PREPARATION OF FLAX.

Southland Times, Issue 1204, 1 February 1870, Page 3

PREPARATION OF FLAX.

As the machines now in use for cleaning the fibre of the New Zealand flax are generally acknowledged to be very crude, and consequently entailing a great loss of time and expense on account of, their aptitude to get out of repair, perhaps some of our ingenious mechanicians may gather some practical hints from the following description of the process of preparing the common flax plant at the Willunga Flax Mill, South Australia : — • " The first part of the process is taking the small bundles of flax as they come from the hands of the grower, and passing the seed boles through two iron rollers which press out the seed, which is a valuable article of commerce. When the seed is separated the straw is then placed in a large slate tank filled with water, which is heated by steam from the engine-boiler. This is for the purpose of " retting" the straw and loosening the glutinous matter which adheres to the fibre. In Ireland this is a long and tedious process, which is performed by steeping the straw in water, and exposing it to the process of natural fermentation. By the artificial process adopted at the Willunga Mill, the " retting," which in Europe takes about three weeks to perform, is accomplished in from 24 to 48 hours. Four jets of hot water are poured upon the straw, and it is softened and partially cleansed. In order, however, to the completeness of this process, another tank or two will be necessary, so that the " retting" in various stages may be carried on simultaneously. From the " retting" tank the straw is taken and passed through rollers on which jets of clean water are poured. This assists to cleanse the straw, and by compression to dry it. From this process the straw is laid out in the sun to be completely dried. The next, process is to pass it through fluted revolving cylinders, which soften and break up the fibre, and make the outer husk easy to separate from the inner fibre. The . manipulator takes a handful of the straw and passes it through the fluted rollers, and it comes out soft and pliable. The next process is to sciitch it. j The scutching mill consists of a series of wooden arms edged with iron and branch^ ing out from a central i nave, which revolve very rapidly. The straw is passed over these, and a few revolutions are all that are necessary to beat oft.a ll the resinous and woody part of the stern. On emerging from this final process nothing but the fibre remains, and the material is then in a condition to be packed up and exported as an article of commerce, when it ia worth from £50 to £70 per ton in Europe, according to quality. The whole process is a simple and ingenious one. We had an opportunity of seeing it from first to last, and gentlemen present, who were capable of expressing an opinion on the subject, were much •pleased" with the samples turned out. Of course, the mill is not yet perfect. Defects which were discovered in the first working will be remedied in time ; but ther farmers present were very sanguine that by the starting of the new mill encouragement will be given to the cultivation, of a new and remunerative industry. __^___^__ - __ p __ —