BRITISH COTTON.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 262, 24 April 1860, Page 4

BRITISH COTTON.

Fob the supply of flax, we are equally dependent upon foreign countries; not more than one-fourth of the flax required, that is, a hun. dred thousand tons, being grown in Great Britain. "We pay to other countries for flax, for linseed, and for oil cake, not much under seven millions sterling annually; whilst we ship linen goods to the yearly value of three millions sterling. Flax is employed in the, manufacture of the most delicate French and Irish cambrics, and of the coarsest sailcloth and tarpaulins; of the most beautiful laces from Lisle and Valenciennes, and of the heavier sacking and towelling. The folds of snowy lawn that deck a bishop's arms, and the stout storm sail that rides out fiercest gale, are both the produce of the same plant. The propriety of rendering ourselves independent of other nations for the supply of cotton, is no new idea. It ha 3 been entertained for many years past. The manufactures of Manchester have been urging the cultivation of cotton in our Indian possessions, where vast tracks of land are known to exist well suited for the cultivation1 ,

Our own chilly climate is entirely unfitted for the growth of this plant; with flax, however, the case is different, and, as already stated, about one-fourth of our requirements of this article is raised on British ground. There appears to be no reason whatever, why the remaining three-fourths should not also be grown upon our own soil. Besides which recent experiments have demonstrated that flax may be substituted for one-half of the cotton at present in use, which would give an additional demand for the article of five hundred tons daily, requiring for the growth twelve thousand acres a week. The experiments attended to were made by the Chevalier Olausson, who has thus originated what is known as the "Flax Movement." By these he discovered a simple and at the same time beautiful and effective process, by which flax may be " cottonised" or converted into what ia termed " British cotton."

Some of the more important processes io the manufacturing arts have been the result of mere accident. It was even so with flix cotton. The accidental discovery of the new application of the flax-plant has bsen thus described, in the last edition of the Chevalier Clanstou'a letter work on the subject of the " movement." Wandering along the luxuriant banks of one of the Brazilian river 3, bis attention was attracted to a white, down-like substance, adhering to the brances of trees, overhanging and touching the stream. On obtaining a quantity of it, he was so pleased with its character, that thinking he had discovered some vegetable product hitherto unknown he determined to trace it, if possible, to its source, and to ascertain the plant which produced it. Pursuing his task with great ardour, he eventually found that the substance had been washed from a bed of flaxstraw, the produce of some of his own land; and which, long before, he bad caused to be thrown, as useless, near the banks of the river. As the swollen waters had occasional access to this heap, fermentation, and the decomposition of a portion of the plant, had taken place, and, in time, the influence of natural cbemisty had so separated the filaments of the flax fibre, as to give the mass a cotton like appearance. Some of it having been washed by the river, had been arrested by the overhanging branches. The process thus casually observed in a very imperfect state, Clausßon afterwards imitated by the aid of chemistry; and he can how supply the factories of Lancashire with a home grown substance, capable of being worked up with certain portion of cotton, silk or wool with the machinery already in those manufactures. And herein lies the great value of the discovery. From the peculiar structure of the flax fibre, and the consequent nature of the machinery to work it up, it now cos's tenpence per pound in the manufacture; whereas cotton i 3 mada up for threepence per pound. It is obvious, therefore, that by preparing flax, so as to be capable of being worked upon ordinary machinery at the same cost as cotton, the process must be one of jreat labor. Next in importance to this, is the greater yield of marketable fibre from a given quantity of straw, than by the old mode of steepiug and preparing. We will exa&ine the new process; which we witnessed a short time since, at the Chevalier's model establishment at Stepney. An old poorhouse has been converted into a factory; oakum picking has been supplanted by the magic transformation of chemistry; iron-soup-boilers are now busy with mysterious mixtures, producing results which, when the old fabrio was builfc, would have consigned every man and woman concerned to the stake at Smithfield for sorcerers and witohes.

The flax plant is composed of three distinct parts, the wood, the fibre, and the gum resin, which causes the fibre to adhere together. To remove the wood is the first object,; and this, under the old system, was performed, by a machine little better than a flail. Here commences the first improvement. At the Stepuey factory we saw a small apparatus at work, which costing a mere trifle, removed the wood from the fibre with astonishing rapidity

and cleauliriesa. It is proposed that growers should employ this machine on their farms; by which means they reduce the bulk,.and at the same time retain the portion most useful for manure. la this state it will be brought to market for sale to the manufacturers, who will have to free it, in the first instance, from the gum-resin. Under the old system, this was effected by steeping the flax in cold water, a process which occupied from four to six, weeks, and frequently caused much discoloration of the fibres. The Chevalier's mode consists in boiling the material in a weak alkaline, solution for about four hours, after which it is washed first in a slightly acidified liquor, and then in plain water. It is then dried and in a. fit state for the various processes of scutching, Heckling, &o, necessary to render it fit for the lesser manufacture. In order to " cottonise" the flax, according to Clausson's patent, the fibres are taken from the washing vats direct to a series of other vats ranged side by side; and it is in these that the magic of chemistry is so brought to bear as to transmute a heavy mass of dark, marsh straw, in the course of some minutes, to a light, silky, snow-white wool. Qln the first of these vats is a weak solution of carbonate of soda: here the previously boiled and washed fibres are steeped for about fifteen minutes, during which time they become completely saturated with the soda liquid. ■' To explain the chemical action which follows, it is necessary to point out the structure of the flax fibre. These fibres, minute though they be, are cellular composed of a number of smaller cylinders, united closely at their sides. It is j the separation of these finer fibres, and the consequent addition to the length and surfaoe of the whole mass, that has now to be accomplished; a process that may well be compared to hairsplitting. These cellular fibres being thoroughly saturated with the soda in most minute-quan-tities, are removed from the first vat, and placed in vat number two, containing water slightly acidulated with one pail in five hundred of sulphuric acid. The change which now takes place is instantaneous. A rapid frothing and ebullition of the liquor may be observed, and the heavy mass of flax which, in the first liquor, sank far below the surface, is now seen floating lightly on the face of the water. It is no longer flax, it is British Cotton. And how has this happened ? The acid in this liquor finding its way into the little cylinders already saturated with the soda, immediately effects a chemical change; the sulpuric acid combines with alkali, and forms sulphate of soda, which, seeking its liberation, expands and bursts upon the cellular tubes. The cottonised flax is next placed in a weak solution of soda, in order to free it from any remaioing acid; and theooa transferred to the bleaching vat, which contains a mixture of solution of chloride of lime and sulphate of magnesia. There it remains during two hours, at the end of whioh time it wears a perfectly snowy-white appearance. The process is then completed by washing, first in a weak acid liquor, and afterwards in pure water. It then only remains to dry the flax cotton, in order to fit it for the after process, preparatory to spinning. The same method as has bean here described can be made available for converting the refuse from the flax establishments into a fine white article, admirably adapted for paper making, and at a less price than he pays for linen rags. The value of this latter preparation may be estimated, when it is known that one manufacturer in the north of Ireland throws aside refuse tow, to the yearly value of five thousand pounds sterling; "all of which at present is utterly useless. From what has been stated, it is evident that the objection held against this process, of its converting a dear article into a cheap one, does not hold. Not only is the value of the British cotton greatly enhanced by being rendered capable of spinning at the low cost of cotton goods, but the yield of marketable fibre is much increased, and at a much less cost of time and labor than was needed under the old method. The new fibre is so completely assimilated in oharacter to cotton, that it readily receives the rich dyes imparted to the latter, and is in short capable of being printed or dyed in a precisely similar manner. At the Stepney Model Factory, we examined specimens of flannel, felt, and woollen cloth, manufactured of equal parts of British cotton and wool; also, a felt was composed entirely of the former material All of these goods had a remarkably stout feel, and appeared to be strong in their body.

Combined with silk, British cotton may be worked up with great ease on the existing silk machinery, and when so wrought, is capable of receiving the 'same colors in dying, and materially adding to the strength of the fabric manufactured. He saw two other substances, which, |it appears, are quite as susceptible of being " cottonised" as flax: one was a coarse specimen of China silk, at present of little value; the other was " Jute," or Indian hemp. Both of these fibres were materially improved in appearance and feel, and are no doubt in their new form, adapted for purposes for which they were not at all available, previously. Looking at this " Flax Movement" in an agricultural point of view, we shall find as many advantages likely to arise from it in tbat direction as io any other. Hitherto it has been a most prvalenfc opinion that flax crops were exceeding exhaustive in their effects upon the soil. Experiments fairly carried out have shown this to be a fallacy. Chemical analyses of the p'aut, and a series of the flax crops t.iken from the same land, have proved beyond a-doubt that not only does this cultivation not weaken the soil, but tends to keep it in a state of great productiveness. An examination of structure of the plant demonstrates that those portions of it which absorbs the akaliea and the nutritive properties of the soil, are those which are required for the purpose of manufacture ; namely, the woody part, the resinous matter, and the seed. The fibres derive their elements almost entirely from the atmosphere, one hundred parts containing not more than two parts of mineral matter. Under the old process of steeping, the nutritive portions' contained in the wood and gum, as well as the whole of the seed, were lost in the fermentation during steeping; so that nothing whatever was restored to'the land. By the new method, these properties are capable of being returned whence they were taken. The seed may be either employed in feeding cattle or crushed for oil; the oil-cake being in that oase returned to the cattle-yard. Estimates based upon several years, of actual experience, go to show that, by this cultivation, the farmer may realise a yearly . profit of from fifteen pounds to sixteen pounds the acre, and that, too, upon land which has been first previouslyjheavily cropped in cereals. Many thousands of acres which hitherto have yielded but indifferent and uncertain crops, or which have scarcely been worth cultivation, may be brought under flax without any fear of the result.

Hitherto, the absence of linen manufactures, and the consequent want of markets, in so many parts of England and Scotland, have proved a serious obstacle to any attempts at extending flax culture. But now that every grower may, by the purchase of an inexpensive and simply constructed machine, convert the flax-straw into a fit condition for economical and convenient transport to a market, and now that conveyance is much lessened in cost, and that the present prooess will before long be ia active operation in every agricultural qounty of Great Britain and Ireland, it is to be hoped that a widely extended cultivation of this article may take place, affording active employment to a vast number of persons of: all ages. Already the patent has been taken in hand in Scotland; arrangements are in progress for a similar undertaking in Ireland; and, should the like activity be manifested in England, there, can be little doubt that two most important results will have been attained, the providing a great portion of our poorer population with good employment, and rendering our manufacturers less dependent upon the United States for the supply of flax and cotton .—Dickeri's Household Words.