effected, and it is by no means 
 improbable that ere long a yet more perfect process may be devised. 
 
 L 'It is interesting to observe that the use of warm water in the preparation of vegetable 
 fibre is not altogether new, it having been long employed by the Malays, and by the. natives 
 of Rungpoor, in Bengal. The process adopted at Bencooien is stated by Dr. Campbell to 
 consist in steeping the steins of the hemp in warm water, in which ft is allowed to remain for 
 two days and nights. The old German process called 'Molkeurost,' sometimes used in pre- 
 paring the finer sorts of flax, is also, to some extent, au application of the same principle. 
 In this mode of retting, the flax was steeped for four or five days in a warm mixture of milk 
 and water, and thus the desired degree of fermentation in the flax stems was produced. This 
 operation must bo distinguished from the more modern one, in which sour milk was used in 
 order to give a good color to linen, a process introduced by the Dutch towards the middle of 
 the last century. The linen was boiled in a weak alkaline lye, and subsequently treated 
 with sour buttermilk, for the purpose of aiding in removing the alkali, and dissolving the 
 earthy impurities present in the fibre. Occasionally, also, salt of sorrel was used for the 
 same purpose, and in 1775 Reuss states that sulphuric and muriatic acids might be used for 
 the same purpose ; but that being too costly, they had not as yet come into general use. Of 
 course, all processes in which boiling, or even hot, water is used are quite different in their 
 mode of action from those in which only warm water is employed. When boiling water is 
 used it is with a view of dissolving and removing the useless matters which incrust the 
 fibrous part of the plant, whilst, on the other hand, warm water is used to soften them, and 
 to aid in their putrefaction or decomposition, through the agency of fermentation. In J787 
 much interest was excited in Ireland by the publication of a plan for improving the retting 
 of flax by the action of hot water. In this scheme it was proposed to scald the flax stems in 
 boiling water to soften them, and to remove a portion of the extraneous vegetable matters 
 which they contain, and it was conceived that after this treatment the subsequent retting of 
 the flax would be more rapid, certain, and manageable, so that time would be saved, the 
 noisome process of pond-retting be obviated, and the result be to yield a stronger and whiter 
 fibre. The minute and careful experiments of .Hermbstaedt, on the chemical principles in- 
 volved in the retting of flax, (made about the beginning of the present century,) threw much 
 light on the whole subject, anil to some extent indicated the influence of temperature on the 
 success of the operation." 
 
 Aid of chemistry. — Without the aid of chemistry it would have been impos- 
 sible for textile fabrics to have attained their present development. The bleach- 
 ing of cotton and linen was not much practiced in England until about a century 
 since ; before that time they were sent to Holland, where the operation of 
 bleaching consisted in steeping them in potash for a few days, afterwards for a 
 week in buttermilk, and then exposing them for several months on a meadow 
 to the influence of the sun and moisture. A great improvement was made in 
 Scotland, by substituting sulphuric acid for sour milk ; and the immediate 
 effect was to reduce the time from eight to four months. In 1785 a French 
 chemist suggested the use of chlorine as a means of hastening the process, and 
 in the last year of the eighteenth century a compound of this gas, with lime, 
 was introduced by Tennant, of Scotland. The development of the cotton manu- 
 facture now became immense. By a happy adaptation of other chemical pro- 
 cesses, in conjunction with the bleaching power of chlorine, the time required 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 45 
 
 for the whitening of cotton and linen fabrics was at once reduced from months 
 to hours, while the miles of outstretched calico, defacing the verdure of country 
 districts, disappeared, the whole operation being carried on within the small 
 space of an ordinary factory. The bleaching of calico now consists of a chemi- 
 cal operation of great precision* 
 
 In the last edition of Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures we find this 
 branch of the subject very fully handled. The writer does not recommend the 
 use of mechanical means without retting, because of the loss that must ensue 
 afterwards in the processes of bleaching, &c, and for other reasons. The brief 
 abstract, of various attempts to break unretted stock, refers the first to Lee, of 
 England, in 1S15. Pollard, at Manchester, resorted to a similar plan in 1816 
 with no better success. In France and Belgium similar plans were tried, and 
 found impracticable. In 1850 and 1857 Donlan revived the project, but the 
 same fatal objections prevented success. The fibre was loaded with impurities 
 that made the apparently greater yield, all of which had to be got rid of after- 
 wards. It is admitted that the " dry separateM" material may be useful in 
 manufactures where no bleaching is required, and where strength is needed. To 
 the remaining forcible objection that the elements' of decay are present in the 
 fibre, it is claimed that such material may be used in the preparation of coarse 
 fabrics like tarpaulins, that are to be invested with a protecting coat of tar, or 
 for such as may be subjected to the kyanizing process. 
 
 Witli all these facts before us, we could but look with hesitating approval 
 upon the claims of Mallory & Sanford, that their machines could break unretted 
 flax. The specimens before us were quite satisfactory, it is true, excepting that 
 we found some breaking of the harls, and a harshness arising from the presence 
 of the dry glutinous matter among the fibres ; but the boon had been thoroughly 
 broken up, and the shives were well separated from the fibre both in the con- 
 tributions to the museum and in green unretted stock that was broken upon the 
 machine before our eyes. The rupture of the filaments must result in an increase 
 of tow in the scutching and heckling processes, and, moreover, the elements of 
 destruction would, to a certain extent, still remain among the fibre, ready to 
 cause a change whenever exposed to the requisite degree of heat and moisture, 
 so that the use of flax from unretted stock appeared to be limited to a few sub- 
 ordinate branches of the arts. Our attention was next directed to the use of 
 this material in some of the different modes of preparing flax cotton, and we are 
 happy to be able to report most favorably upon the results so far as they have 
 been reached, for it appears that the unretted fibre is much more easily treated 
 in the processes of disintegration, and that the product needs no additional 
 bleaching, whereas the blue or gray tint consequent upon retting is known to be 
 very difficult to eradicate. 
 
 At the International Exhibition held at London, in 1S62, the jury make the 
 following remarks in their report upon flax and hemp : " These important fibres 
 are exhibited on a large scale, and in many instances the samples show the 
 results of admirable management. Both have been prepared by all the various 
 methods which have been invented for separating the fibres, except the empiri- 
 cal one, which, in 1851, led a majority of the jury to award a medal to Chevalier 
 Claussen." 
 
 Belgium stands first, with its beautiful flax fibres; then northern France, 
 Italy, Russia, and Hungary. Hemp is best shown by Italy; next, Hungary, 
 Russia, France, and Germany. 
 
 From Canada, (Toronto,) cold-water retted, middling quality, mill-scutched, 
 and being ripened for seed, is not very strong. 
 
 From Newfoundland tolerably good, but much injured by a very injudicious 
 operation, namely, dressing it with oil, a practice which is calculated to depre- 
 
 * Watts's pamphlet. 
 
46 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 ciate it rather than to raise its value in the eyes of those skilled to judge such 
 materials. 
 
 New South "Wales — Linum angustifolium, (native.) — The jury believe that 
 at no distant period it may become an important product of the colony. Also 
 from Tasmania, Queensland, and Victoria, the same. 
 
 Hemp. — Among the French hemps was one from Messrs. Leoni & Cobleng, 
 who have introduced a practice of preparing it without retting, using mechanical 
 means for disintegrating the stalk and separating the fibre from the bark and 
 medullary matter. The hemp so prepared appeared to be of a very useful 
 quality, but it requires long and extensive experiments to prove that the strength 
 and durability of the fibre are unimpaired by this process. 
 
 Italian hemp ranks highest in the exhibition ; irrigation used. 
 
 Garden hemp of Italy, fibre six feet long, the color light and bright, and the 
 fibre beautifully soft and flexible. 
 
 They represent the product of the European provinces of Russia to be — 
 flax, 165,000 tons; hemp, 103,000 tons. 
 
 Export of Russia, annual average, from 1846 to 1860: 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Flax cleaned 55,777 
 
 Tow and codilla 10,747 
 
 Hemp cleaned 44,087 
 
 Tow and codilla 20,001 
 
 Hempen yarn for cordage 19,980 
 
 Total 150,592 
 
 200 tons go eastward. 
 
 The high character of this product is owing to water-retting, which is universal, 
 and to hand-scutching ; no machine process is used. 
 
 The finest flax has been produced in Russia, equal even to the Courtrai of 
 Belgium. 
 
 Tons. Tons. 
 
 In Austria, in 1860, the amount of hemp grown.. 50,000 Flax.. 100,000 
 Excess imports over exports 2,400 3,000 
 
 Totals 52,400 103,000 
 
 Spain, very short staple. 
 
 They found that Schenck's process of steeping in hot water is employed with 
 advantage in Silesia. 
 
 What generally struck the attention of the jury were the fibres, yarns, and 
 cloth of attractive appearance and superior quality obtained from ordinary flax 
 treated by the Belgian process of Leiebure. The fibres thus prepared keep the 
 regularity, the brightness, and the strength which are characteristic of superior 
 finished yarns. They are refined, divided, and prepared in such a manner that 
 the yarns and cloth made from them are sufficiently white for partial bleach, 
 without being creamed. The jury found some tow yarn as fine as 150 leas from 
 France, and some English still higher. There were also some yarns 520 leas, 
 very fine ; 350 is limit of fineness, generally used for practical purposes. They 
 report great progress in mill-spun products since previous exhibition, especially 
 by the French. 
 
 In Courtrai they are superior in hand-spun yarns, reaching 800 and 1,000 
 leas, but these are only used for the most expensive laces. 
 
 M. Alcan, the reporter, on behalf of the jury, explains why the flax manufac- 
 ture has remained almost stationary, while the manufacture of some other 
 etxtiles has wonderfully increased : 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 47 
 
 "We notice, in the first place, that though flax is a material most easily adapted for spin- 
 ning yarns, being produced by hand labor quite equal to silk in fineness, and though the 
 raw material of flax in the state of fibre is about the same price as the better kinds of cotton, 
 the yarns produced from flax by machinery, taken in equal length for the same weight of 
 fibre, appear to cost the most of all. We must also acknowledge that it is with the greatest 
 difficulty that flax-spinners have been able to produce by machinery yarns of an extreme 
 fineness, though still inferior in this respect to the fineness of the cotton yarns. As a princi- 
 ple the fundamental operations for the spinning, except perhaps the preparation of the raw 
 material, aro the same for all fibrous substances. The combing or carding, the drawing and 
 spinning, constitute, without any important distinction, these various operations, still such 
 will cost much more for some one of these materials than for others, even though this material 
 may not possess a nature deficient in spinning qualities. 
 
 "The cause of this difference is that the more costly fabric is produced from material which 
 is worked with greater practical difficulty, and requires more effort to complete ; this is espe- 
 cially the case with the flax, the machinery for which must be decidedly stronger than that 
 used for cotton, and the whole flax-spinning system must also have much more steam power 
 applied, in consequence of the flax fibre not being sufficiently purified and freed from all 
 heterogeneous substances, which, of course, present an obstacle to the sliding or drawing, the 
 base of all spinning operations. On the present occasion we shall endeavor to give some 
 explanation on the subject of steeping flax, this being the principal process by which more or 
 less softness or purification of the fibre may be obtained. 
 
 "The great fault of the flax fibre is the excessive quantity of gum, which is not extracted 
 by the present steeping process ; when a new process shall have been discovered to remove 
 completely this objection, there is no reason why flax fibre should not be spun as easily and 
 as fine as cotton. It is to be hoped, also, that by such improvement we may eventually obtain 
 a class of yarns more elastic, and that the cloth made from them may weave more readily, 
 and in the end give greater satisfaction and durability. If we pass from the flax fibre to 
 that of hemp and other similar substances, we find tho hemp inferior to flax in softness and 
 minuteness of subdivision, making it more difficult to spin ; we find also that China-grass has 
 the same defect in a much higher degree, while it is also much more costly. If jute manu- 
 factures have made such rapid progress it can bo easily accounted for by the low cost of 
 material, combined with a considerable amount of spinning quality. 
 
 "We may remark, before concLuding these reflexions, that great attention is now being 
 given to the flax-steeping process, and in consequence the real cause of the difficulty of the 
 fibre for spinning, as explained above, has thus become every day more generally known. 
 We may hope, therefore, that at no late date the process of steeping wWl be improved to an 
 extent equal to the great progress which the other manufactures, dependent on the aid of 
 chemistry, have lately made. The Lefebiue process, and the products thus prepared, as well 
 as some other attempts in the same direction, constitute an important step, which causes us 
 to anticipate some advantageous results from a more perfect and rational mode of steeping. 
 Having so fully referred to the steeping process, the importance of which can scarcely be 
 exaggerated, we ruay remark, in conclusion, that the greatly enhanced cost of flax during late 
 years has caused a considerable advance in the cost of all kinds of pure linen goods, which 
 fact has, without doubt, in some degree, contributed towards the want of advance in the linen 
 trade, which has already been referred to. By extending the cultivation of the flax plant to 
 some other countries, greater cheapness in the cost of the raw material may be attained. We 
 believe the north of Europe is well adapted, by climate and by cheapness of labor, as well 
 as inexpensive soil, for a greater extent of this cultivation, and can hope so desirable an 
 object will not be lost sight of." 
 
 Letter from E. Towne. 
 
 Utica, N. Y., February 22, 1884. 
 
 The sample marked 1 was manufactured from fine tow, as made by flax dressers, which 
 contained nearly fifty per cent, of slaves and dust ; the latter were mostly separated by a 
 machine called a willow, or duster, but leaving some shives so firmly attached to the fibre that 
 it was next subjected to tho picker, which removed most of the balance of the shives, and 
 also broke or shortened the length of the fibres. The cleaned tow was then boiled in an 
 alkaline ley for eight hours, then, after being well washed, was steeped in dissolved chloride 
 of lime twelve hours, then drained, then put in sour liquor for two hours, then washed in 
 clean water, then the boiling, steeping, &c, in new-made liquor repeated. 
 
 If, at this stage, the fibres bo not found of desirable fineness, they may be further divided 
 by soaking in a strong solution of bicarbonate of soda, and then in a sour liquor. It is 
 deemed best not to divide the fibres too much in the earlier stages of bleaching, as thereby 
 they would b© weakened so a - ich as to break more in bleaching. 
 
 After being dried, the matte J fibres are separated by passing through a picker, or strong 
 cards, made for the purpose. 
 
 The loss in weight by full bleaching clean dew-rotted tow, including the loss in dust and 
 light particles, is about thirty-seven and one-half to forty per cent. 
 
48 SUBSTITUTING FLAX- OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 Valuing tow, as it comes from the flax-dressers, at five cents per pound, (which is as low 
 as I have known it to be sold the past year, ) will make the cost of No. 1 about thirty-three 
 cents per pound ; thus — 
 
 1,000 pounds tow (with the shives adhering,) at 5 cents per pound $50 00 
 
 Cost of separating the shives (500 pounds net,) at 3 cents per pound 15 00 
 
 Bleaching 500 pounds clean tow 25 00 
 
 Picking and carding 300 pounds bleached tow, at 3 cents per pound 9 00 
 
 Cost of 300 pounds bleached tow, or flax cotton 99 00 
 
 Or 33 cents per pound. Numbers 2 and 3 are one-half bleached. This was done by dis- 
 solving and mixing together about equal quantities of soda ash and chloride of lime, say eight 
 pounds each to one hundred pounds tow, and in the clear liquor steeping the tow (cleaned of 
 shives) for three to four Lours ; it must then be soured aud washed, dried and picked. 
 
 Cost of 100 pounds clean tow $13 00 
 
 Cost of bleaching materials - 72 
 
 Cost of labor and picking and carding 3 35 
 
 Result, 75 pounds half bleached tow (or flax wool) costing 17 07 
 
 Or costing per pound - 22 ^ 
 
 Numbers 3 and 4 differ only in length of fibre — the shorter is made by passing a second 
 time through the picker. 
 
 It is easy to reduce the fibres so that none shall exceed a given length, but, from their 
 structure, they are liable to be more or less broken by the subsequent rough treatment to 
 which they are necessarily subjected. 
 
 A manufacturer of woollens has used a small quantity of No. 1, carding it with wool. He 
 reports: "It worked in every respect as well as cotton, and in the finish was fully equal, 
 while the color it receives is undoubtedly more durable than that of cotton." I regret the 
 cloth was sent to market without a sample being taken. 
 
 From numerous experiments I have made I am satisfied there is no saving in expense or 
 material in using non-retted flax. The matters removed by water or dew-retting are all re- 
 moved in bleaching, but at the expense of additional quantities of materials. Goods made 
 from non-retted flax and not bleached will be "slazy" when moistened, and liable to early 
 decay. 
 
 The cost of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 is based on the present price of tow, as it falls from the 
 second and third knives of the flax-dresser. Owing to the large demand for flax at prices 
 of IB to 22 cents, fine tow, in the rough, is salable at 5 cents. 
 
 I have spent much time, and been at no inconsiderable expense in experimenting. I 
 intend pursuing the subject as I have opportunities for so doing, in the hope of realizing 
 valuable results. 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, 
 
 E. TOWNE. 
 
 STATEMENT. „ 
 
 I herewith beg to submit my treatment of converting fla into a cottonized substance : 
 
 I commence by taking the flax straw gathered iclicn fully ripe, either tangled or straight, 
 after the seed has been taken off. The straw, after being air-dried, is passed through a flax 
 breaker, of Sanford & Mallory's make. By the operation of this machine the boon, or bark, 
 is, to a considerable extent, separated from the fibre, and the stem loses about fifty per cent, 
 of its original weight and reduced to one-half of its original bulk. After breaking it is put 
 through a picker and duster by which a large portion of the adherent portions of wood are 
 removed. The fibre is now ready for boiling. The boiling consists of the following process : 
 
 To every ton of the fibre add as much water as will well cover it, and afterwards introducing 
 into it about five per cent, of a solution of caustic soda of the specific gravity 1.50°. (The 
 caustic soda is made by adding caustic lime to a solution of soda ash in the proportion of two 
 parts of lime, six parts of water, and two of soda, and twelve parts of water. This is the 
 concentrated liquid. ) The fibre is allowed to boil three hours, and then is passed into a solu- 
 tion of carbonate of soda of five per cent.; then into a solution of sulphuric acid of one and 
 a half per cent.; then into a solution of soda ash, same strength as before. It is then partially 
 split and ready for bleaching. 
 
 The bleaching liquid is hypochloride of magnesia, made by taking one part by weight ol 
 chloride of lime to twelve parts of water ; and in a separate vessel, two parts of sulphate of 
 magnesia to twelve parts water. Mix the two solutions together, the clear liquid is then 
 diluted to 3° Twaddle, specific gravity 1°.015. When sufficiently bleached, is then removed 
 to a solution of carbonate of soda, same strength as before, and left there half an hour; then 
 passed into a solution of sulphuric acid, same strength as before, and allowed to remain there 
 as long as any disengagement of gas is visible ; then wash the fibre in a weak solution of 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 49 
 
 oil soap. It is tben dried by passing through a wringer and passed overheated copper cylinders 
 to the picker and duster. It is then carded on a Dundee card, ami i-> iiuished by passing through 
 a 48-inch wool card. The time occupied in the operation of boiling and steeping process to 
 the state ready for carding is six hours. 
 The expense of converting one ton of flax straw into flax-cotton is as follows : 
 
 One ton of flax straw $10 CO 
 
 Breaking one ton of straw 2 50 
 
 Picking and dusting 1,000 pounds 1 00 
 
 Boiliug ia caustic soda 570 pounds ,2 50 
 
 Labor in steeping and chemicals 10 00 
 
 Washing and drying 2 00 
 
 Picking and dusting 354 pounds. - .1 50 
 
 Dundee carding 50 
 
 Curding on wool cards 291 pounds, producing 257 pounds 5 00 
 
 Total cost 40 00 
 
 Or less than sixteen cents a pound, exclusive of rent, interest, and insurance, which the 
 bleached flax waste will cover. It has been sold to paper-makers at four and a half cents per 
 pound. The shires and other waste are used for fuel under boilers. 
 
 Cost of machines and vats. 
 
 Breaker $355 00 
 
 Picker 1 75 00 
 
 Duster, or willow 150 00 
 
 Picker for white stuff 250 00 
 
 Dundee card 750 00 
 
 Wool card for finishing 1, 100 00 
 
 One boiling iron vat 150 CO 
 
 Six wooden vats 300 00 
 
 3, 230 00 
 
 The recent advance in the price of chemicals has raised the cost of production. 
 
 I adopt the Claussen process, having purchased the right for the use of his patent for the 
 United States, having practically experimented upon it, and fully demonstrated the most fa- 
 vorable results. In ltio4 I commenced manufacturing flax cotton at. Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 
 and produced a sufficient quantity on a commercial scale to induce a number of gentlemen 
 to form an organized company, with a capital of $400,000; but from the low price of cotton 
 and wool at that time, and the unfavorable state of the money market, and the prostration of 
 the manufacturing interest, and from the prejudices of manufacturers to use a new staple, 
 they became discouraged, and from some of the shareholders not paying their full instalments 
 of shares, the company disposed of their property after having produced about ten tons of 
 flax cotton. Most of it was purchased by Messrs. Lawrenco &. Stone for their manufactory 
 at Lowell. 
 
 I can prove from practical experience that flax and hemp can be converted into a fibre 
 stronger than cotton or wool, and capable of taking better color than either; can be spun and 
 wove on the existiog cotton and woollen machinery at a cost below cotton or wool at any 
 time, there being less waste. It will mix and felt with wool, having had it mixed with wool 
 and made into cloth and hats, and I had them worn in my family and found them much more 
 durable than ail-wool. 
 
 There has been a great deal of prejudice against some portions of Claussen's process totally 
 unfounded and misconceived. For instance, that it was not suitable for making long flax, 
 but rather that all, long and short, indiscriminately, was converted into flax cotton: the feet 
 is the reverse. No doubt the flax cotton is the greatest novelty, a new article of commerce, 
 and so becomes the most prominent feature in the various inventions. The long flax, how- 
 ever, through Claussen's process, is produced in better condition than as at present for the 
 manufacturer, and what is indifferent and not sufficiently well grown for long flax is quite 
 suitable for, and is converted into, flax-cotton, also common tow, and such like stuff. By 
 this process the flax, instead of being pulled in a green state, is allowed to ripen the seed, 
 and can be cut with a mowing machine. The farmer by this means saves the great expense 
 of pulling, and has the seed, which alone pays for raising the crop, and by breaking the 
 straw with a hand machine, such as Sanford & Mallory's, he can return to the land nearly 
 one-half the weight as manure. The shives contain silica, and by feeding his cattle the 
 refuse seed and bolls, he also obtains a rich manure. In 1854 I had an agent in Washing- 
 ton exhibiting specimens showing the whole of Claussen's process, from the flax straw to 
 the finished cotton, linen, and woollen fabrics, in a bleached, unbleached, and dyed state. 
 Yours, respectfully, 
 
 H. McFARLANE. 
 Ex. Doc. 35 4 
 
50 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 New York, September 4, 1863, 
 
 No. 24'2 West 20th street. 
 
 SIR : I find in this morning's paper a notice of the meeting of the board of commissioners 
 appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture to consider the subject of the use of flax 
 arid hemp as a substitute for cotton, 
 
 Desiring to lay before the commission some facts in relation to a discovery in the mode 
 of curing flax so as to make it useful as such a substitute, I take the liberty of addressing 
 myself to you, sir, as the chief commissioner. 
 
 As long ago as the year 1852, while residing at the Hague, and acting in the capacity of 
 private secretary to our minister at the court of the Netherlands, Hou. George Folsom, 
 I made the acquaintance of a Hollander who claimed to have made a great discovery in the 
 preparation of flax for spinning. It was much talked of at the time, and the Dutch govern- 
 ment made a proposition to the inventor to put his new method into practical use. Similar 
 propositions were also made to him by parties in England, France, and Belgium. I read 
 some of the letters which he received from these parties at the time. He declined them all, 
 
 medal, &c, from the commissioners. It was just at the time when Claussen was sounding 
 his trumpet through tbe public journals about flax-cotton, and the invention of my Holland 
 friend was overshadowed by the umbrageous fame of the since unfortunate chevalier. 
 
 I was led, by some inteiviews I had with the inventor, to write to a friend in Boston on 
 the subject, enclosing samples of the flax, and asking him to consult with Mr. Lawrence 
 (Amos or Samuel, I think the latter,) upon the matter. The result of that correspondence, 
 after receiving Mr. Lawrence's very sanguine opinion, was, that I entered into an agreement 
 with the inventor, and sailed for New York with the identical samples of the flax which had 
 been exhibited at the World's Fair. After a long and stormy passage, which culminated in 
 shipwreck, I reached New York and proceeded at once to Boston, where I learned of the 
 death of Mr. Lawrence. I visited several of the manufacturing towns of New England, and 
 showed my samples to different manufacturers. They were taken by surprise by the appear- 
 ance of the flax, and seemed incredulous of the statement concerning the short time required 
 to brine the staple into the state in which they saw it, and also of the cheapness with which 
 it could be done. After some fruitless endeavors to interest them in it (they being all cotton 
 spinners) I abandoned the whole thing. 
 
 Last summer I was induced, by the interest I saw was taking hold of the public mind in 
 the matter of procuring a substitute for cotton, to write to the inventor on the subject, and I 
 received a. letter from him written in London, where he had been residing for several years, 
 practicing as a dentist, and carrying on his experiments with flax, hemp, and India fibres. 
 He sent me some new samples, more perfect than the ones I had before seen. These samples 
 I showed to Hon. Washington Hunt last fall, whom I met at our general convention, and 
 who is interested in a manufactory for the dressing and spinning of flax in Lockport. He 
 acknowledged them to be finer than anything they had us yet been able to produce, and ex- 
 pressed the wish that I would visit Lockport and talk with him further on the subject. It 
 was not convenient for me to do so, however. I afterwards gave the samples to a friend, who 
 showed them to some private individuals, who authorized me to make a proposition to my 
 friend in London to come to this country and demonstrate what he could do. In reply to my 
 letter, he wrote that he could not entertain such a proposition ; but requested the gentlemen 
 to send out a competent person, having a practical knowledge, of the culture, curing, and 
 spinning of flax, to investigate the merits of his process, and with powers to enter into a 
 contract with him. The parties were not willing to do this, and I have not since made any 
 exertion to interest others; only, at the request of a friend, I have allowed my specimens to 
 be sent to the Hon. Addison IT. Laflin, of Herkimer, N. Y., who is largely interested in 
 a new invention for the manufacture of paper from wood. 
 
 The specimens that I have are of several different kinds — some being prepared for ordi- 
 nary flax machinery, and others for spinning on cotton machinery. These latter samples I 
 have received since my interview with Governor Hunt. They closely resemble cotton, both 
 in texture and in the length of the staple, being wholly unlike either the Lockport, Penn 
 Yan, or any other specimens I have ever seen, and entirely different from the Claussen flax- 
 cotton. The time required to bring the raw flax, in the straw, into its cottonized state is one 
 day. The Lockport process takes from three to five days. By our friend's process there is 
 less waste than by the Lockport process, and the expense is no greater. 
 
 Since I wrote last to the inventor in Loudon, giving him the answer of the parties here to 
 his proposition, I have received from him a London paper containing an account of a meeting 
 of manufacturers and others, presided over by an English earl, whose name escapes me at 
 this moment, at which a statement written by my friend was read, (relative to the invention,) 
 and a committee appointed to test the merits of the same. Several members of the meeting 
 pledged themselves to furnish the funds necessary for that purpose, and also for the purpose 
 of going into the manufacture of it, if found to be as valuable as it then seemed to them to 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 51 
 
 f 
 be. I am sorry I have not the paper here to refer to. I have not yet learned the result of 
 these investigations. I do not believe, however, that the inventor will divulge the secret of 
 his invention; or that he will enter into any contract which will shut him off from bringing 
 the thing out in this country, in case sufficient inducement should be held out to him within 
 a reasonable length of time. 
 
 I have been induced to write you upon this subject in the hope that it may lead to an in- 
 vestigation of my friend's discovery, on the part of your commission, and that our country, 
 ami not England, may reap the profits of this invention, if it should prove to be as valuable 
 as I have every reason to believe that it is. To promote this object I will do whatever lies in 
 my power, and which may be consistent with my clerical duties and obligations. I will only 
 add that I would be glad to meet here any of the gentlemen of the commission who may be 
 visiting New York, and will endeavor to have the samples referred to in this letter returned 
 into my possession next week. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 E. FOLSOM BAKER, 
 At Church of the Annunciation, NcicYork. 
 Hon. J. Morehead, Pittsburg, Pa. 
 
 'FOURTH SUBDIVISION, OR MANUFACTURING STAGE. 
 
 A leading object of the appropriation having been to test the practicability of 
 substituting the fibres of flax for cotton, on cotton machinery, and also of mix- 
 ing them instead of cotton with wool, we have directed our attention particularly 
 to such modes of assimilating these fibres to cotton as would, in our judgment, 
 be likely to accomplish the desired results, and to such modifications of cotton 
 machinery (wool machinery not requiring any changes) as would best adapt it 
 to the production of yarn from such assimilated fibres. We have not deemed 
 it necessary to give much time to the mechanical modes of long-line flax-spin- 
 ning now in general use in European countries, as the raising of marketable 
 flax for long-line imposes too many burdens on the growers, and is produced 
 at too great a sacrifice of seed to warrant, at present, its extensive cultivation in 
 this country. Both the raising of flax for long-line, aud its manufacture by 
 machinery where grown, seem to be better adapted to countries of humid cli- 
 mates, and of comparatively small areas for cultivation, subdivided among a 
 dense population accustomed to cheap manipulating labor. There are very few 
 mills of this kind in the United States, and most of these are using long-line 
 for coarse fabrics, obtained to a considerable extent in the Canadas, whence 
 it is imported free of duty under the reciprocity treaty. A member of this 
 commission recently visited one of these mills at Braintree, Massachusetts, and 
 was shown the various machines and processes for making coarse, long-line 
 yarn and cloth. It is well known that the only mill of this class in our country 
 fully equipped for spinning and weaving fine loug-line yarns, (located at Fall 
 River, Massachusetts,) was, after a great outlay of capital and immense exer- 
 tions to operate at a profit, converted into a cotton mill at a heavy loss, in con- 
 sequence of an insufficient home supply, the mill being precluded from using 
 foreign stock by a practically interdictive duty. 
 
 After the most careful consideration of various modes of growing and treat- 
 ing flax to obtain the best results to the farmer, and an abundant supply to the 
 manufacturer, we are of the opinion that the crop should be planted mainly for 
 the seed, and incidentally for the fibre ; that to insure the greatest profit to the 
 grower from both these sources, there should be sown from four to six pecks of 
 seed to the acre ; that if the crop is designed for ultimate fibre, i. e., flax-cotton> 
 it should be harvested by machine cutting in the morning after the dew is off, 
 when the seeds are sufficiently in the glaze to be of brown color ; thereby 
 securing the greatest supply of oil and the least rigid condition of fibre ; that it 
 should be exposed to the sun through the day, cocked towards night, and treated 
 in other respects like grass cut for hay, avoiding as much as possible exposure 
 to rain or dew ; that the seed should be threshed in the cheapest and most con- 
 venient manner regardless of the tangled condition of the straw ; that the latter 
 
52 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 I 
 
 should, for the effectual removal of the shives, be subjected to the action of 
 approved power brakes, (we give the preference to Mallory & Sandford's twelve- 
 roller kind,) located either on the farms or at convenient points for the neigh- 
 borhood patronage ; that in this form it should be rough-baled and sold to 
 chemical disintegrating works, to be there further divested of dirt and shives 
 by mechanical means, and exposed to high steam in combination with mild or 
 strong alkaline solutions for disintegration, and in this finished form sold as 
 stock for manufacturing into fine linen fabrics on cotton machinery. Flax 
 cotton from such stock will be reliable for uniformity of strength, and be suffi- 
 ciently white without bleaching prior to its manufacture into cloth. 
 
 But if the crop is designed for short stock to be manufactured on modified 
 cotton machinery into coarse linen goods without chemical disintegration, we 
 recommend retting the straw, and that on taking the flax from the brakes it be 
 subjected to the further action of power disintegrating, shortening and clean- 
 ing machinery, to be located at convenient centres in flax-growing districts, and 
 there be baled for the market. 
 
 We are aware there is an impression that unretted straw cannot be success- 
 fully divested of its shives by mechanical means. This impression is probably 
 based upon the imperfect mode hitherto practiced in harvesting the crop. The 
 straw, even if intended to be left in an unretted state, is generally permitted to 
 lie more or less exposed to dew or showers a few days after cutting. This 
 partial wetting and drying appears to have a tendency to crystallize the gluten 
 or cellulose between the filaments and woody portion, which makes it more 
 adhesive and harder to separate ; but if the straw is harvested and dried with- 
 out exposure to moisture, the crystallizing process not being developed, we 
 think the shives will, under the action of properly constructed brakes, readily 
 separate from the fibres. We have seen unretted, tangled, as well as straight 
 straw, quite thoroughly divested of shives after passing twice through a single 
 head of Mallory & Sanford's brake, with the horizontal, rotating and vibrating 
 rolls, placed in sets one above another. 
 
 It is estimated that retted straw shrinks in weight about fifteen per cent., 
 while the fibre loses very little of its weight. This is caused by the partial 
 decomposition of the shives and a portion of the gluten or intercellulose ; so 
 that if the straw crop is sold in an unretted state a proportional allowance 
 should be made for its extra weight, less the value of the unretted shives for 
 cattle-feeding, which is said to be considerable, as their oleaginous properties 
 make them quite nutritious. A ton of retted straw in good condition produces 
 about 450 pounds of flax, while a ton of unretted produces only about 380 
 pounds. Good retted straw in ordinary times is worth, in flax districts, say 
 eleven dollars per ton of 2,000 pounds, equal to 2\ cents per pound for the flax. 
 This gives a proportional value of nine dollars per ton for unretted straw, 
 equal to 2 \ cents per pound for each kind of flax. The cost of labor, supplies, 
 power, supervision and use of machinery and buildings for converting the straw 
 into flax, is also about 2£ cents per pound ; making the entire cost of the 
 flax at the brake machines five cents per pound. This, if sold at seven cents, 
 in ordinary times would give a liberal profit to the proprietors of such machines ; 
 but flax in this form will, of course, be subject to a diminution in weight when 
 further divested of its glutinous substance, straggling shives and seed-ends, by 
 the action of preliminary machinery for converting it into filaments and fibres 
 of the requisite fineness and length to be spun into coarse yarn, which with the 
 loss of short fibre in manufacturing, and tare of the bags and ropes, will be fully 
 equal to twenty per cent, of its weight, thereby adding two cents per pound to 
 the first cost; to which must also be added l£ cent p(r pound for railroad and 
 mill transportation and other expenses, making the entire cost of the stock in 
 ordinary times at the consuming mills about lOi cents per pound. 
 
 The 3ame stock sold from the brake machines at seven cents per pound to 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 53 
 
 the proprietors of mechanical and chemical disintegrating works, to be "cotton- 
 ized" for yarn suitable to weave into print-cloths or shirtings, would be subject 
 to a loss in tbe respective processes of about forty-five per cent, of its weight, 
 thereby adding about 6£ cents per pound to the cost ; to which must also be 
 added lj cent per pound for railroad and works transportation and other ex- 
 penses, making tbe cost at the works thus far fifteen cents per pound. The 
 cost of cottonizing, including the preliminary mechanical operations at the 
 works, will be about four cents per pound net weight, making the entire cost at 
 the works in ordinary times, exclusive of any charge for profit, about nineteen 
 cents per pound. 
 
 If any of the manufacturing trade should be apprehensive under this estimate 
 that the difference in value between flax-cotton and cotton in ordinary times 
 would discourage the use of the former, no matter how perfect the stock may 
 be prepared, we would remind such, that if linen goods continue to maintain 
 their supremacy in the market, print -cloths or shirtings made of flax-cotton 
 would probably command a price that would leave a larger difference in favor 
 of the manufacturer than the difference of cost between the two kinds of stock. 
 
 In tbe early stage of the effort to cottonize, there was a general belief among 
 experts (including the Chevalier Clausscu, and also Mr. Sands Olcott, of Penn- 
 sylvania, the pioneer in this country of flax-cotton, and who patented a flax- 
 straw cutting machine in 1S40) that it would be necessary to cut the straw into 
 lengths comparing favorably with the length of cotton; but a critical and micro- 
 scopic analysis of the constituent parts of the fibrous covering of the straw 
 revealed the fact that the filaments of which it was composed were subdivided 
 into cells or individual tubular fibres, of nearly uniform fineness, and somewhat 
 variable lengths, cemented longitudinally by intercellulose, or gluten, which, 
 while it would to a great extent resist the disintegrating power of machinery, 
 could not maintain its cohesion against the liberating and dissolving power of 
 tepid-water soaking, followed by long-continued boiling in mild alkaline solu- 
 tions and subsequent exposure for a short time to high steam ; or by boiling at 
 a temperature of 280° Fahrenheit, with soda-ash or caustic solution, without 
 any preliminary processes. 
 
 It then became a question to what degree of fineness and maximum and mini- 
 mum lengths of fibre can flax be safely reduced by mechanical means only ; 
 and in what way can the product of such means be successfully spun into coarse 
 yarn on cotton machinery ? These questions have been met by the owners of 
 a number of cotton mills in various parts of the country that have heretofore 
 been employed in manufacturing the lower and coarse grades of cotton goods. 
 Some of these mills, especially those that are located in flax-growing regions, 
 began with tangled straw, and carried it successfully through draught-roller brakes, 
 dusters, and wool and cotton pickers, thereby preparing their own stock; while 
 others situated remotely from such districts have preferred purchasing their 
 supply in bales, of parties residing there who have made the preparation of 
 such stock a special business. The latter mode of obtaining it, besides being in 
 accordance with the views of the commission, seems best adapted to encourage 
 the alteration of this class of cotton mills into flax mills; and also for supplying 
 flax disintegrating works with material to be transformed into flax-cotton for 
 use by a higher class of cotton mills in the production of fine linen goods. 
 
 In determining the question of length of stock by means of preparatory 
 machinery, it has been found impracticable to obtain, by any combination of 
 machines yet employed, maximum lengths of fibre less than about three inches, . 
 without reducing the minimum lengths shorter than the fibres of cotton ;■ and 
 hence it became necessary to depend for the further reduction of the maximum 
 lengths upon modifications of the machinery at the mills as arranged for cotton. 
 To this branch of the subject the commission has given much attention, but as 
 a report of our investigations is expected in time for distribution soon after the 
 
54 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 closing of the present Congress, we have reluctantly suspended our labors with- 
 out obtaining as full results as the magnitude of the inquiry calls for, or as the 
 light already obtained promises. We did not think it desirable at the com- 
 mencement of our labors, while the^manufacturers of both flax and cotton as well 
 as ourselves were in a comparatively undeveloped state, to use the appropriation 
 in crude experiments, or expenditures that might result only in loss. We pre- 
 ferred, as far as possible, to avail ourselves of the incipient efforts of those whom 
 patriotism or hope of securing monopolies had stimulated to attempt the solution 
 of the cottoniziug problem. To this end, two of our commission visited in the 
 past autumn nearly all the points in the western and eastern portion of the 
 country, and in the Canadas, where particular attention had been given either 
 to the growth or manufacture of flax. From these visitations and conferences, 
 to which have since been added our own experiments, we have reached conclu- 
 sions both in regard to the most promising modes of using flax cotton prepared 
 exclusively by mechanical means for the manufacture of coarse goods, and by 
 combined mechanical and chemical means for the manufacture of fine goods on 
 cotton machinery, which we will now proceed to delineate, premising that if the 
 unexpended balance of the appropriation is devoted to further discoveries by 
 this or a new commission, the results might be given in a supplementary report 
 at the first session of the next Congress. We think this course preferable to a 
 lapse by " non-user" of the unexpended part, and much more likely to result in 
 a larger contribution of valuable knowledge to the public upon this highly 
 national investigation than a distribution of it in small sums to the many enter- 
 prising parties in different sections of the country who have so courteously 
 responded to our call for information, and who have so generously sent speci- 
 mens of their various productions for the museum of the Department. 
 
 Very good short flax stock is prepared from tangled straw for coarse yarn 
 mills by Randall's, Clemens's, Smith's, and several other series of machines, 
 but the cleanest and finest short stock that has come under our notice is that 
 obtained from the Davies machine, made at Dayton, Ohio. This machine is com- 
 posed of an iron or wooden frame, having a series of five open aprons, fluted feed 
 rolls that rotate in iron shells, and wooden cylinders which have diameters of a 
 foot each, and revolve about six hundred times per minute. The surface of the 
 cylinders is perforated for the reception of square spring- tempered No. 12 wires, 
 square at the ends, and inserted in the apertures in spiral rows converging from 
 the heads towards the centres, and projecting from the surface about half an 
 inch. The flax either in the straw (if retted) or in the form of crude tow is fed 
 on a level apron through the feed rolls to the first cylinders, from which it is 
 thrown on an inclined apron to be carried to the second set of feed rolls and the 
 second cylinder, and then successively over the other inclined aprons, and 
 through the other feed rolls, and over the other cylinders, until delivered at the 
 end of the machine in bulk, when it is collected and baled in the same manner 
 as cotton for the market. 
 
 In this form it is carried into cotton mills and presented first to the lapper, no 
 preliminary operations being required, as it is to a great extent free from shives, 
 dirt, or other extraneous matter. But as this stock, notwithstanding its com- 
 parative cleanliness and the ease with which it is made into laps, is too coarse 
 and uneven for the carding process, without modifying the lapper beaters to 
 adapt them for shortening the long filaments and fibres and making all the fibres 
 finer, we added to each of the beaters another set of arms, and attached at the 
 . ends in lieu of knives wooden lags two and a half inches wide. The fronts of 
 these wers covered with strips of leather two inches wide, into which were in- 
 serted curved and pointed teeth of No. 14 wire, with their points on the same 
 periphery as the knives on the other arms, and which, when in motion, rotate 
 within about one-eighth of an inch of the periphery of the feed rolls. The 
 speed of the beaters, arranged in this manner, should be about 2,000 revolutions 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 55 
 
 per minute. When the heaters are so equipped, they not only distribute the 
 grist evenly on the wire cylinders and lap rollers, but if the laps are doubled 
 and carried through the lapper a second time, they disintegrate the filaments so 
 thoroughly as to largely increase their number, and at the same time materially 
 shorten those that were of too great length for the subsequent operations in the 
 mill, without visibly shortening those that were sufficiently short in the bale. 
 The laps so prepared are next carried to the carding machines, the carding 
 power of which, in a great number of American mills, is in a main cylinder, 
 doffer, and top- flats, all covered with fine chisel-pointed wire clothing, which, 
 although well adapted for carding cotton, is considered insufficient for carding 
 flax fibre. The insufficiency is caused by the fact that flax fibres have less 
 elasticity and greater specific gravity than cotton, and are withal straight rather 
 than curled like the latter, and hence do not rest easily upon the surface of the 
 teeth, but are inclined to imbed themselves among the teeth, which makes it 
 desirable to substitute needle-pointed clothing for chisel-pointed on the main 
 cylinders and doners, and also to substitute working, stripping, and fancy cyl- 
 inders for the top-flats, which should likewise be covered (except the fancy) 
 with needle-pointed clothing. This form of the teeth permits the workers and 
 strippers, aided by the long and flexible teeth of the fancy, to act freely on the 
 main cylinder, keeping the stock upon its surface and ready for delivery to the 
 doffer. If the chisel-pointed clothing, however, of the main cylinders and doffers 
 is in good condition, and the stock is well prepared, it can be used in connexion 
 with the working, stripping, and fancy cylinders, but the two former kinds must 
 have needle- pointed clothing. The hitter is always covered with long, fine, and 
 flexible clothing. The surface velocity of the fancy cylinder should be about 
 twenty-five feet faster than the surface velocity of the main cylinder ; the workers 
 and strippers should run at the usual speeds ; and one worker and one stripper 
 are sufficient for one card. The cards should have screens of perforated sheet 
 zinc under the main cylinders, and the licker-in cylinders (if there are any) 
 about three-eighths of an inch from their surfaces, otherwise too much of the 
 stock will be throwu off in the form of waste by the centrifugal forces developed 
 in the rotation of these cylinders. The feed rolls should be heavily weighted, 
 and their speed be increased about twenty-five per cent. The stock may be 
 carded once or twice. We think once is sufficient. In either case, the fleece 
 should first be delivered into a railway trough ; and, if intended for a second 
 carding, the product or sliver should be collected from calender rolls without 
 being lengthened, and made into laps for the finishing cards, and from their rail- 
 way should be drawn by means of a draught railhead from two and a half to 
 three inches. This head should have three under rolls one and one- quarter 
 inch in diameter placed about three and a half inches from centre to centre of 
 the back and front rolls. The back and front rolls should be fluted or corru- 
 gated ; the back top roll should also be fluted or corrugated, while the front top 
 roll should be covered either with vulcanized rubber or gutta-percha, (the latter 
 can be had at 153 Broadway, New York, of the Gutta-Percha Manufacturing 
 Company,) and both rolls should be one and one-half inch in diameter. The 
 middle under roll should be encircled by a spring gill, with collars at either end, 
 rising an eighth of an inch above the points of the gill needles; the back top roll 
 should be slightly weighted, and the front top heavily. The entire draught 
 should be between the gill roll and the front roll. The shivers from this head 
 should be collected in cans, and passed through either one or two heads of a 
 drawing frame, with gills on the middle under rolls, and with top rolls fitted like 
 the top rolls of the railhead, doubling the slivers at the draughts, which should 
 not exceed one inch into four. From the drawing frame the stock should be 
 made into condensed and untwisted roving on a Taunton speeder, arranged with 
 gills on the middle roll, and with top rolls similar to the rail and drawing frame 
 heads. The spinning frames may have either rings or flye.s for twisting. As 
 
56 
 
 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 good yarn can be had from one as the other, it is indispensable that the frames 
 should have large rings or flyers designed for coarse spinning only, as the kind 
 of stock we are treating of cannot at present be made into finer yarn than num- 
 bers ranging from six to ten, (cotton gauge,) and it is wholly impracticable to 
 think of spinning it on frames designed for yarn ranging between twenty and 
 thirty-five skeins to the pound. The frames for this stock must be arranged 
 with a draught not exceeding one inch into six inches, and should be fitted with 
 spring gills on the middle rolls for each spindle, and with uncovered smooth 
 
 iron back top rolls one and a half inch in 
 diameter without weights. The front rolls 
 should compare with the front rolls in the pre- 
 ceding operations. These spinning gills con- 
 sist of twenty rows of tapering needles seven- 
 sixteenths of an inch long and one thirty- 
 second of an inch in diameter at the base, six 
 in a row, one-sixteenth of an inch apart, and 
 inserted obliquely through apertures in a brass 
 hollow cylinder one and seven-sixteenths inch 
 in exterior diameter, and projecting through 
 the. surface four sixteenths of an inch, making 
 the entire diameter of the periphery of the 
 points one and fifteen-sixteenths inch, with 
 brass collars at their ends one and six-six- 
 teenths inch exterior, and f mrteen-sixtcenths 
 of an inch interior diameter, and flanches to 
 the same, one and nine-sixteenths inch in diameter, fitted with steady pins and set 
 screws for attaching the entire gill to the middle roll. The gills cost three dollars 
 each ; the needles can be purchased at $2 50 per thousand. These gills, as well 
 as the larger kind for railheads, drawing frames, and speeders, are made by 
 Messrs. Lahphear, Levalley & Co., at Phenix Village, Rhode Island. 
 
 The yarn spun from this stock makes excellent twine, and can be woven into 
 crash, osnaburgs, burlaps, and sugar cloths ; and, when doubled for warp, it 
 makes very superior grain bags. 
 
 Foremost among the cotton mills that have been altered substantially in the 
 way we have described to make some of the above fab lies, are the Hope and 
 Penn mills, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, owned by James H. Childs, esq., and 
 others. The best flax grain bags in the country are made at these mills, and at 
 the same mills are also made very superior stock for battings and for the use of 
 upholsterers. Too much credit cannot be given to the proprietors of these mills 
 for their patriotic and successful efforts to disenthral the north from entire de- 
 pendence on cotton for these manufactures, and for the encouragement they have 
 given to the owners of other mills to follow their praiseworthy example. The 
 mills at Lockport, New York, owned by ex-Governor Hunt and others, arc also 
 producing excellent brown and bleached stock for upholstery, waddings, and 
 coarse yarns, as well as twine of a very high grade. The Medina Flax Com- 
 pany's Works, at Medina, New York, are likewise producing goods of a similar 
 character of superior quality. To this list must be added the mills of Governor 
 (Smith and others, in Warwick, Ithode Island, that are making grain bags of 
 excellent quality, besides carpet warps, twine, and rugs. There are many other 
 successful pioneers in this branch of flax manufacture obtaining most encouraging 
 results, so that this department of substituting flax for cotton on cotton ma- 
 chinery may be considered no longer problematical, but a success. 
 
 Having thus portra} r ed what we conceive to be the best mechanical mode of 
 disintegrating, shortening, and otherwise preparing flax for coarse yarn stock, 
 and the best mode of carrying such stock through the various processes into 
 yarn on cotton machinery for the manufacture of coarse linen goods, we will 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 57 
 
 next present the results of our efforts, and the efforts of others as ohserveel by 
 us, to cottonize flax by combined mechanical and chemical means to the requi- 
 site fineness, evenness, and strength for being manufactured into print cloths, 
 shirtings, or sheetings, on cotton machinery, either by an admixture of from 
 fifty to seventy-five per cent, of the fibres with cotton, or by their exclusive 
 use as flax-cotton. It is wholly impracticable to disintegrate flax into its ulti- 
 mate fibre or cells without the intervention of a solvent for the intercellulose 
 or gluteu, as previously indicated. And we think it is equally impracticable to 
 rely upon mere mechanical forces to separate the fibres after such disintegra- 
 tion, if they are allowed to become entirely dry before the application of such 
 means. The undecomposed gluten is so unyielding in its nature that, if not 
 partially wet, the separation will inevitably be attended with so much breakage 
 of the fibres as to materially injure the stock. But if they are slightly moist, 
 they readily slide apart into ultimate lengths through the agency of properly 
 constructed pickers that will blow them into a dry atmosphere. It is also just 
 as important, as we have shown, that flax-cotton obtained through chemical dis- 
 integration should be prepared exclusively from unretted stock. Some persons 
 say that the filaments of unretted stock are more brittle than tkuse from retted 
 stock, and therefore more liable to abrasion in the preliminary mechanical opera- 
 tions of cottonizing. This, if true, would be incomparably less injurious to the 
 fibre than over-retting, a fault of every-day occurrence in retted straw. Un- 
 retted stock will endure soaking, boiling, and steaming without injury, while 
 retted, if over-retted, will be easily decomposed; and if it is not over-retted, 
 and is not injured in passing through these operations, the cost of bleaching it, 
 either before or after it is manufactured, will be much greater (besides being 
 attended with more danger of injury) than the cost of bleaching unretted stock. 
 Hence we recommend the discontinuance of further experiments on retted stock 
 for flax-cotton intended for the manufacture of goods, for bleaching or printing, 
 or goods that require the element of durability. We also recommend the post- 
 ponement of bleaching unretted flax-cotton until it is manufactured into fabrics. 
 Specimens of bleached and unbleached flax-cotton, hemp-cotton, asclepias 
 cotton, and China-grass cotton, have been sent by divers persons to the com- 
 mission, some of them very nicely disintegrated ; but three only of all the con- 
 tributors who have responded to our call have accompanied their specimens 
 with any explanation of the mode of cottonizing, viz: Mr. H. McFarlane, of 
 Rocky Hill, New Jersey, who uses the Claussen process; Mr. Hugh Burgess, 
 of Royer's Ford, Pennsylvania, and Messrs. Fuller & Upham, of Claremont, 
 New Hampshire. Mr. Burgess has not experimented so extensively as the 
 latter gentlemen, but the specimens of both are well disintegrated and separated, 
 or cottonized. The contributions of Mr. Burgess were cottonized from flax of 
 unretted, tangled straw dressed on Mallory & Sanford's 12-n Her brake, in the 
 presence of two of the commission, and also from flax of retted straw dressed 
 and cleaned in his neighborhood. His process for short stock consists, after 
 further cleaning by a suitable mechanical apparatus, in submitting it to the 
 action of soda ash (or its equivalent in potash) in caustic solution, for an hour, 
 in an iron boiler, (Keen's patent boiler preferred,) at a temperature of about 
 2S0° Fahrenheit, the boiler to be heated in any convenient manner, and the 
 mass of flax to be kept under the solution while boiling. The quantity of alkali 
 used is from one-quarter to three-quarters of a pound of dry soda ash to one 
 pound of flax, according to the condition of the latter. After boiling, the mass 
 is blown through the manhole under pressure into a tank, aud then the solution 
 is drained off, evaporated, and burned for repeated use. About eighty per cent, 
 of the alkali is saved. The stock, after draining, is washed with hot water until 
 all traces of the alkali disappear. It is then bleached by the use of bleaching 
 liquid percolated through the mass, after which it is washed, squeezed, and 
 dried. If long stock is used, it is formed into hanks and put into wire cylinders, 
 
58 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 which are then placed in the boiler, and, when boiled sufficiently in the solution, 
 the latter is gradually drawn through an opening in the bottom of the boiler', 
 and evaporated and burned as before. The hanks in the cylinders, on being 
 taken from the boiler, are washed, bleached, and dried. Alter drying, both 
 kinds of stock are to be separated by machinery. He has not yet constructed 
 machinery (except models) for reducing the disintegrated fibres or cells to uni- 
 formity of length, or for separating them longitvx&oaally, but is expe.imentin<? 
 in that direction, and expects soon to accomplish the desired result. His pro 
 cess and product were patented in January, 1864. 
 
 The contributions of Messrs. Fuller & Upham were also cottonized from un- 
 retted, tangled straw (which they much prefer to retted,) dressed by one pas- 
 sage through Mallory & Sanford's brake. This brake, Fuller & Upham say, 
 removes about ninety per cent, of the shives. These gentlemen, instead of de- 
 pending on flax-disintegrating, shortening, and cleaning machinery located in 
 flax-growing districts, take the stock from the brake and pass it through a shive- 
 cleaning machine of their own invention, which consists of a series of card 
 cylinders placed in a frame over each other. The stock is fed upon an apron 
 at the bottom, and is carried from the first cylinder to the others successively 
 to the top, where it is delivered from the machine. These cylinders act upon 
 each other as workers and strippers. They are in a screen of zinc placed 
 within three-sixteenths of an inch of the card teeth, having apertures for the 
 discharge of the remaining shives and dirt by the centrifugal force of the cylin- 
 ders. The latter are all enclosed in a case reaching below the cylinders that 
 receives the waste, which is removed at the bottom. The stock is* then placed 
 in a vat with water kept at 90° Fahrenheit for twenty-four hours. The water 
 is then drawn through a grate bottom, and the vat is again filled with water 
 containing one barrel of soap to one thousand pounds of dry fibre, and boiled 
 twelve hours by steam at 212° Fahrenheit, when the water is again drawn as 
 before, and pure water is 'percolated through the mass the remaining twelve 
 hours. There are two of these vats, that the soaking may be done one day, 
 and the boiling and washing the next, in the same vat, without removing the 
 flax until it is ready for the steaming process. The stock is next transferred 
 in rail cars from the vat to a horizontal iron cylinder having an adjustable head 
 and a perforated movable piston operated by a screw and gears. It also has a 
 large escape- valve at the rear head near the top, and is supplied with steam 
 from a boiler through pipes. It likewise has a pipe to draw off the water and 
 extractive matter. The flax being placed in the cylinder, and the head screwed 
 on, steam at ninety pounds pressure is let on for twenty minutes, when the per- 
 forated piston is run towards the head of the boiler, squeezing the stock into a 
 compact "cheese." The water-pipe is then opened, and the water with the 
 glutinous matter in solution, that has been pressed through the perforated piston, 
 is blown off. The pipe is then close"d, the piston is drawn back, and the escape- 
 valve opened, which permits the steam to escape through the apertures in the 
 piston, and out of the cylinder. Instantly this valve is opened, the steam in 
 the fibres expands, overcoming the cohesion of the softened intercellulose, and 
 filling the .cylinder with disintegrated ultimate fibre or cells of the flax. The 
 explosion is recommended to be only sufficiently powerful to disrupt the fibres 
 and leave them measurably in parallel lines ; for if they are entirely separated, 
 manj' of them would be broken, and become, like immature cotton, too short to 
 be profitably spun into yarn. The fibre is then taken from the cylinder, and, 
 when partially cooled, is passed through a compound wringer, consisting of a 
 cylinder eighteen inches in diameter and twelve inches in length, having several 
 rubber rolls that revolve, with the flax passing between them and the cylinder. 
 In connexion with the wringer there is a series of differently speeded drawing 
 rolls that passes the stock between them, drawing it into a thin sheet to facilitate 
 drying and to equalize the lengths of the filaments and fibres. The stock is then 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 59 
 
 put into a box with a grate bottom, under which is a coil of heated steam-pipes. 
 A rotary fan forces the air into the bottom under the pipes, and through the 
 flax, thereby rapidly removing the moisture. When it is sufficiently dried by 
 this arrangement to allow the fibres to slide apart without sticking to each 
 other, it is passed through an opener which consists of a horizontal cylinder 
 covered with needle-pointed card clothing, with workers covered in the same 
 manner, and placed under the main cylinder, which makes about one thousand 
 and four hundred revolutions a minute, and throws the stock into an adjoining 
 room. The flax is then carried through ordinary gambril cards, and taken off 
 by a railhead with large and strong-corrugated iron rolls, held together by rub- 
 ber springs, to pull apart any remaining long filaments. It is then passed 
 through a lapper and a fine gambril eard, and baled for the market. The mode 
 of preparing this stock, the steaming cylinder, and a considerable portion of 
 the machinery used, are patented, and the entire apparatus is built by the 
 patentees and their partner, Mr. Rice, at Claremont. The price of the ap- 
 paratus (at present cost of labor and materials) for one thousand pounds of 
 fibre per day is about fifteen thousand dollars. Parties who may desire to em- 
 bark in the manufacture of linen goods from stock prepared under the patents 
 of these gentlemen would probably do better, in the beginning, to buy their 
 stock from the owners of disintegrating works. 
 
 There is a difference of opinion among those who have made microscopic ex- 
 aminations of the texture of flax fibres as to their composition. While all agree 
 that they are cellular, and have transverse lines at variable distances, some 
 think the lines are pores through which the interior moisture is evaporated in 
 drying, and that the cellulose structure differs sufficiently from the structure of 
 the intercellulose to allow the decomposition of the latter without injury to the 
 former; others that the transverse lines indicate the growth of the cells, like 
 cane joints ; and that the composition of the cells is so nearly akin to the com- 
 position of the intercellulose, that both cannot be jnore than partially decom- 
 posed without so materially impairing the strength of the former at the marks, 
 and intermediately, as to render them too weak for manufacturing. It is evident 
 to us that the union of the cellular and intercellular matter is so thorough that 
 while the former may be relieved from the tenacious hold of the latter, there 
 should always be left enough of the intercellulose adhering to the cellulose after 
 disintegration to keep the cells together until they are separated, if in a moist 
 state, by sliding them apart through the intervention of pulling rollers ; or if in 
 a dry state, by the application of a picker to break them apart. The proba- 
 bility is that if the decomposition of the intercellulose is complete, or nearly so, 
 the fibre would be much injured, if not destroyed. Hence the absolute neces- 
 sity, in cottonizing, of using unretted flax, which always has fibre reliable for 
 strength in any high steam process of disintegration if properly prepared. 
 
 The opinion of the commission has often been asked upon the relative dura- 
 bility of goods made of long-line flax, or flax-cotton, and the relative strength 
 of goods made of the latter to goods made of cotton. From such examination 
 as we have been able to give the inquiry, we think that goods made from sound, 
 long-line stock, when new, will be stronger than those made of well-prepared 
 flax-cotton, in consequence of the excess of glutinous' or intercellular matter in 
 long-line yarns ; but that as flax-cotton goods will be softer and less liable to 
 crack when new than goods of long-line, while each ultimate fibre will be as 
 strong, there is every reason to believe that they will be more durable, besides 
 having the advantage of flowing more gracefully when made into garmen+s ; 
 and as the fibres of flax-cotton are much stronger than the fibres of cotton, and 
 much more soft and silky, fabrics made from them must not only be stronger 
 when new, but more reliable for service than cotton goods. 
 
 In addition to the probable greater durability of flax-cotton fabrics over those 
 made of cotton, is the important fact of their superior ability to receive and hold 
 
GO SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 colors. This is supposed to be caused by the difference in the shape of the fibre 
 of the two plants. We have remarked that both are tubular ; but the wall of 
 a flax fibre being thick, its tubular form is permanently preserved, while th« 
 wall of cotton fibre being thin, its tubular form in drying becomes flat spirally, 
 like a twisted ribbon ; consequently it presents only a flattened surface to receive 
 and retain color ; and hence it is always less brilliant, even when first dyed, 
 than a flax fibre, the tube of which excludes the air, and by its transparency 
 reflects the color strongly, while its closed condition shields the color from the 
 fading influence of the atmosphere. 
 
 The flax-cotton of Messrs. Fuller & Upham has been spun on cotton 
 machinery into about No. 24, (cotton gauge,) and also woven in the form of 
 weft into print-cloth. To spin it successfully it will be necessary to alter the 
 lapper and cai'ds in the manner indicated for coarse yarns, and to reduce the 
 number and draught of the drawing heads. One head with a draught of one inch 
 into four inches will probably answer between the rail head and speeders. The 
 middle top rolls of the rail and drawing heads and speeders must be relieved 
 of a portion of their weights. The middle top rolls of the spinning frames must 
 be wholly relieved of their weights, which can be done by substituting single 
 saddles from the front top to the back top rolls for the double saddles generally 
 used, unless the back top rolls are of smooth iron about one and a half iuch 
 in diameter, in which case the front rolls may be weighted with a hook and 
 lever weights, and the back rolls be left without weights. 
 
 The preparation of flax-cotton is not yet sufficiently developed to enable us 
 to predict decidedly its ultimate success. If more time be given this commission, 
 or a new one for further investigation, greater progress will undoubtedly be 
 made in the present year than has beeu accomplished during the entire period 
 that has been given to the subject. The commission have specimens of unretted 
 flax-cotton recently made by Messrs. Fuller & Upham, and also specimens of 
 yarn made from this stock, »and specimens in combination with cotton to the 
 extent of twenty-five to fifty per cent, of the latter, together with the specimens 
 of print-cloth previously referred to, in which the filling is of flax-cotton, all 
 giving promise of early success. 
 
 Under every aspect of the subject, we believe it will be safe to alter one or 
 more fine cotton mills (that are now idle) to give this stock a trial if the same 
 can be purchased at encouraging prices ; at first mixed with thirty-three per 
 cent, of cotton, and if successful, to gradually reduce the percentage of cotton 
 until by continued success they may be enabled to withdraw entirely the ad- 
 mixture and thereby demonstrate to the country the practicability of spinning 
 fine flax-cotton yarn on cotton machinery. 
 
 The encouraging reports from those who have used machine-broken and dis- 
 integrated flax-cotton as a substitute for an admixture of cotton in coarse woollen 
 goods, relieve the commission from the necessity of elaborating this branch of 
 the subject. As an admixture in fine woollen goods in the form of chemically 
 disintegrated fibre, there are at present no satisfactory results. The failure to 
 obtain such results in this direction is probably owing more to the want, of a 
 supply of good material and to the general unwillingness of manufacturers of 
 fine woollens to mix even cotton with wool, than to any intrinsic want of adapt- 
 ability of flax-cotton for admixture. On the contrary, the peculiar affinity of 
 flax for culor, (it being equal to wool in this respect,) and its indisposition to 
 excessive fulling, would seem to make it a much more desirable admixture for 
 fine colored woollen goods than cotton. And it is not unreasonable to expect 
 that when there is a sufficiency of supply of well disintegrated and separated 
 refined flax-cotton, that it will be extensively sold for this purpose. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 61 
 
 PECULIARITIES OF FIBRES. 
 
 When we examine minutely the construction of the several materials which 
 are so useful in the arts as textile products, we shall be astonished to find that 
 there is a great diversity in their characters, and we are admonished carefully 
 to examine and consider these peculiarities, lest we may be induced to recommend 
 certain articles for applications in the arts for which they are not by nature 
 adapted. 
 
 All fibrous substances are composed either of cells or of cell bundles which 
 constitute filaments and fibrils. There are three several classes of cells that 
 may be usefully applied in the preparation of textile fabrics : first, the endoge- 
 nous cells, and the filaments formed by their union ; second, the exogenous or 
 the true bast cells, which also combine together in nature to form fibrils and 
 filaments ; thirdly, the capsular cells, which, whether simple or branched, are 
 still simple cells, each being naturally isolated from its fellows, and generally 
 found as bail's, more or less intimately connected with the seeds of the plants 
 which furnish them. Prominent among these is that wonderfully useful and 
 admirable fibre known as cotton-wool, for an analysis of which the reader is re- 
 ferred to articles in the agricultural portion of the United States Patent Office 
 reports for the years 18-52 and 1S53, prepared by Dr. George 0. Sclmeffer, and 
 in which the writer has given the results of his patient and extended microscopic 
 investigations of these fibres. In this class we also find a large number of what 
 are called vegetable silks that are not at all equally well adapted to economic 
 application in the arts, but which are constantly thrust forward as presenting 
 claims for usefulness, that are at once dissipated by a knowledge of their inti- 
 mate structure. Though of good and even length, and though soft and silky in 
 their appearance, these cells, which sometimes have an incrusting matter, are too 
 even and smooth upon their surfaces to be possessed of good spinning properties 
 Of this class are the silk weed, thistle down, cotton-wood down, and the epilobium 
 
 Endogenous plants are so called from the manner of their growth. In- 
 stead of depositing annually concentric layers of woody matter, like our com- 
 mon timber trees, these plants are inside-growers, and the new cells are inter- 
 posited amoug those previously formed, so that a cross section of the trunk 
 presents a multitude of dots, but no regular concentric lines and circles like 
 common wood. These are the ends of the filaments or cell bundles, among 
 which all new formations have to be introduced instead of being laid on outside 
 as with the other class of vegetation. On this account the wood of such trees 
 may eventually become very hard, and the cells will be much compressed ; but 
 these filaments are not in so good a condition for textile purposes as the newly 
 formed cell bundles found in the foliacious expansions, and in the leaf stalks of 
 these plants, which parts, indeed, are the fertile sources of supply of this class 
 of fibre. As a general rule, these bundles of cells, being often of great length 
 and strength, are especially adapted to the preparation of ropes and cordage, or 
 other coarse fabrics, but, if properly subdivided, some of them also furnish 
 material for the most exquisitely fine tissues. 
 
 When we recollect that all the grasses belong to this great class of endogens 
 we need not be surprised to learn that these strong fibres may be used 
 without first being twisted into threads. All are familiar with the East India 
 matting as a summer carpet for our floors ; some have seen our native Indians 
 weave strong mats with the rushes of the northern lakes, and the use of straw ; 
 and the strips of palmetto leaves in the manufacture of hats are familiar to every 
 one ; none of these are twisted. But few have observed that some very beautiful 
 tissuea made in the East Indies are composed of filaments that were separated 
 from the plants just as they present themselves to us, and that these threads 
 have never been twisted. In some cases, as is very apparent in the coarser 
 
62 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 tissue of the matting, the ends of the filaments have hoen tied together deftly 
 so as to make a continuous woof for the weaver; in others, the ends have heen 
 brought together and agglutinated by using some adhesive substance that unites 
 them into a continuous thread. The celebrated pifia is of this character, and is 
 composed of the fibres of the leaves of the wild pineapple, which is a native of 
 our continent, and to be mentioned on another page. 
 
 The valuable fibres of all this class of plants are associated with other cells, 
 particularly the pith cells interspersed between them, which must be separated 
 and removed. This process in the hands of the native workmen is often a very 
 simple matter, and is effected by beating, scraping, and washing, but it is slow 
 and tedious, and as these are nitrogenous matters intimately associated with the 
 fibres, a degree of fermentation may easily be set up to assist in the disintegra- 
 tion. In a hot climate it is necessary to guard this process very carefully to 
 prevent the destruction of the valuable fibre. 
 
 In the other class of plants we find quite a different arrangement of the long 
 fibres. In the exogens, or outside growers, the firm woody matter, which is 
 composed of short and stiffer or firmer cells, is formed by the deposit of con- 
 centric layers which are successively placed upon the outside of those already 
 formed. The bark of these plants, on the contx-ary, is composed of concentric 
 layers also, but the last formed is deposited within its predecessors. Here we 
 find the true bast cells, which are arranged in filaments that unite to form flat- 
 tened ribbons of great strength, and, in many cases, of considerable length. 
 They are very pliant, having very little ligneous matter in their composition, 
 and they form the most valuable vegetable fibres of northern temperate regions. 
 Many of the most remarkable fibres of this class, however, are of tropical origin. 
 
 The most valuable plants of this class, and those from which these bast fibres 
 are most readily separated, are the annuals, because in them the woody matter 
 is easily disposed of, and is thrown off from the fibre instead of our being obliged, 
 as in the case of large trees, to peel the bark off from the woody matter. Flax 
 and hemp are familiar illustrations of this, and their great value consists in the 
 length, strength, and beauty of their fibres, which are associated with a very 
 imperfectly developed woody tissue that is easily separated from them. There 
 are many other plants, however, which have herbaceous stems that are as easily 
 managed, and these will be mentioned in their appropriate place. 
 
 The ultimate cells of this class of fibres are found to vary in their lengths in 
 different plants, and probably in different parts of the same plant ; they are col- 
 lected in bundles which are intimately connected with each other by intercellular 
 matter, and by pith cells ; similar foreign matters are associated with these fibrils 
 and filaments, uniting them to one another, and this fact is one of the difficulties 
 that attends their preparation. The ultimate cells are stated to be one twenty- 
 five hundredths of an inch in diameter, and their length is variable. They have 
 transverse markings, which are supposed to be pores, and these are somewhat 
 spiral in their arrangement ; still, the cells, like the fibrils, are nearly straight, 
 and tapering towards the ends. Though often somewhat compressed and angular, 
 they are entirely different from the cell of cotton, which, though originally cyl- 
 indrical, with thin walls, on desiccation, becomes flattened irregularly. This 
 gives it the character of a spirally twisted ribbon. Some of the cells are said 
 to resemble a screw with several twists, and this form explains the remarkable 
 spinning properties of this fibre.* 
 
 Dr. Ure very clearly sets forth the differences in the structure of textile fibres 
 of cotton, silk, wool, flax, and hemp, and showed that, while the first three con- 
 sisted of definite and entire filaments, not separable without decomposition, the 
 latter were compound, and that they were further divisible after treatment with 
 
 *For very clear views upon the constitution of fibres, the reader is referred to Dr. Ure's 
 Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 81 and seq. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 63 
 
 alkaline solutions. He brought the microscope to his aid in this investigation, 
 and was, perhaps, the first who demonstrated the structure of these substances 
 satisfactorily, though he refers to the labors of others. He procured a fine 
 instrument in Paris in 1833, made by Oberhauser, with which he made his ex- 
 aminations of flax and cotton and wool fibres, which he illustrated with engravings 
 of the microscopic views ; some of these have been reproduced as appropriate to 
 this report, and giving very correct representations of the objects. 
 
 from what has been shown with regard to the peculiarities of the constitu- 
 tion and intimate structure of different fibres, as revealed by the microscope, it 
 will be manifest that, how closely soever we may seem to have made the fibres 
 of flax resemble those of cotton, there is still a radical difference between them ; 
 that, though these substances appear to be similar, they are structurally dif- 
 ferent. While the cell of a cotton fibre was originally a tubular sac when filled 
 with moisture, upon desiccation, in the process of ripening, it becomes a spirally 
 flattened tube with a certain amount of twist. It has a tendency, from its 
 form, to unite with its fellows, and, when so combined and subjected to the 
 moderate draught of the spinning machinery, it is constantly inclined to couple 
 itself to them in unison, or in accord with the processes to which it is sub- 
 jected. On the other hand, when we separate the long filament of flax, by any 
 means in our power, into its ultimate, or nearly into its ultimate fibres, or 
 into its original cells, we find these to be straight, without twist, or any means 
 of making them adhere to one another. Moreover, the very walls of these cells, 
 though similar in their ultimate elements, both being nearly pure cellulose, are 
 very differently constituted. -While the cell walls of a cotton fibre are of nearly 
 uniform thickness, and, indeed, are quite thin, those of a cell of flax are of con- 
 siderable thickness, and are formed by concentric layers deposited within the 
 original sac. The result is, that while the cavity of the cell of cotton is rela- 
 tively large, allowing it to flatten in drying, that of the flax is small, and the 
 cell retains its plumpness and rigidity, and is only modified from its original 
 round form by pressure against its fellows, which makes it somewhat angular 
 and irregular on its edges. This thickening of the walls makes this fibre more 
 rigid and less pliable, as well as more heavy, and this also accounts for the 
 greater specific gravity and the higher conducting power of flax than of cotton. 
 The latter property, so characteristic of flaxen tissues, will ever prove an ob- 
 jection to this material for wearing apparel Avith some delicately constituted 
 persons, while, on the other hand, the coolness and cleanliness of these tissues, 
 which are proverbial, commend them especially to others. The greater specific 
 gravity of flax should be taken into the account in all calculations respecting 
 its manufacture, to avoid errors in estimates of the cost of the materials. 
 
 Dr. Ure has bestowed great care in ascertaining the specific .gravity of these 
 substances, and the results of his researches are somewhat surprising. His 
 process is very philosophical and simple, so that his data are probably very 
 reliable, in view of the excellent precautions he has adopted to obviate the 
 errors that would arise from the presence of air. After using great care, and 
 proving his results, by trial and corrections, he gives the following figures: 
 Wool, 1.26; cotton, 1.47 to 1.50; linen, 1.50; silk, 1.30; mummy cloth, 1.50. 
 Remarking upon these weights, he says : "As a bale of linen goods is heavier 
 than a bale of cotton goods of the same size, it might be supposed that flax is 
 a denser substance than cotton; but it should be considered that cotton is more 
 elastic, and, therefore, less compact under similar pressure. It is only by weighing 
 each matter, under immersion in a liquid, that its true density can be learned." 
 He considers the density of cotton and linen the same, and suggests that silk 
 and wool may also be equal, and that the vegetable fibres have equal density, 
 and thinks that the timber fibres will be proved to have a density similar to 
 that of flax; for he suggests that the porosity of wood causes a fallacious esti- 
 mate to be made of the density of its substance. 
 
64 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 The great impetus which has of late years heen given to attempts to red tree 
 flax to a condition similar to cotton, and the extended notoriety of the sug- 
 gestions to cottonize flax, has induced many persons to think that this is a new 
 idea, one of the characteristic events of the wonderful era of progress and in- 
 vention in which we live. That the idea of cottonizing ilax is not new, but 
 that is has long occupied the human mind, will appear by referring to the history 
 of the subject, as has been done by the very learned and intelligent jury of the 
 great international exhibition of Great Britain, who give the following account, 
 from which it will appear that nearly a cantury and a quarter ago it was pro- 
 posed to convert flax into cotton by boiling in alkaline solutions. From what- 
 ever causes, all these various processes appear to have failed in the objects they 
 attempted to subserve. 
 
 The statements with regard to the splitting and bursting of the ultimate 
 cells, as claimed by Claussen, are not verified by microscopic investigations of 
 the specimens presented to us. 
 
 The subjoined quotation is from the report of the jury at the international 
 exhibition of Great Britain in 1S51. An extract from the report of a later jury 
 will also be introduced to show our progress in the arts during the intervening 
 decade : 
 
 "Among the continental nations of Europe the northern have long been celebrated for the 
 production of flax and its manufactures, Flanders being especially distinguished for the 
 beauty of its fine goods, and Russia and Germany for the strength and durability of their 
 heavy and other linens. 
 
 "It is a remarkable fact that so long as hand-spinning was the only known way of pro- 
 ducing yarn, Great Britain and Ireland were not much noted for their manufacture of linens. 
 The wouderful change, however, wrought by the invention of the "spinning jenny," and 
 its application to cotton machinery, speedily led to the development of the same principle in 
 making mill-spun yarn from flax and hemp. A numerous series of specimens were contrib- 
 uted by P. Claussen in illustration of his patent process of making flax-cotton. This pro- 
 cess (patented August, 185U) consists essentially in boiling the cut and crushed stems of the 
 flax, hemp, or other plant, in a dilute solution of caustic soda, containing about one two- 
 thousandth part of alkali. The fibrous matter is then removed and plunged into a bath of 
 dilute sulphuric acid, containing one five-hundredth part of acid, in which it is boiled fur 
 about an hour. It is next transferred into a solution containing about ten per cent, of car- 
 bonate of soda ; and lastly, when it has remained in the latter for an hour, it is plunged into 
 a weak solution of sulphuric acid, consisting of one part of acid to two hundred or five hun- 
 dred parts of water. In this it is left for about half an hour, and the process is completed. 
 The effect of these several processes is to divide and split up the fibre in a most remarkable 
 manner, so as completely to alter its character. Flax thus treated is converted into a sub- 
 stance very nearly resembling cotton. It is probable that flax-cotton can be advantageously 
 used in the manufacture of mixed fabrics, as it appears capable of being spun with wool, 
 silk, and other fibres. It may, therefore, perhaps, hereafter lead to several new and impor- 
 tant practical applications. For this ingenious process the jury awarded a prize medal. 
 
 "The idea of modifying tho fibre of flax and hemp, so as to convert it into a kind of cotton, 
 is by no means new. In 1747 Lilljikrcuzes and Palmquist described a mode of converting 
 flax into ' cotton ' by boiling it for some time in a solution of caustic potash, and subsequently 
 washing it with soap. In 1775 considerable quantities of refuse flax and hemp were con- 
 verted into ' flax-cotton' by Lady Moira, with the aid of T. B. Bailey, of Hope, near Man 
 Chester. The full details of the process employed do not appear to have been published , 
 but from Lady Moira's letters in the Transactions of the Society of Arts for 1775, it appears 
 that the fibre was boiled in an alkaline lye, or a solution of kelp containing carbonate oi 
 soda, and subsequently scoured. The result of this was that ' the fibres seem to be set at 
 liberty from each other,' after which it may be 'carded on cotton cards.' It appears that at 
 this time flax-cotton was made and sold at threepence a pound, and Lady Moira states that 
 she believes that it takes colors better than flax. It is curious to observe the fate of Lady 
 Moira's scheme. She says: 'I have no reason to be vain of the samples I have sent you. 
 they merely show that the material of flax-cotton, in able hands, will bear manufacturing, 
 though it is my ill fortune to have it discredited by the artisans who work for me. I had in 
 Dublin, with great difficulty, a gown woven for myself, and three waistcoats ; but had not 
 the person who employed a weaver for me particularly wished to oblige me, I could not have 
 got it accomplished ; and the getting spur* of an ounce of this cotton in Dublin I found im- 
 practicable, and the absurd alarm that it might injure the trade of foreign cotton had gained 
 ground, and the spinners, for what reason I cannot comprehend, declared themselves such 
 bitter enemies to my scheme that they would not spin for me. Such is my fate that what 
 between party in the metropolis and indolence in this place, (Ballynahynch,) I am not capa- 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 65 
 
 ble of doing my scheme justice. That it should ever injure the trade of foreign cotton is im- 
 possible.' Lady Moira states that the flax-cotton gowns which she had had made, and which 
 were worn by the members of her own family, were exceedingly durable, and the specimens 
 of these fibres, aa well as of the flax-cotton prepared by her, which are still preserved in the 
 Museum of the Society of Arts, and are highly remarkable for their beauty. 
 
 ' ' Subsequently to this several attempts were made in Germany to convert flax into a fibre 
 resembling cotton, which could be used, either alone or together, with cotton in the manufac- 
 ture of cotton goods. In 1777 Baron Meidinger proposed to convert flax into a sort of cotton 
 by the action of alkaline solutions, &c. In 1780 a factory was established at Berchtolds- 
 dorf, near Vienna, for the practical working of this process ; and similar plans were subse- 
 quently brought forward by Kreutzer in 18U1, by Stadler & Haupfner in 1813, by Sokou in 
 1816, and by several others. 
 
 "At the factory at Berchtoldsdorf not only was flax converted into cotton, but likewise a 
 useful cotton-like fibre was prepared from tow and refuse flax, and the same is said to have 
 been done by Hoag near Pressburg in 1788, by Gobell in 1803, and Segalla in 1811. Whether 
 these various plans failed from the effects of jealousy and opposition, like that which pre- 
 vented Lady Moira from introducing her flax cotton, is unknown ; but it does not appear 
 that any of them were long persevered in." 
 
 In one of those excellent lectures which grew out of the international exhibi- 
 tion, Mr. Solly is reported to have said, " I must confess that I am not at all 
 sanguine as to the benefits to be derived from this proposal, though I think it 
 by no means impossible that it may hereafter lead to valuable and important 
 improvements."* 
 
 The commission, though previously somewhat discouraged by the exhibition 
 of many unpromising attempts to cottonize flax, now feel that they are upon the 
 eve of realizing the valuable and important improvements suggested by this 
 distinguished savan. 
 
 So far from flax-cotton being a new article, or prepared by a new process, 
 Dr. Schajffer states, in his excellent article on vegetable fibre.t that a similar 
 method has been used by the Chinese for centuries. 
 
 The method of preparing this substance, as patented by Claussen, has already 
 been given ; but we find many specimens that appear to have been prepared by 
 other processes, and their exhibitors pretend to have secret methods which they 
 are unwilling to divulge, or claim that they have patent processes for their 
 modes of preparation. Many of these specimens are entirely worthless, and 
 several of them have been ruined by the misuse of chemical substances. The 
 expense attending some of the modes of preparation is a serious objection to 
 them ; those in which cutting the fibre is a part of the process it is apprehended 
 will produce undue waste in spinning, and in all we find a want of such a per- 
 fect disintegration as to yield an approximate uniformity of length and thick- 
 ness of the fibres. The most promising specimens are those which were pre- 
 pared by hot alkaline solutions, and the bundles of cells mechanically separated 
 from one another afterwards while still moist. These will be noticed in the 
 chapter on manufactures. 
 
 The London jury at the international exhibition of 1862 do not appear to 
 be even so favorably impressed, when they speak of the "empirical method 
 which, in 1851, led a majority of the jury to award a medal to Chevalier 
 Claussen, but which, after eleven years, is just where it was at that time — in 
 the limbo of impracticable ideas. The so-called flax-cotton has been shown as 
 a curiosity by its inventor, but every attempt to employ it practically has proved 
 a failure. Flax still insists upon being treated as flax, and hemp as hemp, and 
 nothing succeeds so well in the disintegration of the fibres as water-retting." 
 
 This sweeping clause we are not prepared to adopt at the present stage of 
 our investigations, and with the very promising developments opening before 
 us, as exhibited in the specimens presented by Mr. H. Burgess, of Eoyer's 
 Ford, Pennsylvania, and by Mr. James B. Fuller, formerly of Claremont, New 
 
 * Lectures at the World's Fair, 1850 : Professor Edw. Solly. 
 
 t United States Patent Office report for 1859, to which the reader is referred for much in- 
 teresting detail. 
 
 Ex. Doc. 35 5 
 
66 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 Hampshire, but now engaged in putting his discoveries into practice at Nor- 
 wich, Connecticut, we are led to anticipate the happiest results. 
 
 We have supposed that it was our duly to examine how far and in what 
 way flax and hemp could be used as a substitute for cotton. This question has 
 been pretty thoroughly investigated by the commission; its answer may already 
 have been gathered from what has preceded, and the public may have drawn 
 conclusions from the statements which have been made as to the radical differ- 
 ences between these fibres, that they can never really be substituted, because 
 they are so dissimilar. And yet we should do wrong were we not to point out 
 some of the many uses to which these fibres may be and have been applied to 
 take the place which cotton has hitherto occupied. 
 
 As cordage and for twines, to which, in the cheaper days of cotton, that sub- 
 stance was extensively applied, hemp and flax still assume their pre-eminence 
 and superiority. Even to the grocer's twine, which must be short and easily 
 broken, these fibres have been extensively and profitably applied. Every 
 variety of twine is now made of flax and tow in several establishments. Thread 
 of the best quality for many purposes is also prepared from this material, and 
 for some branches of the arts it has always been deemed superior to cotton. 
 Coarse linen fabrics of every description, from bagging down through burlaps, 
 crash, duck, diaper, &c, have all been successfully made of flax and hemp, 
 where formerly the greater cheapness of cotton had caused that fibre to supplant 
 its legitimate competitor. In the article of seamless grain-bags, which were 
 formerly made altogether from cotton, we now have a much better article pro- 
 duced from flax. The nicely prepared battings of flax, whether bleached or 
 unbleached, have taken the place, to a great degree, of the application formerly 
 made of the dirty and refuse cotton for this purpose ; but the greater weight of 
 the flaxen material depreciates its value and usefulness when to be applied in 
 this way, for a given number of pounds of flax batting will cover a space but 
 half as large as an equal quantity of carded cotton. 
 
 It would not be consistent with the limits of this report to take up the dis- 
 cussion of the whole subject of paper-making, although its main feature depends 
 upon the value of these very fibres we have been examining. As in its pro- 
 duction, however, flaxen and hempen fibres may very advantageously be sub- 
 stituted for those of cotton, we may be pardoned for making some allusions to 
 this matter. As before intimated, all of these several fibrous substances are 
 composed of nearly pure cellulose, and thus, in their ultimate composition they 
 are very much alike. It further appears that whatever materials be used for 
 paper-making, their value will depend upon the amount of this proximate prin- 
 ciple of cellulose which they contain, and whether the stock consist of solid 
 wood, hollow straw, fresh fibre of bast cells from our flax fields, waste cotton 
 from the factories, or worn-out clothing and old ropes, made from these different 
 fibres, their value in every case depends upon the amount of pure cellulose 
 which can be derived from them. The cellulose from the several sources 
 appears to exist in nearly the same proportions, about fifty per cent., whether 
 we take the wood or the straw for the raw material. 
 
 The union of these fibrous substances in the tissue of paper depends upon a 
 peculiar condition which has been imparted to them by the action of the paper- 
 machine, so tearing and breaking the cells and fibrils, and fraying their ends as 
 to give them a sort of felting property — quite different, it is true, from what is 
 described as felting, in another part of this report, but still enabling the ends of 
 the fragments to unite with one another so as to form a tissue of more or less 
 consistency, according to the nature of the materials used. 
 
 This will best be explained by an illustration taken from the Journal des 
 Fabri cants de Papier, vol. I, p. 180. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 67 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 View of a shred of paper, in 
 which are beautifully exhibited 
 the cylindrical fibresof flax or 
 hemp mingled with the ribbons 
 of cotton fibre ; also the con- 
 fused mass of ruptured fibres 
 completely comminuted. This 
 drawing shows the condition to 
 which fibres are reduced by the 
 rag-engine, and explains the 
 peculiar felting upon which the 
 constitution of paper depends. 
 
 Besides the appropriation of 
 considerable portions of the lint 
 produced by our flax fields to the 
 manufacture of paper, which, 
 indeed, appears to be rather a 
 waste, when we consider that old 
 clothing is just as good as new 
 fibre, there are several other ap- 
 plications of this material in the 
 arts. 
 
 Considerable quantities of rough tow, such as is cheaply prepared from the 
 tangled and inferior flax straw of crops that have been grown expressly for 
 seed, is used in the stuffing of furniture. 
 
 But, it may be asked, when are we to have flax produced in such a condition 
 and in such quantities as to be suitable to provide us with finer goods, like 
 sheetings and shirtings and print-cloths ? Even this we are about realizing, and 
 we hope soon to be able to furnish some cloths of quite respectable fineness and 
 finish, in which disintegrated flax fibres shall have been used either alone, or 
 miugled with cotton. Though long discouraged by the failure of attempts to 
 cottonize flax, on account of the injury done to the fibre, and the unsatisfactory 
 results in attempting to reduce the long filaments to an average definite short- 
 ness suitable for cotton machinery, we now look hopefully for much more satis- 
 factory products, as will appear in the appropriate place. The radical difficulties 
 of the fibre remain in the less pliant and straighter cell, in the greater specific 
 gravity, and consequently greater conducting power of the product ; but the 
 spinning difficulties appear to be in a fair way of being overcome by American 
 ingenuity. (See specimens in museum.) 
 
 An application of flax as a substitute for cotton, which was little expected, 
 presented itself in the formation of hard rolls for print-works and bleacheries. 
 In the construction of these rollers it had been a desideratum to get a hard and 
 elastic surface. This was first accomplished by disks of heavy paper closely 
 applied to one another upon a shaft, firmly compressed and then turned into 
 shape. Next cotton itself was used; but it is now found that flax fibre may be 
 applied to this object with the most satisfactory results. 
 
 One of the greatest claims which flax presents to our notice is its ability to 
 replace cotton, and with great advantage, too, in all the cases where that ?• u- 
 stance was formerly used in combination with wool in the production of mixed 
 fabrics. Hempen and flaxen yarns are now resuming their original importance 
 in the manufacture of carpets, both alone and when used as the warp only, of 
 those useful tissues, in which cotton had entered as the leading article. 
 
 In the reproduction of the good old-fashioned linseys we are reminded of 
 the healthy days of our boyhood and the infancy of our manufactures, when 
 homespun goods were not yet wholly banished from the farmer's wardrobe by 
 
68 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 the introduction of the more flimsey cassinets from the power loom, which bore 
 a deceptive finish, but did not furnish the desired resistance to the wear and 
 tear of boyhood, in the rough-and-tumble plays of the school-house. The 
 return to this substitution of flax for cotton will be hailed with acclamation 
 by the boys, and may be equally relished by their careful mothers. 
 
 Kerseys and jeans are now produced of excellent quality, into the prepara- 
 tion of which flax enters largely in combination with wool, and there is scarcely 
 a " boy in blue" who does not bear upon his body, in his uniform, fibres of flax, 
 while he carries also a blanket largely composed of this material combined 
 with the warmer fleece of the sheep. 
 
 There are beautiful samples of cloths upon exhibition in the museum, into 
 the composition of 'which a considerable portion of flax has been made to enter. 
 In the knit goods before us, and one garment of which ha.s been subjected to 
 constant use for some months, we find a beautiful merino stuff, in which the 
 flax-cotton prepared by Mr. Fletcher, of Oswego, New York, has been used in 
 combination with wool instead of the usual admixture of cotton. The service 
 rendered by the garment in question has been in every way satisfactory and 
 agreeable, and it appears to wear evenly and well, and has not been fulled up 
 in the laundry. 
 
 FELTING. 
 
 There are on exhibition some very firm and well printed druggets, which 
 have attracted great attention from visitors who have examined them. But we 
 cannot advise any further experiments in the way of attempting to produce 
 felted goods of mixed flaxen material, for it is manifest that the fibres of flax 
 have no felting properties. To make this apparent it will be necessary to 
 investigate the principles upon which felting depends, when we shall find that 
 the necessary elements are not possessed by the smooth filaments of flax. 
 
 This may best be done by quoting from the popular writer of a work entitled 
 " Useful Arts employed in the Production of Clothing,''' in which we find the 
 following observations that throw great light upon the subject : 
 
 "If we hold a human hair firmly by the root and draw it gently between the thumb and 
 fingers, it passes through smoothly and with hardly any resistance or interruption ; whereas, 
 if we reverse the motion, holding the hair by the point, and draw it from point to root, a 
 very sensible tremulous resistance Avill be experienced, accompanied by a eracking sound. 
 Again, if we place a hair loose between the finger and thumb, and then, by alternately bend- 
 ing and extending them, give them a backward and forward movement, the hair will be put 
 in motion, and this motion will always be from root to point, whether the root be in one or 
 the other position with respect to the two rubbing surfaces. A fibre of wool, likewise, under 
 similar circumstances, always moves in one direction. Every schoolboy knows that an ear 
 of barley, if put within the sleeve at the wrist, soon travels up to the arm-pit ; he also knows 
 that he can only rub a single awn of barley in one direction between his finger and thumb — 
 that is, from root to point. The awn of barley is visibly jagged at the edge like a saw, the 
 teeth pointing obliquely upwards, and this particular conformation is manifestly the reason 
 why it is capable of motion in one direction, but not in the other. These facts lead to the 
 explanation of the cause of felting. 
 
 "Wool is more crisped and spirally curled than hair; this may be seen by holding a small 
 lock up to the light. This varies in the amount of the curl in the wool of different sheep, 
 and is most perceptible in the fine wools. Those which curl most are best adapted for feltings. 
 This twist aids in that arrangement of the fibres which enables them to unite thus together ; 
 it multiplies the opportunity for this interlacing, and increases the difficulty of unravelling the 
 felt ; but while assisting, it is not the principal agency concerned, which depends upon the 
 ultimate structiue of the particles, i 
 
 "Felting was formerly supposed to be owing to a kind of attraction or cohesion between 
 the fibres. Dr. Young thought the cloth contracted in felting, because the fibres were un- 
 equally bent in the pounding received from the fulling-hammers, and that those most bent 
 were prevented from returning to their original length by their adhesion to their neighboring 
 fibres. This, howerer, does not apply to the common instances of felting, as in hat-making 
 and the wearing of a woollen sock, for here the fibres are rubbed together and not beaten, as 
 in fulling. Before Monge, the French philosopher, first discovered a satisfactory explana- 
 tion for this process, a Mr. Plint suggested the following happy conjectures: 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 69 
 
 " 'Respecting the application of the microscope to the examination of the fibre, I am de- 
 cidedly of the opinion that a careful and minute examination of wools differing' in their 
 felting proportions would result in the detection of some specific difference of structure. This 
 property is altogether inexplicable, except in the supposition that the surface of the fibre is 
 irregularly feathered, and that, by compression, these feathered edges become entangled and 
 locked together. These feathers must also point in one direction, from the root to the extremity 
 of the fibre, and if we suppose the feathered edge, or, more properly speaking, the individual 
 tooth or feather, to be of a finer texture, it is evident that one tooth being pushed into another 
 would fasten like a wedge ; and if we further suppose that the tooth or feather has a barb, 
 similar to that on a harpoon, the phenonema of felting are explained.' " 
 
 How wonderfully these suggestions of Mr. Plint have been verified by the 
 developments of science in the discoveries of the microscope ; it has been found 
 that wool has this very feathered or serrated structure. With an instrument 
 of 300 linear power the filaments of wool show teeth resembling those of a 
 fine saw, and different wools present different forms of serration. (See plate of 
 wool magnified 200 times.) 
 
 No. 3. — Specimens of different wools. (Dr. 
 Ure.) 
 
 a. Leicestershire. 
 
 b. Finest Saxony. 
 
 c. Finest Spanish. 
 Dr. Ure tells us that, when viewed through 
 
 a powerful microscope, the filaments of wool 
 have something the appearance of a snake with 
 the scales a little raised, so that the profile is 
 serrated, the teeth being toward the point. 
 Each fibre seems to be composed of serrated 
 rings, imbricated over one another. These 
 teeth and the intervening spaces differ in va- 
 rious samples, and these transverse lines re- 
 semble the rings of the earth-worm. This 
 appearance has been compared to the effect of 
 a series of thimbles with uneven edges inserted 
 into each other. The existence of these serrated edges explains the reason why 
 these substances may be felted, and it is known that in those which felt the 
 best the serratures are most distinct. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES AND THE FIBRES WHICH THEY REPRESENT. 
 No. 4. — Silk, from an East India handkerchief. 
 
 The fibre of silk consists of a round or somewhat flattened, narrow, and struct- 
 ureless substance of indefinite length, quite solid — that is, without any internal 
 cavity, and without any visible markings. 
 
 The original condition of these fibres, when first unwound from the cocoon, 
 shows them in pairs, agglutinated by a secretion external to the fibre itself. 
 The subsequent treatment separates these fibres more or less until they present 
 
"0 
 
 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTO.V 
 
 the appearance shown in the figure. Silk is wound off from the cocoon, and its 
 parallel fibres are afterward twisted. The broken fragments are carded, and 
 then spun ; the resulting fabric has quifc a different appearance from ordinary 
 silks. 
 
 No. 5. — Wool, treated ici'h dilute sulphuric acid. 
 
 Wool, unlike silk, shows distinct structure, and is in fact made up of cells of 
 two different kinds ; the one kind on the outside (as seen in one part of the 
 figure) being broad and flattened, overlapping each other, with their free edges 
 pointing to the top of the hair; the second kind (as seen in the other part of the 
 drawing) is nearly round in outline, and forms the so-called " pith" of the bail- 
 or wool. 
 
 The free ends of the external cells prevent the hairs from slipping past each 
 other, and give the peculiar "felting" property to wool. 
 
 No. 6. — Flax, from a fine Irish linen. 
 
 Flax, like all vegetable fibres, is made up, as ordinarily used, of several 
 cells forming a filament. The figure represents the separated cells. 
 
 The bore or internal cavity of the flax cell is not large; hence its greater 
 strength as compared with cotton. The cross markings seen in the figure 
 are not external, but are caused by " pores" passing from the inside of the cell 
 to near the outside. These markings being internal, are not to be confounded 
 with the serrated outline of wool, and do not give any hold of the cells upon 
 each other. Their arrangement, however, has an effect upon the isolated cell ; 
 thus in the top one, shown in the figure, which is, however, a rather unusual 
 form, there is to be noticed a greater flatness than in the others, together with a 
 slight twist in the whole cell, which twist is mainly to be attributed to the 
 oblique direction of the " pores." 
 
 The specimen represented in the drawing has been spun by hand. When 
 flax is spun by machinery there are always adhering substances derived from 
 the remains of the short cells, which are removed by passing through the 
 fingers in hand spinning. When flax is perfectly cottoniz'd the cells should 
 exhibit the appearance shown in the figure, with a smooth and unbroken 
 outline. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 No. 7. — Hemp. 
 
 71 
 
 The figure represents the separated cells, which are somewhat like those of 
 flax. Three of these cells are shown with forked ends, but this is by no means 
 a constant character. The cross markings are shown as oblique in one cell, but* 
 even this is by no means uniformly found. In the specimens described in 
 another place, it will be seen that while in Russian hemp the same obliquity is 
 noticed, in American hemp the markings are almost exactly transverse. There 
 are too few observations to show that this is a permanent and distinctive 
 difference. All of these figures represent the objects magnified two hundred 
 times. 
 
 No. 8. — COTTON. 
 
 No. 8 represents portions of the separate cells of the cotton fibre as delineated 
 in the beautiful drawing of Riessig. The original tubular or cylindrical character 
 of the line cell is lost, and in desiccating, the walls have collapsed upon one 
 another irregularly, which gives the peculiar spiral character to the fibres. 
 This varies in different specimens, some being nearly like ribbons, while others 
 have a regular twist like a screw. 
 
 No. 9 from Dr. Ure, best sea island cotton, of which lace and fine muslin are 
 made. Fibres one one-thousandth of an inch in diameter; tortuous semi- 
 cylinders of uniform size. 
 
7 J 
 
 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 X 
 
 HL /.I X ■ _ 
 
 Religious cotton, of which fabrics are worn by the Bramins ; a very flimsy 
 fibre. (Dr. Ure.) 
 
 Surat cotton, irregular ribbon form. (Dr. Ure.) 
 
 No, 12. 
 
 Flax fibres as mounted in balsam. (Dr. Ure.) 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 73 
 
 The commission is happy to be able to present the following results of a very 
 careful microscopic examination of some of the preparations that have been pre- 
 sented for their investigation. For this purpose the services of an expert mi- 
 croscopist were secured, and he has rendered the following report upon the 
 specimens submitted. The name of Professor G. C. Schseffer, who has been for 
 many years engaged in similar examinations, is a sufficient guarantee of the 
 value of his report upon these fibres. 
 
 EXAMINATION OF SPECIMENS OF FIBRE FOR THE FLAX-COTTON COM- 
 MISSION. 
 
 In making this report, it must be stated that I have confined myself to the 
 description of the specimens as presented, without pretending to say what might 
 have been done to them to make them different from what they are. By the 
 words " cottonized fibre" we denote that condition given to an originally long 
 fibre which may render it capable of being used in the ordinary cotton machinery. 
 In general it is claimed that, by the process of cottonizing, the compound fibre 
 is reduced to its single cells which then resemble cotton in this respect, as it also 
 consists of single cells of nearly uniform length. The idea sometimes put forth 
 that the individual cells are themselves split by this process is utterly fallacious, 
 as I have ascertained by repeated examinations for many years. 
 
 The examination of these specimens, and of many others, has led me to sup- 
 pose that persons, ignorant of the nature of the material employed, have fre- 
 quently made their preparations under quite mistaken notions. It is known that 
 cotton, to be profitably used, must have a certain length of cell or " staple," and 
 one, too, of a reasonable degree of uniformity. But the ultimate cells of most 
 basts (bark fibres) are, in general, much shorter than those of cotton; so that, 
 when cottonized, they are not loug enough for use. In this state, when mixed 
 with cotton, they fail to combine with it in the proper manner, and are partly 
 lost and partly found with projecting ends, giving an irregular surface to the 
 thread formed. It appears, then, that, finding the complete operation yields a 
 material too short for use, the idea has arisen that by an incomplete cottonizing 
 a longer staple could be obtained. The result is, of course, as various as the 
 treatment, but the end is nearly the same. The long fibre is broken up into 
 shorter portions which consist of an indefinite number of cells, and, since these 
 are arranged so as to break joint, the length of the filament obtained will be very 
 variable. Hence the apparent length of staple is gained" at the expense of great 
 irregularity, while the free ends of individual cells projecting from the filament 
 will interfere with the manufacture. The entirely free cells which may be found 
 among the long filaments will be mostly lost in the manufacture. The arrange- 
 ment of the bundles of bast cells in the plant is such, that a treatment which is 
 not carried too far will give mainly a separation into smaller bundles by longi- 
 tudinal division, turning out a long and fine filament, admirably adapted for long 
 staple spinning. This process has been used with great success for centuries. 
 But if the treatment is carried somewhat further, the fine bundles are themselves 
 broken up into individual cells and compound filaments of varying length. This 
 material, when treated like cotton, must be carded, and then becomes only a finer 
 sort of tow, and the fabric formed from it will be a more or less fine tow-cloth. 
 This may, however, be made quite fine in texture, and suitable for various 
 purposes. 
 
 I do not intend speaking of the fitness of the cells of different plants for a 
 process of manufacture similar to that used for cotton. I have enlarged upon 
 this subject in an article in the Agricultural Report of the Patent Office for the 
 year 1859, and generally the matter is so well understood that any repetition in 
 this place would be useless. One thing, however, deserves notice, no matter 
 how well the material may be fitted for cotton spinning, the fabric obtained will. 
 
74 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 vary in character according to the structure of the cells employed. The cells 
 of cotton have thin walls, are very absorbent of moisture, poor conductors of 
 heat, and, for a given surface and thickness, produce a fabric lighter than that of 
 any other material hitherto used 
 
 The cells of bast have thick walls and produce heavier fabrics, which are less 
 absorbent, and are better conductors of heat than those obtained from cotton. 
 In short, the cloth obtained from bast cells will always carry with it their pecu- 
 liar character, and although manufactured as cotton, it will never be cotton-cloth 
 Of course there are many uses for which such cloth might be well adapted, but, 
 as worn in contact with the body, it could never replace cotton. 
 
 Again, the action of colors upon cotton and bast fibres is quite different, and 
 the treatment of colored goods from the different substances would be quite un- 
 like. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the same results which are now so cheaply 
 obtained from cotton could ever be produced from bast cell fabrics at an equal 
 cost. 
 
 I shall now give the description of the respective specimens as examined by 
 me under the microscope. 
 
 Each sample is denoted by a number which I have given for convenience of 
 reference, and by the exact words placed upon the envelope as it came to me. 
 
 No. 1. " Flax disintegrated, by H. Burgess." — The envelope contains two 
 specimens — one bleached, the other unbleached. The fibres are of various 
 lengths — appearing under the microscope' to be mostly single cells — some quite 
 long. One I found to be one and a quarter inch, with tapering ends. The cells 
 have the usual character of flax. From the unequal lengths, I should be inclined 
 to think that the cells of flax have no great uniformity in this respect. 
 
 No. 2. " Asclepias cornuti cottonized, by Williams." — Imperfectly cottonized, 
 and, of course, unequal in staple. Some single cells which could be drawn out 
 were found to resemble flax in most respects, but differing in decided markings 
 that form long spirals, and also in the diameter of the internal cavity which is 
 less than that of flax, and also more irregular. 
 
 A specimen of this fibre, perfectly cottonized from Russia, which I have in 
 my collection, shows that the cells will not average more than three-fourths of 
 an inch, if so much. 
 
 No. 3. " Russian hemp, by Burgess." — Not quite white. Not well cotton- 
 ized, and, therefore, with filaments of unequal length. 
 
 As compared with American hemp the cells seem to have a greater diameter 
 for the internal cavity ,*and the transverse markings are more oblique. I cannot 
 say that this is a constant character, but it agrees very well with the drawing 
 of Russian hemp given by Schacht, as will be seen on reference to the figure 
 No. 4. 
 
 No. 4. " Clausenized flax-cotton, Geo. Graham, Cincinnati." — Cream-white. 
 Unequal in length ; many single cells, but mostly filaments composed of four to 
 eight. This shows that the process has not been carried to completion, as is 
 also indicated by the adhering remains of short or pith cells. 
 
 No. 5. " Green flax boiled in caustic soda, but not cottonized, McFarlane." — 
 Yellowish white. Coarse to the touch ; very long filaments, the finest contain- 
 ing at least six cells. The filaments are evidently too long and coarse to be 
 treated as cotton. 
 
 As the action of caustic alkali is capable of separating the fibre into indi- 
 vidual cells, it seems that this product has been obtained by a less prolonged 
 action, or a weaker solution. 
 
 No. 6. " Tin ret 'ted or green flax, Claussenized by McFarlane." — One specimen 
 in long slivers, the other bleached, the latter only examined. Some single and 
 long cells, but many compound; no possible determination of average length. 
 This has evidently been obtained from a flax having very long cells. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 75 
 
 No. 7. " Erolin or flax-wool: G. Davis, Cincinnati." — Unbleached; long fila- 
 ments; seven to ten cells in each; also with adhering remains of short cells. 
 
 No. 8. "By R. T. Shaw; his No. 2 cottonizcd flax." — Yellowish gray; 
 staple very unequal; mostly short or broken single cells, some filaments with 
 four or more. There is too much difference in this material to be wholly treated 
 by one process of manufacture. The very great irregularity in length would 
 prevent this. The whole mass is very closely matted. Some cells of extra- 
 ordinary length were found; it must have been a remarkable flax to furnish 
 such. 
 
 No. 9. "Fibrilia wool, bleached: S. M. Allen." — Yellowish cream- white; 
 mostly very long filaments, consisting of twelve or more cells, utterly incapable 
 of being used on cotton machinery. 
 
 No. 10. " Kentucky hemp, by H. Burgess." — Unbleached; very unequal fila- 
 ments ; some apparently single cells, or two or more slightly overlapping ; very 
 long compound filaments. 
 
 No. 11. "Fibrilia hemp: S. M. Allen, Boston."— White (bleached) blue, 
 and unbleached specimens. The bleached only examined. Very unequal com- 
 pound filaments. The first drawn out containing about four cells. 
 
 No. 12. " Hemp-cotton: R. T.Shaw." — This specimen consists almost wholly, 
 if not entirely, of wool, as can be determined by the naked eye, and by the 
 smell when burnt. This has, no doubt, occurred from some accidental contusion 
 of the specimens exhibited to the commission, from which this sample was se- 
 lected. 
 
 No. 13. " Bcehmeria nivca. India. Urticacca. By L. W. Wright, Brook- 
 lyn, New York." — This specimen must have been presented as a mere curiosity. 
 It shows this splendid fibre with its unrivalled length, but in a condition unfit 
 for cotton manufacture; indeed, it is only in the state of the refuse tow obtained 
 in the preparation of the long fibre which forms the well-known "grass-cloth" 
 of the east. It was not exhibited as a cottonized sample. 
 
 No. 14. "Jute by alkali: R. T. Shaw." — Yellowish white; coarse to the 
 touch; unequal staple; single filaments of many cells. 
 
 No. 15. "Flax: R. Fletcher, Oswego, New York." — White, bleached; staple 
 very unequal; finer filaments of at least seven cells, many shorter; adhering 
 remains. I am asked to determine if there are many broken cells. A bundle 
 of the shorter part of the staple snows mostly single cells, some of them within 
 broken ends. If this product is from flax cut into moderately short bits, it 
 would seem that some waste would arise from the fragments which fall off in 
 handling the specimen; but the quantity would be very trifling when compared 
 with the waste from such equal staple. 
 
 No. 16. " Fuller Sf Upham, Claremont, New Hampshire. Unretted and un^- 
 bleached stock." — Grayish white; staple rather shorter than in most of the 
 specimens, and more uniform, but still unequal. Some compound filaments 
 with adhering remains. Seems *to contain more flattened cells than are usually 
 found. 
 
 The shorter compound filaments, which make the whole product more uni- 
 form in length, are to be noted. They may have been obtained by cutting the 
 flax, as this would give a maximum length to the most complex filaments. 
 
 No. 17. "Burgess. Hanks of retted flax, disintegrated, but not separated; 
 also (a,) (b,) (r,,) and fd.J" — My attention has been called to the bank, (un- 
 bleached,) which has considerable tenacity when dry, but is readily separated 
 into cells or smaller filaments when wet. The water swells and lubricates the 
 parts, which then slip by each other; while, when dry, the natural arrange- 
 ment of the cells gives too much friction to allow them to part, and, having 
 been previously wetted, they have turned somewhat in drying, and so gained a 
 hold on each other. Adhering remains of a yellowish color were found. 
 
76 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 " (a.) Retted; steamed with caustic soda and carded; same stock as fb.J" — 
 Gray; staple unequal, about one-half to one and a quarter inch in length. 
 Mostly single cells, but with many adhering remains. Shows very well the in- 
 equality of the flax cells in length. In this specimen there are some cells of 
 very large diameter. 
 
 "(b.J Same stock as (a;) retted, steamed, and picked." — Staple shorter than 
 in the last specimen; compound filaments; adhering remains abundant; some 
 broken cells. 
 
 "fej" — No memorandum. Gray; not bleached. Staple unequal; many 
 long compound filaments; also long single cells, as in No. 1. 
 
 "fd.J Retted, and steamed i-Ath caustic soda. Crop of 1862." — Gray; very 
 long staple ; many long single cells ; still longer compound filaments of a few 
 cells. Seems to be an extraordinary flax, as far as regards the length of the 
 single cells. 
 
 No. 18. " Epilobium ; from Rutgcr B. Miller, Utica, New York." — Cream- 
 white; silky lustre. Staple very short. Consists, like most seed-hairs, of 
 single cells. Their walls are very thin ; they make sharp bends, and seem to 
 be brittle, without the least wind or twist, and, while resembling the down of 
 asclepias, are of less length, with a rather strong longitudinal marking. Utterly 
 useless for spinning. Even when mixed with other fibres, would fly off in the 
 process of manufacture. 
 
 No. 19. " Bozlimeria, sp. or Laportea ? R. Chute, St. Anthony, Minnesota." — 
 One specimen unbleached, the other bleached; both of similar character; rather 
 harsh to the touch. On examination, the filaments prove to be compound and 
 flat, consisting of more than five cells. There has evidently been no process 
 used to isolate the cells, which hold together very tenaciously, and also have 
 adhering remains. The smallest fragments that could be drawn out were still 
 compound. A sufficiently prolonged treatment with alkaline solutions would 
 separate the cells ; but any mechanical means, or more rapid action of re-agents, 
 only brought to sight portions of single cells from which their character might 
 be determined. These appeared to be flattish, with rather thick walls, and long 
 spiral markings. It is probable that the individual cells are quite long, judging 
 from the appearance of the filaments. 
 
 , GEORGE C. SCIEEFFER. 
 
 OTHER FIBRES. 
 
 In entering upon the consideration of any other fibrous plants than those 
 mentioned in the act of Congress, we are aware that the commission may be 
 said to have transgressed the bounds, and to h/ive gone extra limites ; but the 
 deep interest that attaches to the subject, and the importance of some of these 
 substances in the various arts of life, are thought to justify their introduction 
 into this report. 
 
 In the preparation of this section we have been largely indebted to the re- 
 ports of the juries of the international exhibition at London — a rare Avork, 
 which is not generally accessible to our countrymen. Quotations are here 
 made the more willingly in consideration of the eminence of the distinguished 
 men who served upon the jury. They are the highest authority upon this 
 topic, and we may do well to observe their dicta with regard to these sub- 
 stances, many of which are comparatively new to civilized life. 
 
 There are a great many fibrous plants in various parts of the country that 
 present us with beautiful and strong fibres, which may be utilized in the arts. 
 All of the mallow tribe are characterized by having bast-cells of great strength. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OE HEMP FOE COTTON. 
 
 77 
 
 Many of these may be applied to useful purposes. The sida abutilon has been 
 prepared many years since, and the fibres exhibited and declared equal to the 
 finest flax. This is a common weed. 
 
 Another of this family is the hibiscus, or marsh mallow, of which there are 
 several species that have attracted attention, and which have been brought into 
 notice at different times. 
 
 The asclepias family are also remarkable for the beauty of the fibres fur- 
 nished by their stems. Several specimens are exhibited in the museum. The 
 silk attached to their seeds is not useful, though very beautiful. The cornuti, 
 or syriaca, is a hardy perennial herbaceous plant, which has long been culti- 
 vated in Europe. It may be grown from seed, or by subdivision of the root. 
 Planted at suitable distances, it would be easily cultivated, and, if close enough, 
 would produce a heavy crop of tall, slender stems, well clothed with the fibre. 
 This plant, being a perennial, would continue to furnish successive crops for 
 many years without renewal, and would require very little culture. It affects 
 low lands near streams, but may be grown on any tillable soil of moderate 
 fertility. This substance has been attracting a good deal of attention lately in 
 the public press. Other plants of the same family, and nearly allied to this, 
 are also rich in fibre. 
 
 The apocynum on exhibition has a very fine and silky fibre, and its name, 
 cannabinum, indicates that the botanists perceived its hempen characteristics. 
 The Indians used these fibres in the construction of their bow-strings. 
 
 After considering the several other textile substances assigned to their inves- 
 tigation, the jury proceed, in their report, which was prepared by Mr. Alcan, to 
 the examination of what are styled miscellaneous fibres, as appears in the fol- 
 lowing extracts : 
 
 "In the various collections of raw produce a very large number of other fibrous sub- 
 stances, used as substitutes for cotton, flax, and hemp, are shown ; some of these are new, 
 or but little known, and among them are several which, from their valuable properties, seem 
 likely, ere long, to become important articles of trade, and not merely to form excellent sub- 
 stitutes for the substances already employed by manufacturers, but even in some cases to lead 
 to the development of new branches of industry. 
 
 "An interesting series of hemp, flax, and other fibrous substances is contained in the Liver- 
 pool collection of imports. These include — 
 
 Name of fibre. 
 
 1. Dutch flax... 
 
 2. Egyptian flax 
 
 3. Tow 
 
 4. Hemp 
 
 5. Jute 
 
 6. Sunn 
 
 7. Coir rope 
 
 8. Coir yarn 
 
 9. China grass 
 
 10. Picaba 
 
 11. Manilla hemp. . 
 
 12. Brazil palmetto 
 
 13. Brazil jute 
 
 14. Spanish moss.. 
 
 15. Vegetable silk . 
 
 Name of plant. 
 
 Linum usitatissimum . 
 
 ...do do 
 
 ...do do 
 
 Cannabis sativa 
 
 Corchorus capsularis . 
 
 Crotolaria juncea 
 
 Cocos nucifera 
 
 . . do do 
 
 Urtica nivea* 
 
 Attalea funifera 
 
 Musa textilis 
 
 Carnanba palm 
 
 Unknown 
 
 Tillandsia usneoides . 
 Chorisa speciosa 
 
 Whence derived. 
 
 Holland 
 
 Alexandria 
 
 Holland 
 
 Canada 
 
 East Indies 
 
 .. do ... do 
 
 Bombay and Calcutta. . 
 do do 
 
 Canton and Hong Kong 
 
 Tons. 
 
 78 
 
 8,660 
 
 Para 
 
 Manilla 
 Para . . . 
 
 .do 
 
 Brazil. . 
 .do.... 
 
 470 
 200 
 
 Bales. 
 150 
 
 Tons. 
 "81 
 
 1850. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 153 
 
 270 
 3 
 
 12,216 
 
 81 
 
 1,100 
 
 370 
 
 Bales. 
 320 
 
 Tons. 
 300 
 192 
 
 ' Boehmeria nivea. 
 
78 
 
 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 Among fibrous materials one of the most interesting is the " China-grass," of which nu- 
 merous specimens are exhibited iu various departments of the building, some of the most 
 complete and valuable series being in the English gallery. 
 
 Although China-grass fibre is comparatively a new material in the hands of our manufac- 
 turers, yet it has been known to men of science for a very considerable time ; but certain 
 practical difficulties have hitherto prevented it from being usefully and profitably employed. 
 China-glass fibre is obtained from Urtica nivea,* abundant in China and in various parts of the 
 Indian empire, where it has long been used by the natives, who, by the simple maceration of 
 the plants, obtain from them a strong and very useful fibre. Of the various fibres examine il 
 by Dr. Roxburgh, at the commencement of the present century, with a view to the discovei y 
 of some cheap and good substitute for hemp, one of the most promising was the "Callooee'' 
 hemp, "Kankhura," or the " Ramy, " of the islands and Malay peninsula. This he found 
 to be the produce of the Urtica, to which he gave the name of Urtica tenacissima. The plant 
 was introduced in 1803, from Beucoolen to Calcutta, where it was cultivated for several years 
 in the Botanic Garden, then under the charge of Dr. Roxburgh. A considerable quantity 
 of Callooee hemp having been imported into England in 1814, its practical value was tested 
 by some competent authorities, and as the reports were highly favorable as to its strength 
 and other valuable qualities, the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures 
 awarded a silver medal to Captain Joseph Cotton, of the East India Company, for its intro- 
 duction. The chief obstacle which interfered, however, with its use was the difficulty which 
 was found to exist in the preparation of the fibre from the stems of the plants. None of the 
 processes usually adopted with flax or hemp were found to be at all suitable to them, and the 
 rude, wasteful, and imperfect means employed by the natives in preparing the fibre for the 
 manufacture of twine, thread, and fishing nets,- by the mere process of scraping, were wholly 
 inapplicable on a large scale, and gave, besides, a very inferior result. When macerated or 
 retted in water, it was found that the fibre itself was more easily destroyed than the glutinous 
 matter of the stem. It was hoped that the introduction of the machines of Mr. Lee for 
 breaking the straw unretted, and of Messrs. Hill & Bundy, already referred to, would have 
 obviated this difficulty ; but such did not prove to be the case. 
 
 During the last forty years various attempts have been made to devise a good and cheap 
 process for preparing this fibre, but hitherto without much success ; and consequently, till 
 quite recently, the cost of the fibre was such as to preclude its being brought into the market 
 as a substitute for flax. But recent investigations have shown that the urtica tenacissima 
 and the heleropliylla may be obtained, in almost unlimited quantities, in various parts of 
 India ; and a process which has lately been patented appears, to a veiy great extent, to have 
 removed the practical difficulties which previously stood in the way of its employment by 
 manufacturers, so that in a few years it is probable that the Callooee hemp will constitute au 
 important addition to the fibrous materials employed in the arts. 
 
 The process of Messrs. L. W. Wright & Co., for the preparation of China-grass, &c, for 
 which a patent was obtained in ]849, consists essentially in a very ingenious arrangement 
 for boiling the stems in an alkaline solution, after they have previously been steeped for 
 twenty-four hours in cold water, and for twenty-four hours in water of a temperature of 90°. 
 The fibre is then thoroughly washed with pure water, and finally subjected to the action of a 
 current of high-pressure steam till nearly dry. 
 
 The following table shows the comparative strength of several of these East Indian fibres, 
 as ascertained by Dr. Roxburgh ; but it must be borne in mind that in several instances the 
 fibres had evidently been very rudely and imperfectly prepared : the experiments were made 
 in 1804. 
 
 Breaking 
 weight. 
 
 Hemp (English) 
 
 Murga (Sanseviera). 
 
 Aloe 
 
 Ejoo 
 
 Donsha 
 
 Coir 
 
 Hemp (Indian) 
 
 Woollet comal 
 
 do 
 
 Sunn 
 
 Bunghi paat 
 
 Ghu nala paat 
 
 do 
 
 Flax (Indian) 
 
 Cannabis sativa 
 
 Aletris nervosa 
 
 Agave americana 
 
 Saguerus Rumphii 
 
 iEschynomene cannabina 
 
 Cocos nucifera * 
 
 Cannabis sativa 
 
 Abroma augusta 
 
 Bauhinia 
 
 Crotalaria juncea 
 
 Corchorus olitorius 
 
 " capsularis 
 
 Hibiscus manihot 
 
 Linum usitatissimum 
 
 105 pounds. 
 
 120 
 
 110 
 
 96 " 
 
 88 
 
 87 
 
 74 
 
 74 
 
 69 
 
 68 
 
 68 
 
 67 
 
 61 
 
 39 " 
 
 : Bcehmeria nivea. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON 
 
 79 
 
 It is evident, however, that these experiments could not be regarded as giving at all accurate 
 comparative results ; they only proved that many of the fibres were very strong, and well 
 merited further trials. In 1808 Dr. Roxburgh made a second series of similar experiments, the 
 result of several of which was as follows : 
 
 
 
 Breaking 
 weight. 
 
 
 
 248 pounds. 
 240 
 
 
 
 3 do 
 
 
 164 " 
 
 4. Sunn 
 
 
 160 
 
 
 
 158 
 
 
 
 138 
 
 7. ..do 
 
 
 128 " 
 
 8. Musta paat 
 
 
 115 " 
 
 
 
 113 " 
 
 10. Plantain 
 
 
 79 " 
 
 
 
 
 Dr. Ure states that the relative tenacities or strength of several textile fibres 
 has been experimentally found by suspending weights to threads or cords of 
 them of a certain diameter, and the following results were obtained : 
 
 Flax 1000 
 
 Hemp 1390 
 
 New Zealand flax 1 996 
 
 Silk 2894 
 
 The strength of cotton and wool, he adds, has not been so well ascertained, 
 but it is much inferior to that of the preceding filaments. The New Zealand 
 flax, which forms so strong a rope, is easily broken by any flexure, and therefore 
 does not form a durable canvas.* 
 
 It is plain that the strength of all these fibres was ascertained under very unfavorable 
 circumstances, and there is no doubt that they would have been found even yet more valuable 
 had they been well and properly prepared. The principal vegetable fibres contributed from 
 India are the following : 
 
 1. "Callooee," "Rhea," or "China-grass," the fibre of Urtica tenacissima, and one or two 
 other varieties of Urtica, already mentioned as well known in commerce under the name of 
 "China-grass." Strictly speaking, it is probable that China-grass and Callooee hemp are the 
 produce of two distinct species of Urtica, though the fibre of the two is very similar, and, for all 
 practical purposes, in fact identical. China-grass, as it is most commonly called, is the pro- 
 duce of the Urtica (Bcehmeria) nivea of Willdenow, whilst the Callooee, Kalmoi, or Rami, of 
 Sumatra, is obtained from the Urtica (Bcehmeria) tenacissima of Roxburgh. It is from this 
 latter pl^it, also, that the Rhea of Assam is procured. The plants yielding this beautiful 
 fibre are very abundant in many parts of the empire, and may be had in almost unlimited 
 quantities. 
 
 In the form of hemp, and when the fibre is well prepared, it is remarkably strong, and 
 when thoroughly bleached, though the strength is then somewhat diminished, it acquires a 
 most remarkably beautiful white silky lustre; unfortunately it is one of the most highly 
 venomous of all the nettle tribe. It is stated that the Todawars prepare the fibre of this 
 plant by boiling the stems in water, after which they readily separate it from the woody parts, 
 and then spin it into a coarse but very strong thread. The Malays simply steep the stems in 
 water for ten or twelve days, after which they are so much softened that the outer fibrous 
 portion is easily peeled off. 
 
 2. " Yercum nar." The fibres of the Calotropis (Asclepias) gigantea, a plant which grows 
 wild abundantly in various parts of the Bengal and Madras Presidencies, and is used by the 
 natives in the manufacture of cord called "Lamb-dore," or "Toondee coir." The fibre is of 
 very remarkable strength : from some recent experiments made by Dr. Wight, its tenacity, as 
 compared with some of the other Indian fibres when made into rope, is as follows: 
 
 Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 101. 
 
80 
 
 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 1. Yercum nar 
 
 2. Janapum 
 
 3. Cucthalay nar. 
 
 4. Cotton 
 
 5. Marool 
 
 G. Pooley Mungu 
 7. Coir 
 
 Calotropis gigantea 
 
 Crotalaria juncea 
 
 Agave arneiicana 
 
 Gossypiurn herbaceuni 
 Sanseviera zeylanica . . 
 Hibiscus cannabinus.. 
 Cocus nucifera 
 
 Breaking 
 weight. 
 
 552 pounds. 
 
 407 
 
 3(32 
 
 346 
 
 316 
 
 290 
 
 224 
 
 Specimens of the Yercum, or fibre of Asclcpias gigantca (and of the Tongoos, and of 
 the Asclcpias tenacissima), or bow-string hemp of Rajemahal, are sent from Coimbatore and 
 other districts in the Madras Presidency. 
 
 3. " Umbaree," or " Maestee pat ; " the fibre of the Palungeo, or Hibiscus cannahinus, a plant 
 common all over India, and cultivated in man}' parts for the sake of its fibre. The process 
 generally adopted seems to be that of steeping the stems in water till putrefaction commences, 
 when they are taken out, washed, and beaten uutil the fibre separates from the woody portion 
 Of the stem ; this fibre is contributed from Madras. 
 
 4. "Marool," or "Moorva;" bow-string hemp, obtained from the Sanseviera zeylanica, a 
 plant abundant in the southern parts of the contiuent of India, sent from Cuttack, Coimbatore 
 and other districts in the Madras Presidency. 
 
 5. "Jute," or " Paat," &c, the fibre of various species of Corchorus, especially C. olitorius, 
 well known in commerce, one variety of it having been formerly called Chinese hemp. 
 Many different samples of this fibre are contributed from Calcutta and from Madras. From 
 Ruugpore, in the district of Moorshedabad, samples of three varieties of jute are sent, called 
 Suffed Hemonty Pat, Lall Hemonty Pat, and Lall Petrie Pat. 
 
 6. "Sunn," " Janapam," Indian hemp; the fibre of the Crotalaria juncea, likewise well 
 known in commerce. Good samples are contributed from Coimbatore, &c. 
 
 7. "Dhuncha," or "Dunche," obtained from the JEschynomene cannabina, used by the 
 natives of Bengal to make fishing-nets ; a remarkably strong, though rather harsh fibre, pretty 
 well known in commerce. The plant is commonly cultivated in Bengal. 
 
 8. "Coir," the fibrous part of the husk of the cocoa-nut, Cocos nucifera, well known in 
 commerce ; good samples are sent from Calicut. 
 
 9. Nar, or aloe fibre, the produce of the Agave vivipara, and other allied species. A valu 
 able and strong fibre is prepared in many parts of India from different species of aloe. A 
 very interesting scries of these fibres, which are obtained from the large Hill aloe, and from 
 the small aloe, illustrating the preparation of the fibre, exhibiting some of the uses to which 
 it is applicable, and showing the facility with which it may be dyed of va*rious colors,, is 
 exhibited. 
 
 10. Specimens of aloe fibre are contributed from various parts of the Madras Presidency, 
 Madras, Madura, Coimbatore, &c, and from Singapore. 
 
 11. Yucca fibre, obtained from Yucca gloriosa, is also sent from Madras. 
 
 12. Ejoo, or Gommuti, obtained from the Arenga saccharifera (Saguerus Rumphii) or Gum- 
 muttee Palm, much esteemed in the Eastern Arohipelago for making ropes and cables, in 
 consequence of its extraordinary elasticity and durability in water ; unfortunately the value 
 of this fibre is greatly diminished by its peculiar fragility. Very good samples of this fibre 
 are contributed from Singapore. 
 
 13. Putwa or MaAval fibre, obtained from the Bauhinia raccmosa, a plant common through- 
 out the lesser hills of India, contributed from Bhaugulpore, in the division of Patna. 
 
 14. Talli Nanas, fibre of the pine-apple, Bromclia ananas, from various localities. Good 
 samples are exhibited from Madras, Singapore, and from Travancore, &c. Some very 
 beautiful specimens of fibre called "ananas flax" are exhibited from Java; the real source 
 of this fibre does not seem to be very certain, for though from its name it might be supposed 
 to be pine-apple fibre, it more closely resembles that of the Urticas, or Boehmerias, already 
 mentioned. 
 
 15. Plantain fibre and Manilla hemp, obtained from the Musa textilis and M. paradisaica, 
 contributed from Madras, from Dacca, and from Chittagong. Excellent canvas and ropes 
 are shown made by this fibre, which is extensively used in the government establishments 
 at Ceylon. 
 
 16. Marsdenia fibre, obtained from Marsdenia Roylii, and contributed from Nepal. 
 
 17. Pulas, fibre of the Butea frondosa, used for making common cordage, from Beerbhoom, 
 in the division of Moorshedabad. 
 
 18. Parkinsonia fibre, obtained from the stems of Parkinsonia aculeata, introduced from 
 the West Indies, sent from Madras, said to be well suited for the manufacture of paper. 
 
 19. Roxburgliia fill re, obtained from the Roxburghia gloriosoides. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 81 
 
 20. Artoearpus fibre, obtained from an Artocarpus ; this and tbe preceding fibre are con- 
 tributed from Assam. 
 
 21. Trap fibre, obtained from the bark of tbe trap tree, a species of Artocarpus, contributed 
 from Singapore. 
 
 22. Trophis fibre, from the Tropins nspera. 
 
 23. Daphne bark, the fibrous bark of the Daphne cannabina, used in the manufacture of 
 Nepal paper. 
 
 Besides these, several other fibrous substances from different parts of India are exhibited, 
 such as the fibres of the Palmyra leaf, Borassus flubclliformis, from Madras, the bark of the 
 Sissi tree, and a series of vegetable fibres from Arracan, called Theng-Lan-shaw, Pathayon- 
 shaw, JShaw-pbyos, Ngan-tsoung-shaw, Shaw -me, and Ee-gywot-shaw, &c. 
 
 Several of the Indian fibres, already mentioned, are also contributed from Ceylon. Good 
 samples are shown, both as mere fibres, and also in the various states of thread, ropes, and 
 coarse cloth; of coir, aloe, flax, and the fibre of the Plantain, Hibiscus, and Sanseviera. 
 Specimens of aloe fibre are contributed from the Cape of Good Hope. Aloe fibre, obtained 
 from Agave americana and A. vivipara, has been also sent from Barbadoes. 
 
 From St. Vincent, samples of the " Mahant" baik in its raw state, the fibrous part in the 
 state in which it is employed in the manufacture of fishing-nets, and samples of lapeto, used 
 also in the manufacture of common cord and coarse lines for fishing-nets, are exhibited. 
 
 Several interesting specimens of various fibres are shown in the collection from British 
 Guiana; among these are specimens of silk-cotton obtained from the Bombax cciba, from 
 George Town, Demerara, said to be exported to the United States, and used in the manu- 
 facture of hats. 
 
 Plantain fibre, Musn paradisaica and M. sapientum, from Plantation Vigilance, East Coast, 
 Demerara, and from Plantation Klein, Pouderoyen river, Demerara. It is calculated that 
 about eight hundred weight per acre of this excellent fibre might be obtained ; at present very 
 little of it is used. It is wonhy of remark mat, in some of the first lists of premiums offered 
 by the Society of Arts, about 1762, special attention was drawn to the beautiful fibre of the 
 plantain: "Whereas the stem of the Asiatic and American fruit-bearing plantain affords 
 three sorts of fibrous materials, which resemble hemp, hard silk, and cotton, ail which have 
 been experimentally found capable of being wrought into various sorts of manufactures; 
 and among others, into cordage, fustians, lawn, knitting, gauze, blende lace, and excellent 
 candle-wicks, sundry specimens of which manufactures may be seen in the hands of the 
 register of the society, &c." This advertisement was continued for several successive years, 
 but as no candidate came forward to claim the offered reward, it was at last discontinued. 
 
 Silk-grass fibre, the fibre of the Agate vivipara, from Plantation Vigilance, East Coast, 
 Demerara, and Flbiiri fibre, obtained from the Ita palm, Mauritia fiexuosa, from the river 
 Berbice, are exhibited. 
 
 Mahoe, or Mahoe fibre, Hibiscus elatus or Thespesia populnea, from Demerara, is exhibited ; 
 it is a very strong, but coarse fibre, used for making cordage, coffee bags, &c. 
 
 Some good samples of Yucca hemp, together with a leaf of the Yucca serrulata, from which 
 it is obtained, and rope and cordage manufactured from it, are shown from Nassau, Bahamas ; 
 also specimens of the fibie of the Palmetto, and of rope made from it. 
 
 In the Trinidad collection are some specimens of the fibre of the pine-apple and aloe, and 
 also of the fibre of the Mahagua, or Majagua, Stcrculea carribaa. 
 
 Specimens of the leaf and fibre of the Doryanthcs ezcetsa are contributed from New South 
 Wales, as well as some rope made of the latter. 
 
 Some good samples of New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax, are contributed by various 
 exhibitors. Among others New Zealand flax, cleaned and prepared by machinery. 
 
 In the Austrian collections specimens of fibrous wood, divided into very thin and slender 
 strips, and used instead of straw in the manufacture of plaited work, are shown, from Zinn- 
 wald, near Koplitz, in Bohemia. 
 
 A good fibre prepared from the date palm, together with rope, string, nets and brushes 
 made from the fibres, are contributed from Broulos, Ghizeh, and other places in Egypt. 
 
 Specimens of flax, cotton, pita, or aloe fibre, and mallow fibre, are contributed from 
 Madeira. 
 
 A fine and very beautiful fibrous material called "Bejuco" is exhibited from tbe island of 
 Luzon. This substance is very strong, and is used in the manufacture of plaited work, and 
 a sort of cloth remarkable for its strength and softness. 
 
 Specimens of several of the textile ribres'of Cuba are contributed, including the Daguilla, 
 or fibrous inner bark of the Lagctla lintearia, together with cord made of it; cord and mats 
 made of palm fibre ; Magagua, the fibre of tbe Puritium elatum, and the fibre of the Hibiscus 
 cannabinus. 
 
 Samples of a valuable grass, the Macrochloa tenacissima, much used for the manufacture 
 of cord, &c, and which might probably be advantageously employed by paper-makers, are 
 exhibited from Huesca. 
 
 Plantain fibre, prepared from the stem of the plantain, Musa sapientum, is exhibited from 
 Puerto Rico ; and Pita, the fibre of the wild aloe Agave americana, is shown from Murcia, 
 
 Other fibres, from Jamaica, by N. Wilson, who has named the'species correctly. 
 
 Ex. Doc. 35 6 
 
82 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 Musk okra, Abelmoschus moschatus, six feet six inches. Common okra, A. eseulentus, 
 niue feet. 
 Abrotna augusta, six feet six inches. 
 Abutilon graveolens, five feet. 
 Abutilon venosum, four feet three inches. 
 Adansonia digitata, three feet nine inches. Monkey bread. 
 iEschynomene cannabina, four feet six inches. Dunsha of India. 
 Agave karato, three feet six inches. American aloe or karato. 
 Alisraa coidifolia, two feet six inches. Water plantain. 
 Alpinia nutans, four feet. Shell-plant of India. 
 Alpiuia allughas, three feet six inches. Shell-plant of India. 
 Amomum sylvestre, four feet. Common wild ginger. 
 Ananassa sativa, four feet six inches. Pine-apple, black var. 
 Anona muricata, four feet. Sour sop. 
 Anona cherimolia, four feet six inches. Cherimoyer. 
 Anona palustris, five feet. Cork-wood or cow-apple. 
 Artabotrys odoratissima, five feet two inches. 
 Arum macrorhizon, nineteen feet — twenty -six feet six inches. 
 Arum funiculaceum, four feet six inches. 
 
 Arum funiculaceum, aerial root, ten and a half feet-fourteen and a half feet. 
 Arum funiculaceum, petiole of, two feet six inches. 
 Astrapoea Wallichii, two feet six inches. 
 Bambusa gigantea, six feet. Bamboo. 
 Bixa orellana, four feet. Arnatto. 
 
 Boehmeria nivea, three feet eight inches. Rhea or China-grass. 
 
 Bromelia pinguin, five feet six inches. Pinguin. -. 
 
 Bromelia karatas, ten feet two inches. Pinguin silk-grass. 
 Calathea zebrina, two feet six iuches. Petiole of zebra plant. 
 Canna indica, one foot six inches. Indian shot. 
 Carludovica palmata, ten feet. Yipi yapa for the Panama hats. 
 Carludovica peduncle, two feet six inches. 
 Carica papaya, five feet. Pawpaw. 
 Carolinia insignis, four feet six inches. 
 
 Cecropia peltata, petiole, two feet three inches. Trumpet tree. 
 Caryota urens, two feet six inches. Kitool fibre from a palm. 
 Caryota urens, from spat he, four feet six inches. 
 
 Corypha umbraculifera, petiole, six feet six iuches. Talipot palm. 
 
 Costus afer, three feet six inches. African costus. 
 
 Cocus nucifera, coir. Cocoa-nut palm. One nut yields one pound fifteen ounces. 
 
 Cordia sebestena, four feet six inches. Scarlet cordia. 
 
 Cordia macrophylla, six feet. Broad-leaved cherry. 
 
 Cordia gerascanthus, three feet. Spanish elm. 
 
 Cordia collococca, five feet. Clammy cherry. 
 
 Corchorus olitorius, three feet six inches. Jute of India. 
 
 Corchorus siliquosus, two feet eight inches. 
 
 Cordyline heliconisefolia, two feet. 
 
 Cochlospermum hibiscit'olia, five feet. 
 
 Curcuma longa, three feet. Turmeric. 
 
 Cyperus elegaus, four feet eight inches. Elegant sedge 
 
 Daphne tinilblia, five feet. Burn-nose bark. 
 
 Eriodeudron anfractuosum, five feet. Silk cotton tree. 
 
 Guazuma ulmifolia, four feet. Bastard cedar. 
 
 Gossypium hirsutnm, four feet two inches. Cotton shrub. 
 
 Glossospermum, six feet. 
 
 Hedcyhiumlongifoliuni, four feet six inches. Garland flower. 
 
 Helicteres jamaiceusis, four feet six inches. Screw tree. 
 
 Helicteres isora, three feet. 
 
 Heliconia brasilieusis, six feet six inches. "Wild plantain, Brazil. 
 . Heliconia bihai, seven feet. Wild plantain of 'Jamaica. 
 
 Heliconia psitta corum, two feet six inches. 
 
 Hibiscus rosa sinensis var., five feet. Chinese rose. 
 
 Hibiscus liliiflora, four feet. Lily-flowered shoe-black. 
 
 Hibiscus radiatus, six feet ten iuches. Purple shoe-black. 
 
 Hibiscus Sabdariffa, six feet six inches. Indian sorrel. 
 
 Hibiscus vitifolius, four feet. 
 
 Hibiscus lampas, five feet. 
 
 Ismene calathina, peduncle of three feet six inches. Gigantic lily. 
 
 Kseempferia galanga, two feet six inches. Galingale. 
 
 Kleinhofia hospita, three feet ten inches. 
 
 Kydia calycina, tour feet four inches. 
 
 Lagetta lintearia. Lace bark. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR IIEMP FOR COTTON. 83 
 
 Malachra capitata, five feet. Wild okro. 
 
 Malachra mens, three feet. 
 
 Malvaviscus aiboreus, six feet six inches. Wild mahoe. 
 
 Maranta sanguinea, two feet six inches. 
 
 Maranta arundiuaeea, one foot six inches. Arrowroot. 
 
 Momordica lufi'a. Vine strainer. 
 
 Musa textilis, six feet. Manilla hemp. 
 
 Musa violacea, five feet six inches. Violet-flowering plantain. 
 
 Musa coccinea, tour feet six inches. Scarlet flowering plantain. 
 
 Musa sapientum, eight feet six inches. Banana. 
 
 Musa paradisaica, nine feet. Plantain. 
 
 Musa cavendishii, three feet six inches. Chinese banana. 
 
 Ochroma lagopus, eight feet. Down tree fifty-seventy feet. 
 
 Oncidium carihaginense, two feet six inches. Orchid epiphytal. 
 
 Pandanus spiralis, five feet. Leaves of screw pine. 
 
 Pandanus spiralis, three feet. Aerial roots. 
 
 Pandanus moschatus, leaves, three feet. 
 
 Pandanus moschatus, aerial root, three feet. 
 
 Pandanus variegatus elegans, five feet, leaves of. 
 
 Pandanus variegatus, aerial root of, five feet. 
 
 Paritium elatum, seven feet. Mahoe tree, fifty-seventy feet. 
 
 Paritium macrophyllum, five feet. East Indian mahoe. 
 
 Paritium macrophyllum, petiole of, one foot six inches. 
 
 Paritium tiliaceum, five feet. Sea side mahoe. 
 
 Pothos violacea, two feet six inches. Wild coco. 
 
 Pothos violacea, wild coco, new, two feet six inches. Substitute for straw plait. 
 
 Pavonia odorata, three feet three inches. 
 
 Pavonia racemosa, three feet three inches. 
 
 Sterculia carriboea, three feet six inches. Large tree. 
 
 Sterculia patens, three feet three inches. 
 
 Sanseviera zoylanica, three feet. Bow-string hemp. 
 
 Sanseviera guiueeusis, three feet. 
 
 Sanseviera cyliudrica, three feet. 
 
 Sida mollis, five feet six inches. Broom-weed. 
 
 Sida hirsuta. four feet. 
 
 Sida jamaicensis, two feet three inches. A common weed. 
 
 Sida siliaris, three feet. A common weed. 
 
 Sida dumosa, six feet. A common weed. 
 
 Sida rhombifolia, two feet eight inches. 
 
 Sida uluiifolia, three feet six inches. 
 
 Thrinax parviflora, four feet six inches. Fan palm. 
 
 Theobroma cacao, eight feet. Cocoa. 
 
 Tillandsia sonata, four feet six inches. Wild pine. 
 
 Triumfetta semi-triloba, four feet six inches. Burr-weed, common. 
 
 Typha latifolia, four feet. Cats'-tail. 
 
 Urena sinuata, three feet three inches. 
 
 Urena typha, lea, three feet nine inches. White-flowering burr- weed. 
 
 Uvaria pendulata, four feet eight inches. Large tree. 
 
 Veronia curassavica, four feet six inches. Black sage. 
 
 Zingiber officinale, three feet six inches. Ginger. 
 
 Yucca aloefolia, two feet. Dagger plant. 
 
 Yucca filamentosa, one foot six inches. 
 
 Yucca gloriosa, three feet. 
 
 The most valuable of these for cordage will be the Bcehmeria nivea, introduced from 
 India, the mahoes, the sanseviera, the common and wild plantains, and the bromelias. 
 
 Silk-cottons arc produced in great abundance in many tropical countries, but the extreme 
 smoothness and roundness of their beautiful silky fibres render them utterly useless for 
 spinning, and being very brittle and easily reduced to dust, they are not well adapted for 
 stuffing cushions or bedding. They may be useful for gun cotton. 
 The Brazilian collection contained the following: 
 Down of the seeds of Erhitcs subcrosa. 
 
 Yellow down, (paina depedraor amarella,) the silk-cotton tree seeds, a species of Bombaa.. 
 Down of the Inibiricu, Bombax carolinum. 
 Silk-cotton, from seeds of the Cuba, a Bombax. 
 
 Silk-cotton tree (paina de paineira macho,) from seeds of Chorisia pecholtiana. 
 Down of seed (paina de abobora) supposed to be one of the asclepiadacetc. 
 Down of the silk-cotton tree (paina tenia, ) Chorisia speciosa. 
 White down of a silk-cotton tree, supposed to be a Bombax. 
 Down of a climber (paina loura, or cipo de pennes,) Stipecoma peltigera. 
 Down of seeds of Oxypetalum campestre. 
 
84 
 
 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OL HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 Down of seeds of Asclepias curassavica. 
 Down of seeds of Aranja albena. 
 Down of seeds of Bombyco spermum. 
 
 From Trinidad : 
 Ochroma lagopus. 
 Manicaria saceifera. 
 Tillandsia usneoides. 
 Bromelia karatas. 
 Agave vivipara. 
 Sanseviera guineensis. 
 
 Musa rosacea?, M. textilis, M. sapientum, and M. paradisaica. 
 Mauritia flexuosa. 
 
 Apeiba Tibourbon, A. nlmifolia, and A. aspera. 
 Triumfetta semi triloba. 
 Guazuma ulmifolia. 
 Theobroma cacao. 
 Sterculia caribea. 
 
 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, H. trilobus, and H. esculentus. 
 Paritium tiliaceum. 
 Malachra capitata. 
 Pavonia racemosa. 
 Urenna sinuata. 
 
 Sida cordifolia, and S. rhombifolia. 
 Courapita guianensis. 
 Lecythis adatimon. 
 Bauhinia megalandra. 
 
 These lists of tropical plants are the more valuable and interesting because 
 many of them have been introduced from foreign countries, and are preserved 
 in the government conservatories, where they may be studied in their growing 
 state. It is truly surprising to observe in these collections so many valuable 
 fibrous materials, and a new interest is at once imparted to the inspection of 
 these exotics, when we find them possessed of so great utility. 
 
 The commission also refer to the very extensive and exceedingly interesting 
 cabinet of fibres which was opened for their study by Dr. G. C. Schaeffer of this 
 city, among which were the following rare fibres : 
 
 ENDOGENOUS. 
 
 Agave americana. 
 Arum fuuiculaceum, (root.) 
 Pandanus spiralis. 
 Ananassa sativa. 
 Musa violacea. 
 Abroma augusta. 
 Malvaviscus arboreus. 
 Heliconia braziliensis. 
 Fourcroya gigantea. 
 (Pita cauca?) 
 (Madagascar palm 1) 
 
 Ahauwa (Coricacese.) 
 
 Carica papaya. 
 
 Cocoa-nut, coir. 
 
 Musa paradisaica. 
 
 Musa sapientum. 
 
 Yucca gloriosa. 
 
 Pothos violacea. 
 
 Bromelia karatas, long and fine. 
 
 Carlodovica palmata. 
 
 Yucca aloifolia. 
 
 Bromelia penguin, very fine. 
 
 EXOGENS. 
 
 Tillandsia serrata. 
 Kydia calycina. 
 Helicteres jamaicencis. 
 Triumfetta semitriloba. 
 Sida jamaicencis. 
 Ureua typhalea. 
 Sida mollis, very soft. 
 JELibiscus esculentus, coarse. 
 Cordea macrophylla. 
 Hibiscus liliiflora. 
 
 Ochroma lagopus. 
 
 Hibiscus subdariffa. 
 
 Cordja sebestena. 
 
 Eurena simulata. 
 
 Hibiscus elatus, 60 to 80 feet. 
 
 Kleinhofiea hospita. 
 
 CEnothera biennis. 
 
 Asclepias cornuti, very strong. 
 
 Asclepias tuberosa. 
 
 Lagetta lintearea. 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 85 
 
 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Boehmeria nivea, Java. 
 
 " rubroflore pleno. Broussonettia, Soutb Sea islands. 
 
 Flax and hemo from various sources, and many otber fibrous substances. 
 
 CHINA-GRASS. 
 
 From tbe Asiatic continent we have some specimens of cloth made of China- 
 grass. This article is no doubt, in its essential qualities and uses, a species of 
 flax, and therefore properly comes under our notice. It has been produced for 
 many years by the industrious and ingenious people of China. We have 
 remarked that in the coarse kinds of cloth made from it the fibre appears to be 
 split into lengths, and attached to each other at the smaller ends. In this simple 
 state the pieces are put together with great dexterity. This is an interesting 
 example of the position of this manufacture among one of the most ancient 
 nations of the world. 
 
 Besides the coarser kinds of cloth, there are exhibited some beautiful hand- 
 kerchiefs and other fine linens made from this material. At the present day 
 China-grass is occasionally used in making colored fabrics, combined with other 
 substances, such as silk and cotton; and from the peculiar brilliancy of the 
 fibre it shows to much advantage in this way. It has not as yet entered into 
 extensive use for plain goods ; but gome very meritorious attempts to ascertain 
 its utility for that purpose have been made and are still in progress. 
 
 The commissioners were very much pleased with specimens of this material 
 contributed by Lemuel W. Wright, from Brooklyn, New York, which are 
 remarkable for their beauty. They consist of the raw material, and of combed 
 and cleaned fibres, some of which are beautifully dyed. There was also a por- 
 tion of tangled fibres or tow which was examined by the microscope, though 
 not presented as flax-cotton. The fibres of this material are made up of very 
 long cells which would be ruptured in any attempts to cottonize it, and it 
 should be used as long-line. The specimens of cloth presented in which this 
 fibre was combined with wool were very beautiful. No description of pro- 
 cesses and apparatus used in the preparation of this material was laid before 
 the commission. 
 
 The admirable appearance of this fibre so attracted the attention of the com- 
 mission that they at once investigated the history of the plant since its intro- 
 duction into this country and propagation at the Congressional gardens. As 
 will be seen by reference to the United States Patent Office reports for 1855, 
 Mr. Smith succeeded in growing plants from seed sent him from the West 
 Indies by Mr. Wilson. Mr. Smith propagated many plants, and we understand 
 that they were widely distributed throughout the southern States, under the 
 impression that the climate would prove well adapted to it. Our observations 
 upon the plants that remain in the Congressional gardens, confirmed by the 
 opinion of Mr. Smith and other botanists, induce us to believe that Washing- 
 ton is on the northern boundary of the region where this plant may be success- 
 fully cultivated. 
 
 Specimens of an allied species have been presented from the northwest, St. 
 Anthony, Minnesota, which demonstrate that we have a native plant of great 
 value, to which we desire to direct public attention. Unfortunately, the speci- 
 mens of the dead plant were in too imperfect a condition to identify its botanical 
 classification. 
 
 Dr. Schceffer, in the Patent Office report for 1S55, notices the China-grass in 
 the following paragraphs : 
 
 "Many exogenous plants are herbaceous— that is, grow with little strength to the stem for 
 one year, ancTthen die down to the ground Even the perennial plants of warmer climates 
 may, in the milder regions of the temperate zones, besome annuals. In the ca.se of true an- 
 nuals there is no need for any great hardening of the woody tissues of the stem, as the sole 
 
86 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 end to be attained is a sufficient support for the plant until it flowers and the seeds ripen. 
 Herbaceous stems, which die down to the ground each year, are evidently designed for a 
 similarly restricted end. In the case of perennials, which, in other climates, might at length 
 become woody shrubs, a single year's growth is not enough to allow of much induration of 
 the wood-cells, and hence they approach nearly to the condition of true annuals, although 
 the tendency to produce firm wood is constantly shown. If, under either of these three heads, 
 a plant is found which furnishes a long and useful bast, a common and well-known treatment 
 can be economically employed for the separation of the fibre. The plant is exposed to the 
 action of the air and moisture, with more or less of fermentation, until the different tissues 
 become separated, and even until the different cells are loosened in their adhesion, by which 
 the harder and shorter woody fibres are broken, and in part removed, while the pliabilitv of 
 the bast allows it to pass through the treatment without injury. At the same time, the short 
 and more tender cells are also removed, the latter stages of the process differing for different 
 plants, all contributing to the complete separation of the remains of the adheient and useless 
 types. 
 
 "Two things, then, must concur to make a useful fibrous plant; for not only must the 
 bast be long, pliant, and in bundles of the proper size, but the wood which is to be rejected 
 must be brittle, with short cells, not much hardened, or not strongly adhering together. Flax 
 and hemp are, in our own country, the best specimens of these favorable conditions, but we 
 have other plants nearly, if not cpaite, as well adapted to the manufacture of useful fibre; 
 and other countries show that nature has not been stinted in her supply of materials capable 
 of meeting one of the first wants of mankind. 
 
 "Differences in degree, even in the same plant, under varying circumstances, must frequently 
 occur. The wood may become harder and greater in amount, the bast weaker and less in 
 quantity, and the necessary inference might be drawn that judgment and skill in the culture 
 of the plants would favorably modify these conditions. Experience, in advance of anything 
 like an accurate knowledge of plant structure, has shown that this is true, at least for our 
 common fibrous crops. Single stalks of hemp, or other such plants, allowed to grow at a 
 distance from each other, or from other plants, would furnish but sorry specimens of fibre, as 
 a single plant invariably shows a hard woody stem, and a coarse fibre in the bark. But 
 when a number of plants are grown in a small space, every one knows that they grow longer, 
 and are more slender than when separate. In this way the strength of the wood is greatly 
 diminished, and the fibre of the bark, if less abundant, is finer, and possibly longer. If the 
 plant has a tendency to branch, this is thus advantageously prevented. The close cultivation 
 of okra, cotton, and other plants, which we are accustomed to see separated from each other, 
 would probably show a fibre in the bark far more capable of treatment by the ordinary pro- 
 cess than would be suspected by most persons. A knowledge of correct principles is here 
 of the greatest advantage, when new materials are concerned." 
 
 TROPICAL FIBRES. 
 
 Mr. Squier has presented a very pretty book upon tropical fibres, their pro- 
 duction and economic extraction. It is based upon extensive observations 
 made during his residence of some years in Central America, while acting as 
 minister of the United States to that country. From this work we make some 
 extracts and condensations. 
 
 He says he was struck with the number and variety of endogenous plants, 
 such as agaves, pine-apples, plantains, and palms, which are characteristic 
 features of the landscape. These plants all abound in valuable textile fibres, 
 while many of them produce staple articles of food, oil, and refreshing as well 
 as intoxicating drinks. The fibres are capable of being reduced to any degree 
 of fineness, and are possessed of great strength, and are thus fitted for the most 
 delicate tissues as well as for the strongest cables. 
 
 He very naturally asks himself, " Why are not all these fibre-bearing plants 
 with which the country teems in some way utilized 1 " This question was 
 soon answered when he came to observe the rude method by which the fibres 
 were extracted. The natives slowly remove the pulpy and vascular portions 
 of the plants with a triangular scraper, or a blunted knife, and thus procure 
 but a few pounds of imperfectly cleaned fibres during a long day's toil. They 
 have no machinery, and even in the Philippine islands, where ten million dollars 
 worth of plantain fibres are annually produced, he learned that no machinery 
 was yet applied. 
 
 The object of the book appears to be, to direct attention to some of these 
 numerous and valuable plants, in the hope that Yankee ingenuity will succeed 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTOX. 87 
 
 in producing and applying machinery by which a single man may extract a 
 greater quantity of fibres, and in better conditiou, than one hundred men can 
 obtain through the primitive modes now in use. This great desideratum, Mr. 
 Squier thinks, we have obtained in some modification of Sanford & Mallory's 
 flax and hemp machines. 
 
 The following tables are given of the value of these products : 
 
 Tropical fibres imported into the United States/or the year 1860, {custom-house 
 
 valuations.) 
 Kind. Quantity. Value. 
 
 Manilla hemp 347, 431 cwts. $1, 631, S84 
 
 Sisal " 5,630 " 25,114 
 
 Coir, &c 112, 5S5 " 163,039 
 
 Gunny bags 287, 387 
 
 cloth 1,795,256 
 
 Total 3, 902, 680 
 
 Tropical fibres imported into Great Britain fior the year 1855, (estimated real 
 
 value.) 
 
 Kinds. Quantity. Value. 
 
 Jute (gunny) 539, 297 cwts. $2, 235, 835 
 
 Manilla hemp 92,755 " 1,443,495 
 
 Other fibres 8,591 " 51,545 
 
 Total 640,643 4,730,875 
 
 These quantities, however, he considers insignificant compared to the illimita- 
 ble sources of supply. 
 
 Mr. Squier asserts that nearly all of these fibres are white while the plants 
 producing them are in their green state, and that they become discolored by 
 their exposure to the sun's rays while they are yet associated with the sap and 
 its gummy and coloring matters. He also alludes to the danger from excessive 
 fermentation to which vegetable tissues are exposed in attempts at rotting them 
 in tropical climates. These gummy, coloring, and other extraneous matters of 
 plants are said to be soluble in cold water, if the plants are treated while in a 
 green condition, and may be removed by crushing the tissues, scraping and 
 heckling and washing them simultaneously. The gum held in solution by 
 plants, while in the growing state, becomes dried upon the fibres, and renders 
 them harsh, brittle, and more or less unfit for textile purposes. 
 
 The pine-apple, Bromelia sylvestris, the wild species produces the silk grass 
 of the British West Indies, the pita of Mexico and Central America. This plant 
 is hardy and luxuriant, and produces an abundant and excellent fibre, which 
 entitles it to a high rank among fibre-producing plants. All the bromelias yield 
 a similar fibre. All varieties of the musa or plantain family produce good 
 fibres ; of these the musa textilis or Manilla grass, though a native of the east, 
 flourishes in great luxuriance in tropical America and the Antilles. The agaves 
 are peculiar to America, but the Agave americana flourishes in southern Europe 
 and Algeria. The Agave mexicana, or maguey, and the A. sisalina, or Henne- 
 quin and varieties, are peculiar to America ; the latter yields the Sisal hemp, 
 which is said to be equally hardy with the Bromelia sylvestris, and grows in 
 every variety of soil, even among rocks and in arid wastes where it produces an 
 abundance of excellent fibres. 
 
88 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 Dr. Henry Perrine attempted the introduction of some of these plants into 
 southern Florida, under protection of Congress, granted in 1837, by which he 
 acquired pre-emption to certain lands south of the 26th parallel of latitude. 
 Among the plants he introduced from Central America were three or four 
 species of the agave, the cochineal cactus, paper mulberry, date palm, &c. ; all 
 of which succeeded well until the occurrence of the Seminole war, which resulted 
 in the destruction of the plantations and in the death of this patriotic citizen. 
 Of some of these plants Dr. Perrine has written, that being " lighter, stronger, 
 more elastic, and more durable than the cortical fibres of hemp .or flax, and 
 produced by perennial self-propagation, in stony, sandy, or swampy surfaces, 
 with the easiest and cheapest cultivation, and the speediest and simplest prepa- 
 ration, the relative and positive prices and properties of the foliaceous fibres of 
 the agaves and the plantain, insure their substitution for cortical fibres in the 
 general consumption of mankind." 
 
 This prophecy has in great degree been fulfilled within our time in the 
 increased consumption of this class of fibres, but we do not agree with Mr. 
 Squier, who asserts that our agaves and bromelias supply better substitutes 
 for flax and hemp than any of the Old World plants. We must admit that 
 provident Nature has prepared special products for special uses, endowing them 
 with peculiar properties, and varying forms in their ultimate structure, so that 
 each is especially adapted to the several particular purposes to which the 
 ingenuity of man in the course of centuries has applied it. 
 
 Mr. Squier reminds us that all vegetable fibres may be resolved into three 
 great classes : the foliaceous, cortical, and capsular. The first are obtained from 
 endogenous or monocotyhdonous plants. Near the tropics this class of plants 
 is largely represented by the yuccas, agaves, plantains, and palms, their fibres 
 are imbedded hi the cellular tissues and pulpy matter of their stems and leaves, 
 and may generally be extracted by mechanical means. 
 
 The conical fibres of this classification are obtained from the exogenous or 
 dicotyledonous plants, containing thp true bast fibres. They are often of great 
 length, and but little hardened, some form great trees, while others are herb- 
 aceous. Among them we find the mallows, the nettles, the flax, and some of the 
 bean family. In all of these there is also a woody tissue embraced by the bast, 
 and constituting the stem of the plant, while the bundles of fibres are connected 
 together, and with the stem, by a peculiar vegetable substance which needs to 
 be separated in their preparation. 
 
 The third class, or capsular fibres, are obtained from the pods where they are 
 associated with the seeds. Cotton is a familiar illustration of this class. 
 
 He quotes Mr. Dennis as speaking of the Sisal hemp thus : 
 
 "This gigantic plant delights in dried, rocky land containing an abundance of lime, and 
 there are thousands of acres of land in this region, worthless for other agricultural purposes, 
 on which a ton of clean Sisal hemp might be produced yearly, after the plant has reached an 
 age to allow of cutting off its lower leaves, which would be in from three to five years, ac- 
 cording to circumstances. Neither the growth of the plant, nor the amount of its product 
 here, is any longer an experiment. Nor is there any longer a doubt as regards the value of 
 the fibre, a number of tons of it having been collected and sent to market, where it readily 
 brought within half a cent per pound as much as the best Manilla hemp, and that is about 
 two hundred and fifty dollars per ton. A thousand plants should be set to the acre, and 
 Irom the constant shoots which spring up it will be seen that the same land will not recpiire 
 replanting. After the plant is of sufficient growth, the lower leaves are cut off at proper 
 times, leaving enough on top to keep it heaithy. These leaves are composed of a soft, watery 
 pulp, and are from two to six feet long, from four to six inches wide in the middle, and 
 frequently three inches thick at the butt, having the general shape of the head of a lance. They 
 contain a gum, which is the chief cause of their being rather troublesome in separating the 
 fibre from the pulp. Neither the epidermis nor the pulp is more than a powder, after becoming 
 dry, if the gum be entirely crashed or mashed out. This is a most important fact in relation 
 to the means to be adopted to clean the fibres from the pftlp. As these are continuous and 
 parallel, and imbedded in the pulp, I feel certain that a system of passing the leaves through 
 a series of heavy iron rollers, firmly set, something like those of a sugar mill, and throwing 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 89 
 
 water on the crushed leaves, in jets or otherwise, in sufficient quantities to wash out the 
 gum, (which is perfectly soluble in water,) will thoroughly clean the fibres without loss, so 
 that when they become dry, and have been beaten to get out the dust, they will be fit for 
 use. At any rate, the right plan for separating the fibres has not yet been discovered, although 
 there has been enough done, in it to show that they can be got out at a profit. Here, the people 
 either preserve the primitive process (which is practiced in Yucatan) of beating and scraping 
 the leaves, or, after crushing them between a pair of rollers, steeping them in an alkaline solu- 
 tion for a few days and then heckling them. But both scraping and combing destroys too many 
 of the fibres by breaking them, which would not be done by a system of rolling and washing 
 out the gum. In Yucatan they sometimes ferment the beaten leaves in water or mud ; but 
 this stains and weakens the fibres so as to reduce their value, I believe, more than half. 
 Even steeping the leaves in an alkaline pickle, although it may not much weaken the fibres, 
 as the juice of the leaves is acid, nevertheless destroys the silky gloss which they possess 
 when got out of the fresh leaves by aid of pure water aloue, besides increasing the cost of 
 extraction. I have some fifty acres of the plants under cultivation, and am increasing the 
 quantity as I have opportunity." 
 
 Mr. Hermonds, of Indian River, Florida, informs me that the Sisal hemp grows well 
 there, and has continued to thrive well for four years. He thinks that my estimate of a ton 
 of fibre per acre is too low. The experiments which I have made during the past year, in 
 getting out a number of tons of this fibre, prove that all the vesicles of the leaves are rup- 
 tured by crushing or rolling, and that the pulp or gum cau easily be washed out by either 
 salt water or fresh. The plan which I have found most successful was to wet the leaves, being 
 careful to rupture all the vessels, then confine these crushed leaves in an open-work wooden 
 frame or box, which I placed in such a manner that the tide forced the sea-water through 
 them both at the ebb and flow. In this mauner the gum and pulp were so far washed out, 
 in from three to six days, according to the temperature of the air and water, that by beating 
 the fibres a little they were fit for market. 
 
 Mr. Hermonds mentions, as a tested fact, that steeping the crushed leaves in boiling 
 water, even for a few minutes, at once dissolved the gum aud cleaned the fibre. This renders 
 it almost certain that when a steam-engine is used to propel rollers and crush the leaves, the 
 waste steam cau be rendered effective to clean the hemp by blowing it off between the rollers, 
 aided by a little water, in a jet, while the leaves are passing through. 
 
 Mr. Squier objects to the use of steam or hot water. The amount of Sisal 
 hemp imported into the United States in 1S54 was 925,900 pounds, valued at 
 the custom-house at $64,516, but having a real value of upwards of $100,000. 
 
 Mr. Squier tells us that the Maguey is chiefly cultivated in Mexico for its juice. The 
 plants are set in rows, about five feet apart. When the hampe, or central stem, which often 
 attains the height of forty or fifty feet, is on the point of efflorescence, it is cut off, and a 
 hollow scooped out for receiving the sap. This keeps running for two or three mouths, the 
 reservoir being emptied three or four times a day. The yield from a vigorous plant is about 
 four hundred English cubic inches per day, or, for the season, from two to three hundred 
 gallons. This enormous product is all the more remarkable from the fact that the Maguey 
 plantations are generally in and grounds, and frequently on ledges of rocks scarcely covered 
 with vegetable earth. The plant has firm and vigorous leaves, and is neither affected by 
 drought, wet, hail, nor by the excessive cold which prevails in the higher Cordilleras of 
 Mexico. It perishes after efflorescence, but an infinity of shoots then spring from the de- 
 caying roots. No known plant multiplies with greater facility. 
 
 The fibre of the Maguey is coarser than that of the Agave sisilana, but nevertheless of 
 great utility and extensively used. 
 
 Agave americana. — This plant, which has been naturalized in the south of Europe and 
 Algeria, is often confouuded with the Maguey or Agave sisilana. Its flowering or central 
 stem, when the plant is vigorous, rises to the height of forty feet or upwards, and throws 
 out branches on every side, like those of a candelabrum, so as to form a kind of pyramid, 
 each branch supporting a cluster of greenish red flowers. .These give place to bulbous seeds, 
 which, when planted, spring up rapidly and luxuriantly. The original plant, however, dies. 
 The time of flowering varies with localities and climate. An erroneous notion is that it 
 flowers only once in a hundred years. Hence the popular name of century plant. The 
 fibres from its leaves closely resemble those from the Maguey. It is a hardy plant, and often 
 covers rocky, barren eminences, where every other kind of vegetation fails to take root. 
 
 Bromelia sylvestris, or wild pine-apple, the istle of Mexico, but known as pita and pcfinella 
 in Central America and Panama, and in the West Indies as bromelia pinguin, or penguin, 
 can hardly be said to rank second to the hennequins in economic importance. It is widely 
 diffused throughout the tropics, growing everywhere, in all varieties of soil. It is extensively 
 used for hedges, for which its long, straight, and spiny leaves admirably adapt it, and may 
 be cultivated with a minimum of labor and cost, and in unlimited quantities. 
 
 The leaves are from five to eight feet long, from one and a half to three inches wide, thin, 
 and lined with a fine, tough fibre, the pita, equal in strength and beauty, and in other respects 
 better than that of the hennequin. It is altogether a superior substitute for flax 
 
90 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 
 
 This plant is self-propagating, and, left to itself in an open field, will soon cover the ground. 
 In Central America, but particularly in Nicaragua, it is so abundant in the forests as to be a 
 serious obstruction to the passage of man or beast. 
 
 Major Barnard, United States army, in his report on the isthmus of Tehuan- 
 tepec, speaks as follows of the istle : 
 
 "Among the spontaneous products of the isthmus is Bromclia pita, or istle, which differs 
 in some respects from the Agave americana of Europe, tbe pulque maguey of Mexico, and 
 the Agave sisilana of Yucatan. Of this prolific plant there are numerous varieties, all yielding 
 fibres which vary in quality from the coarsest hemp to the finest flax. It is indifferent to soil, 
 climate, and season, and the simplicity of its cultivation, and the facility of extracting and 
 preparing its products, render it of universal use." 
 
 In the year 1857, (January 14,) Chief Justice Temple, of Belize, or British 
 Honduras, read a paper before the Itoyal Society of Arts of London, on the 
 resources of that part of Central America. Among other objects of interest, he 
 exhibited a quantity of the fibre of the plant under notice, as well as of the 
 Agave sisilana. Of the former, or Bromelia sylvestris, he said : 
 
 "The plant called Bromelia pita, istle by the Mexicans, and silk-grass by the Creoles of 
 British Honduras, grows spontaneously in the greatest abundance. '1 he leaves are of a soft, 
 dark green, from live to thirteen feet long, and from an inch and a half to four inches wide. 
 Alon" - the edge of the leaf, about six inches apart, are short, sharp, curved thorns. When 
 the plant is cultivated, these gradually disappear. The fibre which the leaf contains is un- 
 questionably of a very superior description, aud, I have no doubt, could be used in every 
 species of textile fabric. 1 have been informed by leading manufacturers that this fibre is 
 equal to the best China-grass, superior to the New Zealand flax, and capable of being manu- 
 factured into the finest fabrics." 
 
 In the discussion which took place among the leading members of the society 
 on the paper of Judge Temple, Mr. P. L. Simmonds, editor of the Mark Lane 
 Express, said : 
 
 "I have to-day seen some of the indigenous specimens of the penguin, or bromclia, from 
 Honduras, which have been operated upon by a new, patented process of Messrs. Pye Bros., 
 of Ipswich, aud am astonished at the remarkable improvement and high commercial value 
 which have been given to the article. The main difficulty that has stood in the way of 
 utilizing many of these fibres, and making them cheap and of universal use, has been the 
 want of cheap and efficient machinery for preparing them, and getting rid of the gummy 
 and other matters which surround them, without injury to the fibres. Such machinery is a 
 desideratum of the age." 
 
 Mr. J. B. Sharp said : 
 
 " He could confirm all that had been said by those who preceded him. He had that 
 morning submitted some of the fibres to a close microscopical examination, and had ascer- 
 tained that each fibre contained from five to twelve, or more, fine filaments, held together by 
 gummy matter capable of being dissolved by proper processes. Some of the specimens 
 before them had been passed over the comb or hackles of a flax-mill, and had been pro- 
 nounced by the most experienced flax-spinners of the country (England) to be greatly 
 superior to Russian flax, and approaching the best descriptions of Belgian flax, in capability 
 of application to the fluest textile fabrics. 
 
 "He had no hesitation in saying that the three British colonies of Jamaica, Honduras, 
 and Guiana were capable of furnishing fibres from the plants in question to the value of 
 $15,000,UUU per annum." 
 
 MUSA OR BANANA FAMILY. 
 
 The various members of this family rank only second to the agaves and 
 bromelias in the quantity and value of their fibres. Several varieties are cul- 
 tivated for food, yielding a delicious and nourishing fruit ; and in such abund- 
 ance that Humboldt estimates the product of a single acre as equal to the average 
 product of 133 acres of wheat, and 44 acres of potatoes. An interesting and, 
 for the purpose which we have in view, a most important fact, is that the tree 
 or plant, whether plantain or banana, is almost universally cut down when the 
 fruit is gathered. With proper machinery for extracting the fibre, the many 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 91 
 
 millions of plants thus left to rot could be converted into articles of first utility 
 for mankind, such as cordage, cloth, paper, &c. 
 
 Manilla hemp. — The fibre known to commerce as Manilla hemp is extracted 
 from a variety of the banana, the musa textilis. It is a round, silky-looking 
 fibre,*nearly white. It is admirably adapted for cordage, and from the finer 
 fibres obtained from the petioles of the leaves are made many of the delicate 
 and celebrated muslins of India. 
 
 The stems of all the plants of this order or family are made up of the united 
 petioles of the leaves. They contain such a remarkable abundance of spiral 
 vessels that they can be pulled out by handfulls, and are sold for tinder. 
 Each spiral vessel contains six or seven fibres, which when separated constitute 
 the Manilla hemp. 
 
 The value of Manilla hemp in the English market is about $25 per ton more 
 than the best Russian hemp. 
 
 M. Perronttel, botanist of the French government in Gaudaloupe, has given 
 a very full accouut of the abaca of Manilla, and the mode of extracting its 
 fibres : 
 
 'The abaca of the Philippines differs essentially from all the varieties of banana known. 
 Its stein, which rises from a tuft of shoots, has a height of from fifteen to twenty feet, of a 
 dark-green color, and very smooth on its surface. Its leaves are of the same color, long and 
 straight, with strongly marked nerves both parallel and transverse. The fruit is small, 
 triangular, resembling abortive bananas, and scattered here and there near the extremity of 
 the fruit-stem. It is full of black seeds, almost round, and similar to those of the gumbo. 
 These seeds fructify rapidly after planting, and the young plants are strong and vigorous, 
 attaining the dimensions already indicated within the short space of eight or nine months. 
 The plaut requires a rich, humid soil, and rejoices in thick forests, at the base of mountains, 
 where it acquires in a short time an extraordinary development. I have never seen it in 
 such perfection as on the humid yet high grounds belonging to M. de Lacharriese (Guada- 
 loupe, ) notwithstanding its entire abandonment to itself in the midst of a jungle of other 
 plants. Only two shoots were planted here, about seven years ago, yet now the whole valley 
 is covered with them so as to resemble a forest. This fact proves sufficiently that the plant 
 is robust ami easily cultivated; indeed, that it can be propagated with a minimum of care to 
 the greatest needful extent. 
 
 "No doubt, however, its regular cultivation would be beneficial in many respects, espe- 
 cially if the plants were kept at a reasonable distance apart, so as to permit their full de- 
 velopment. In the Philippines the stems are cut down as near the ground as possible at the 
 moment the}' evince signs of flowering — that is to say, about eight months after planting. 
 The outer sheath or envelope is then stripped off, leaving the petioles that compose the stem 
 proper. The stem is next split into two, and afterwards into four parts, after which the 
 petioles or layers are stripped off, working from the exterior. Those composing the very 
 interior or heart of the stem are thrown aside, as being destitute of fibres of sufficient strength 
 for economic purposes. The reserved filaments or slips are now pounded with clubs of hard 
 wood, first on one side and then on the other, until the transversal and cellular tissues and 
 porous aud gummy matters are expelled. After this the fibres are passed frequently through 
 a coarse hackle, and washed many times in clear, running water, until perfectly free from 
 all extraneous matters. They are then hung over ropes or poles to dry in the shade. 
 
 "As the fibres are not all of the same size, those being finest which come from the slips 
 nearest the heart of the stem, they are carefully separated by hand ; the coarsest being laid 
 aside for cables, ropes, cords, &c, according to their relative fineness, while the finest are 
 reserved for the more delicate tissues. 
 
 "In sending them to Europe for sale, the fibres are packed in bales of greater or lesser 
 size. Those which are of fifteen feet in length or upwards are folded back on themselves 
 three or four times, according to the length of the cases containing them; those of less 
 length are tolded two or three times, after which the cases are hermetically closed, in order 
 to protect their contents from humidity on board ship. 
 
 "This is the manner in which the abaca of the Philippines is prepared, and it only remains 
 to indicate the purpose for which it may be used in France. 
 
 "As already said, the coarser fibres are used to make cables, which have great solidity 
 and durability. Ropes of great tenacity are also made from the stems, which are used in 
 manj r ways, but particularly in rigging coasting vessels; of the finer sort, tissues or muslins 
 of great beauty are made, which are very dear even in Manilla. I had a number of shirts 
 made from this muslin, which lasted me a very long time, and were cool and agreeable in 
 the use. But it is especially in Fiance that tissues of this material are best made and of 
 greatest beauty. They receive all colors with equal perfection. Veils, crapes, neck- 
 handkerchiefs, robes, and women's hats, all of great beauty and high cost as well as of 
 
92 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OE HEMP FOE COTTON. 
 
 wonderful durability, are among the manufactures from the abaca fibres. Besides, they 
 are used for various articles of men's wear, such as shirts, vests, pantaloons, &c. 
 
 "Ever since this precious fibre became known in France, our vessels have frequented 
 Manilla, returning freighted in part Avith the article. The quantity imported, however, falls 
 far short of the demands of the manufacturers, and its production certainly deserves the 
 attention of all our southern colonies. Its cultivation, as we have seen, is easy, and as 
 regards cost, next to nothing ; and there is no reason why it should not become an important 
 article of commerce throughout tropical America." 
 
 Mr. Jules Itier, special agent connected with a late French mission to China, 
 made a report to his government on the productions and resources of that 
 empire : 
 
 "The abaca cloth is almost transparent, somewhat rigid, light, and cool to the touch, and 
 is used by the Tagals for napkins, handkerchiefs, shirts, &c, of various colors. The fibres 
 are not spun or twisted, but the threads are used in their natural state, being only tied 
 together at their ends. 'They are next wound into balls, soaked for a day in hot water, dried 
 in the sun, and are then ready to be woven." 
 
 THE PALM FAMILY. 
 
 The Gojnmuti saguere, or Ejoo fibre, from the variety of palm known to 
 science as arenga saccharifera, is produced by the splitting or decay of the 
 leaf-stalks. To the natives of the tropics these naturally prepared fibres are 
 invaluable, supplying them with materials for canvas, cordage, and a variety 
 of economic purposes. It is best known as a product of the East Indies, but 
 a similar article is also found under the tropics in America, where it is produced 
 from a variety of palm known to science as the attalea funifera. The tree 
 producing the gommuti fibre rises from twenty to thirty feet in height, and has 
 a dense crown of leaves. The petioles are very stout, and it is at the base of 
 these, completely embracing the trunk of the tree, where the horse-hair-like 
 material, which co-operates to render this palm so valuable, is found. Cheaper, 
 more durable, and stronger than coir, it has the additional advantage of resisting 
 moisture, for which reason it is highly valued for ropes, especially cables, from 
 their not being liable to injury when stowed away below, wet with salt-water. 
 Underneath this naturally produced fibre the gommuti palm produces a soft, 
 gossamer-like substance, called boru, used in place of oakum for calking, &c. 
 
 To the natives of the East Indies and the Philippine islands this tree is in- 
 valuable. Its juice, when reduced, produces sugar, and when fermented, an in- 
 toxicating liquor. From one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds of sago 
 may also be obtained from a single tree, which will furnish from four to seven 
 pounds of fibre. 
 
 Piassava, monkey-grass, or Para-grass, and called by the natives cJiiqui- 
 chiqui, is produced from a variety of palm {attalea funifera,) which abound 
 on the Amazon river and its tributaries, in very much the same manner as the 
 gommuti from the Arenga palm. The tree is one of the most elegant of its 
 family. Its stem rises from twenty to thirty feet, straight as an arrow. From 
 the top of this springs a tuft of pinnated fronds or leaves, often nearly twenty 
 feet in length. Before the decay of the petioles the fibres become detached at 
 the margin of their bases in large quantities, hanging down ten or twelve feet 
 in tufts, whence comes the name funifera, rope-bearing. 
 
 Nearly all the cordage used on the Amazon is made from the piassava fibre, 
 which is remarkably round, not very pliable, and often about the thickness of 
 the small green rush. In 1851, eight hundred tons were exported from Para 
 to England, where it is used for making brushes and brooms. The brushes of 
 the street-sweeping machines of London are made from this fibre. 
 
 Coir, or cocoa-nut fibre, manufactured from the husk or outer covering of the 
 common cocoa-nut, is nearly as strong as hemp, and is used in the east for 
 cordage. The fibre is prepared by soaking the husks in water for a long period 
 of time, not unfrequently for six months, and until they become soft. They 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOR COTTON. 93 
 
 are then dried and beaten until the woody part falls out like sawdust, leaving 
 only the fibres. The cordage made from coir is second to that from no other 
 material. The amount of coir rope imported into Great Britain from the East 
 Indies, for the year 1859, was 8,238,200 pounds, valued at 8392,265. 
 
 Corosal, royal, or Corajo palm, abounds in dry, arid, rocky ground through- 
 out tropical America, but particularly in Central America, and in the interior of 
 Cuba. It grows to the height of twenty feet, and the trunk is covered, from 
 bottom to top — as are also its leaves — with long, narrow, sharp, and hard spines. 
 It produces a large cluster of nuts with a hard shell, of the size of grape-shot, 
 from the kernel of which is extracted an oil indistinguishable from that of the 
 cocoa-nut. The woody exterior of the trunk covers a pulpy heart, saturated 
 with a juice of a fresh, agreeable flavor, which may be obtained by incision, 
 and which is called vino de. coyal. When fermented, it becomes intoxicating, 
 like the pulque of the maguey. In times of great drought, when vegetation is 
 destroyed, this pulpous heart is often fed to cattle. The leaves of the coyal 
 are lined with a long and excellent fibre, called, in Cuba, pita de corojo, from 
 which ropes, cords, &c, are manufactured. The fibres are equal to those of 
 the henncquin, from which they can hardly be distinguished.* 
 
 CATALOGUE OF CONTRIBUTIONS OF FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBRES. 
 
 RAW MATERIALS. 
 
 No. 12. George C. Davies, Dayton, Ohio. — 5, flux-straw tangled; broken on Messrs. San 
 ford & Mai lory's old machine. 
 
 " 17. STEPHEN Allen, Boston, Massachusetts. — 13, 16, 17, flax-straw. 
 
 " 19. R. Tenant Shaw. — 1, broken tow and flax. 
 
 " 45. Joshua S. Coe, Newton Square, Chester County, Pennsylvania. — Flax retted, broken 
 and heckled. 
 
 " 46. Williaai S. Lowry, Saratoga Springs, New York. — Retted flax, pood specimen. 
 
 " 55. Lemuel W. Wright, Brooklyn, New York. — China-grass in the crude state as 
 stripped from the plant. 
 
 " 58. II. BrnGKSS, Royer's Ford, Pennsylvania. — 1 and 3, raw flax; 6, Kentucky hemp; 
 8, Russia hemp. 
 
 " 59. J. W. Swan, for the Medina Flax Company, Medina, New York. — Flax-straw, dew- 
 retted. 
 
 " 60. J. D. Lang, J'assalhoro, Maine. — Flax-seed and straw, well grown. 
 
 " 63. Captain C. W. Peden, Parkershurg, Western Virginia. — Flax-straw in the boll, 
 good. 
 
 " 6(5. G. L. THOMPSON, Wood Lawn, Maryland. — Hibiscus esculentus, showing the fibre 
 produced by this plant. 
 
 " 67. S. W. Pond, Shakopee, Minnesota. — Urtica? or Bcehmeria, the species not iden- 
 tified. 
 
 " 68. Apocynum species. — Unknown, but believed to be A. cannabinum. Contributor 
 unknown. 
 
 " 73. Ciude flar. — Contributor unknown. 
 
 " 74. J. S. Ritchie, Superior, Lake Superior, A. D. 1863. — Fire-weed, Epilobiumangusti- 
 folium. See Dict e . Hist e . Naturelle, Paris, 1819, page 74, where it is set tenth 
 that attempts had been made with this substance, which had proved unavailing. 
 
 " 77. John H. Moorhead, Ida, Ida County, Iowa. — Wild flax, a native plant ; the botani- 
 cal identification of which could not be made out. 
 
 " 109. R. B. Dean, Waterford, Minnesota. — Grass-down, of Eryophoram polystachyon ; 
 a very beautiful grass, but not applicable in the arts, so far as we know. 
 
 " 128. Rutger B. Miller, Utica, New York. — Epilobium angustifolium. a useless fibre 
 which cannot be easily separated from the plant and collected in quantity. 
 
 * Condensed from Tropical Fibres. 
 
94 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP FOE COTTON. 
 
 PREPARATIONS. 
 
 .LONG FIBRES. 
 
 " 5. Thomas H. Querian, Baltimore, Maryland. — Specimens of jute, in the crude state 
 
 as presented in commerce. 
 " 11. Stephen Allen, Boston, Mass. — 12, prepared flax; 13, flax broken; 16, flax- 
 straw retted ; 17, flax-straw unretted 
 ' 12. George C. Davies, Cincinnati, Ohio. — 5, tangled flax-«traw broken by Mallory's 
 machine, shown as the stock from which he prepares his clean tow, called Erolin, 
 or flax-wool. 
 " 15. Joseph Lea, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. — Specimens bleached by Lea &■ Roth's 
 process: 1, Dutch flax retted 50 minutes ; 2, Dutch flax slightly done ; 3, Ameri- 
 can retted one half done ; 4, Dutch flax retted 50 minutes ; 5 and 6, American retted, 
 only half done ; 7, American retted 65 minutes ; 8, Riga flax retted 25 minutes ; 
 9, Dutch retted CO minutes; 10,. unretted American; 11, unretted Irish, part 
 bleached ; 12, Friesland, bleached and unbleached 75 minutes ; 13, American, 
 unretted, bleached and unbleached ; 14, old tarred rope, bleached ; 18, samples of 
 crude flax, same as made into yarn. These are beautiful samples of bleaching, 
 and appear to be perfectly clear of chlorine. 
 " 17. George Graham, Cincinnati, Ohio. — 2, flax-straw broken ; 6, cottonized flax ; 
 
 specimens of the Claussen product. 
 " 19. R. Tenant Shaw, South Lansing, New York. — 7, long-line disintegrated and 
 bleached; 8, long-line disintegrated and heckled; 10, jute treated; 13 and 14, 
 "extract de V las" flax fibre; J 5, tangled fibre; 16, from green straw as above; 
 17 and 18, tow as above; 19 and 20, jute by same process ; 21, China-grass as 
 above. These latter are prepared by a peculiar patented process, in which a 
 ferment prepared from the flax itself is used to set up the fermentation. 
 " 41&81. C. G. Graco, Detroit, Michigan. — Flax cut, to illustrate his apparatus for short- 
 ening the fibre; the cut ends are soft and even. 
 " 45. Joshua S. Coe, Neicton Square, Pennsylvania. — Flax retted, broken and heckled by 
 
 hand ; good flax. 
 " 46. WilliamS. Lowry, Saratoga Springs, New York. — Dressed flax, very good speci- 
 men. 
 " 49. Mary Mc Creary, Anderson, Ohio. — Prepared flax, beautifully prepared. 
 " 51. AUGUSTE FEUE, Theresa, Wisconsin. — Flax very beautifully dressed, soft and fine, 
 
 and of good color. 
 " 55. Lemuel W. Wright, Brooklyn, New York. — Specimens of prepared China-grass, 
 very beautiful illustrations of the siiky character of this foreign fibre when 
 properly treated. The process not disclosed. 
 " 56. LOCKPORT Flax Company, hock-port, New York. — Broken flax, heckled flax 
 
 specimens of stock used at this mill. 
 " 57. Arnold Wilkinson, Providence, Rhode Island. — 1, hemp whitened; 2, flax 
 whitened ; 3, flax "decolorized without caustic;" hemp from old rope whitened; 
 5, hemp baling rope. These specimens show what may be done in operating 
 upon very unpromising material. 
 " 58. II. Burgess, Royer's Ford, Pennsylvania. — 3, raw flax and straw ; 10, disintegrated 
 in the straw ; 6, hemp; 1, flax. The processes by which these are prepared is 
 given in ' he chapter on manufacturing. 
 " 59. J. W. Swan, for Medina Flax Company, Medina, Neio York. — 2, flax broken by his 
 
 machine ; flax dusted by his machine; well prepared. 
 " 61. H. Mc Farlane, Rocky Hill, New Yor/i. — 1, green flax cottonized; 2, green flax 
 treated ; 4, unretted flax treated ; 8, hemp Claussenized ; 12, China-grass pre- 
 pared. See process and statement in the appropriate chapter. 
 . " 62. Specimens lost and contributors unknown. \ 
 
 " 65. Mary Allen, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. — Prepared flax brought from Antrim, 
 
 Ireland, a very beautiful specimen. 
 " 68. Contributor unknown ; 2, Asclepias cottonized ; 3, Asclepias retted an*! broken. 
 " 69. C. C. Williams, Oswego, New York. — Cottonized tow by Neil Cook, a very good 
 
 specimen. 
 " 70. James Y. Smith, Delaware, Ohio. — 1, straight flax scutched by McBride's ma- 
 chine ; 2, tangled tow. 
 " 73. Contributor's name lost ; bleached flax. 
 
 " 83. James Y. Smith, Providence, Rhode Island. — 1, flax from tangled straw, dressed on 
 
 McBride's machine ; 2, flax from retted straw grown in Delaware, Ohio, dressed 
 
 as above ; both good specimens of long-line. 
 
 " 103. James E. Mallory, New York city. — 1 to 6, retted flax, well broken ; 7, uuretted 
 
 flax, some skives ; 8, Irish water-retted, beautifully prepared, elegant ribbons 
 
SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR IIEMP FOR COTTON. 95 
 
 of fibre; 9, tangled straw not retted, some shives ; 10 to 12, straight straw, well 
 broken, and Has some loose shives ; 13, Missouri hemp, dew-retted, good. Ail 
 broken on the Sanford & Mallory machines, and are good illustrations of their 
 capability to break the straw. 
 
 " 105. Contributor's unknown, Piqua, Ohio. — 1, flax tow. 
 
 " 107. CHARLES KEMPER, Orange Springs, Snyder county, Pennsylvania. — Asclepias 
 fibre, strong and very promising for application in the arts. 
 
 " 113. Isvac Hedges, Chicago, Illinois. — Flax fibre prepared, very nice flax. 
 
 " 122. Reuben Hendricksox, by Hon. John Law. — Fine flax, a good specimen. 
 
 " 129. A. Beebe, 229 Broadway, New York. — 1, two shades jute ; 2, American hemp tow ; 
 3, Russian tow; 4, dyed jute "lubricated." 
 
 " 130. R. Chute, St. Anthony, Minnesota. — J, fibres of a native Bcehmeria, long and 
 strong; 2, tow of the same; 3, bleached fibre of the same plant. See micro- 
 scopical examination and report in chapter on peculiarities of fibres. 
 
 SHORT FIBRES. 
 
 " 4 James H. Childs, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. — 1,2, flax-cotton ; 3, cottonized hemp. 
 
 " 11. STEPHEN ALLEN, Boston, Massachusetts. — 9, Fibrilia wool, bleached ; lit, Fibrilia 
 hemp brown, colored and bleached ; 11, Fibrilia wool, natural. Shown as speci- 
 mens of stock used in the production of the fabrics contributed. 
 
 " 12. George C. Da vies, Dayton, Ohio. — 1, Erolin, or flax-wool; 2, Erolin, blue ; 3, 
 Erolin, black; 4, Solfenno; to show the capacity of this material for taking color. 
 
 1 14. Cyrus Bacon, jr., assistant surgeon U. S. A., Baltimore, Maryland. — Cottonized 
 flax, carded ; cottonized Asclepias ; nice specimens. For the latter see report of 
 microscopist. 
 
 " 17. George Graham, Cincinnati, Ohio. — 3, flax-cotton; 4, 5, 5-i, same. 
 
 " 19. R. T. Shaw. — 3, flax disintegrated and retted; 4, tangled tow treated; 5, hemp as 
 No. 4; 6, flax as No. 3; 9, flax-cotton: U, tow bleached; 12, tow bleached 
 chemically. These specimens are not so satisfactory as we should desire. 
 
 " 21. Bradley N. Howell, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. — Flax-cotton, small hand speci- 
 men of good appearance. 
 
 " 36. L. Yeomans, Fulton, Oswrgo county, New York. — Flax-wool for batting, &c. 
 
 " 37. JONATHAN KNOWLES, Providence, Rhode Island. — Flax-cotton, nice specimen. 
 
 Process not communicated. 
 " 18&39. Robert Fletcher, Oswego, Neio York. — 1, flax-cotton to work with cotton; 
 
 2, flax-cotton to work with wool, beautiful specimens. See microscopic report. 
 Process withheld by contributor. 
 
 " 43. Thomas Williams, Vernon, Oneida county, New York. — Flax-cotton, good speci- 
 men. 
 
 " 50. L. Bardick, Esptjtown, Pennsylvania. — 1, flax-cotton bleached ; 2, flax-wool un- 
 bleached, good. 
 
 " 52. E. Towne, Utica, New York. — 1, 2, and 3, flax-cotton. Prepared in the dry way 
 by machinery, not very promising for cotton machinery.' See letter in chemical 
 chapter. 
 
 " 54. Upham & Fuller, Claremont, New Hampshire. — 1, flax-cotton ; 2, flax-cotton 
 fibres cut ; 3, flax-cotton fibres cut to work with wool ; 4, flax-cotton picked and 
 carded, not cut. See later contributions and report of microscopist of these fibres ; 
 also, the section on manufactures. 
 
 " 55. Lemuel W. Wright, Brooklyn, New York. — Tow from China-grass. This does 
 
 not pretend to be cottonized. See microscopic report upon it. 
 * 56. Flax Company, Lockport, New York. — 1, flax-wool; 2, same; 3, flax- wool 
 bleached. These are useful products for the upholsterer, and may be used with 
 wool. 
 
 " 57. Arnold Wilkinson, Providence, Rhode Island. — Bleached tow, " no bleach used." 
 Nicely prepared ; process not stated. 
 
 " 58. H. BURGESS, Roycr's Ford, Pennsylvania. — 2, prepared flax of 1862; 4, same of 
 1863 ; 5, prepared flax and bleached of 18o3 ; 7, prepared Kentucky hemp ; 9, 
 prepared Russian hemp ; 10, flax disintegrated in stalk. See remarks in chapter 
 on manufactures for estimates and description of processes. 
 
 " 61. H. McFarlane, Rocky Hill, New York. — 3, green flax cottonized ; 5, green flax 
 treated; 6, flax-wool from green flax; 7, hemp cottonized ; 10, 11, fiax-cottou 
 carded; 12, China-grass carded. A very interesting group of products. For pro- 
 cesses see letter in appropriate chapter. 
 
 " 68. Cyrus Bacon, Baltimore, Maryland. — 2, Asclepias cottonized, a pretty specimen ; 
 
 3, Asclepias retted and broken. 
 
 " 69. C. C. Williams, for Neil Cook, Oswego, New York. — Cottonized tow, very good. 
 71. Cyrus Bacon, Baltimore, Md. — Asclepias cottonized, very pretty. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 96 SUBSTITUTING FLAX OR HEMP F lillil™J J 4g2 163 g ^ 
 
 " 72. Bayard Taylor.— Flax cottonized, from Eussia. 
 
 " 75. James Whitehill. — Flax cotton. 
 
 " 84. Chari.es Beach, Penn Yan, N. Y. — Specimens not found. 
 
 " 105. Robert Sanderson, Piqua, Ohio. — 2, crude bleached and cleaned tow; 3, un- 
 bleached tow. 
 
 " 127. Ul'HAM & Fuller, Claremont, N. H. — 1, Ohio seed flax broken and pickered ; 2 
 is No. 1 steamed, pressed, exploded, and pressed; 3 is No. 2 once picked on avooI 
 cards pickered twice on fine picker; 4 is No. 3 carded three times on wool cards 
 (breakers); 5 is No. 4 with | wool mixed; 6 is hemp tow; 7 is No. 6, boiled, 
 pressed, exploded, picked twice, and carded three times on coarse wool cards; ; 
 8 is | wool and % flax, worked like No. 1 to No. 4. 
 
 " 131. Same party, as Jos. B. Fuller, Norwich, Conn., again show: 1, from unretted 
 flax, treated, picked dry ; 2, same stock, picked, moist, carded with Gambrel 
 card; 4, same stock bleached, not picked; 6, same stock bleached, picked, moist, 
 and carded with \ American cotton ; 9, same stock colored, also drawings and 
 rovings ; see description in chapter on manufactures. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 M 11. Stephen Allen, Boston, Mass. — 1, 2, 3, druggets, see remarks in chapter on 
 peculiarities of fibres; 4, knit stuffs; 5, felted 33 per cent, fibrilia; 6, roving: 
 7, jeans and satinets ; filling 40 per cent, cotton ; 40 per cent, flax-cotton ; ^0 
 per cent, wool; 8, fibrilia yarn; 14, Canton flannel, ■£ fibrilia and £ cotton; 15, 
 calicoes and prints ; 18, papers referring to the above ; It), brake as represented 
 in a plate. 
 
 " 15. Joseph Lea, Philadelphia, Pa. — 15, St. Petersburg flax, bleached in the fibre, 
 spun at Mechanicsville, N. Y., beautiful; 16, yarn spun as above, very good 
 thread; 17, yarn, American Linen Company; Fall River, Mass., good, bleached 
 in two hours and forty minutes ; a piece of duck, very handsome goods. 
 
 " 17. George Graham, Cincinnati, Ohio. — Union cloths and stuffs mixed with flax-cotton. 
 
 " 21. Bradley N. Howell, Philadelphia, Pa. — 2, roving of flax-cotton. 
 
 •' 37. Jonathan Knowles, Providence, R.I. — 2, flax roving; 3, flax thread; 4, thread. 
 
 " 39&82. Robert Fletcher, Oswego, N. Y. — Knit stuffs, very good articles, see report 
 of trial in wear. 
 
 " 45. Joshua S. Coe, Neicton Square, Pa. — Flax thread. 
 
 " 49. Mary McCreary, Anderson, Ohio. — Linen cloth. 
 
 " 51. August Feue, Theresa, Wis. — Flax thread, by hand, very fine. 
 
 " 55. Lemuel W. Wright, Brooklyn, N. Y. — 4 and 5, specimens of cloth, China-grass 
 and wool mixed ; specimens of roving ; specimens of dyeing China-grass, very 
 beautiful products. 
 
 " 59. J. W. Swan, for Medina Flax Co., Medina, N. Y. — 7, flax combed; 8, flax warp; 
 9, twines; 10, calicoes and woollens; 11, brown wrapping-twine; 13, white 
 wrapping-twine. A very interesting group of products ; the twines are particu- 
 larly good. 
 
 " 60. John D. Lang, Vassalboro 1 , Me. — Specimens of cloth and kerseys ; very good. 
 
 " 61. H. McFarlane, Rocky Hill, N. Y. — 9, stuff. Flax and wool. 
 
 " 76. M. Knowles. — Flax thread. 
 
 " 122. Reuben Hendrickson, Dale P. O., Spencer Co., Ind. — 2, flax thread. 
 
 " 132. J. B. Fuller. — 3 yarn, No. 24, spun from fibre; No. 2 (see No. 131,) very promis- 
 ing; 7, yarn spun from No. 6, (see 131,) very good; 8, yarn half flax, half 
 cotton, excellent product. See chapter on manufactures. Also print cloth v warp 
 cotton, weft flax-cotton, good quality. 
 
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