Belgium, Vol. 2 (of 2)

by Sir James Emerson Tennent

WATERING.

In Belgium this process is conducted under two different systems. At Courtrai, when pulled, it is allowed to dry on the field, and is kept over all winter before steeping. In this district, as is well known, the flax is steeped in the clear and running waters of the Lys, where it is perfectly pure from any slime or mud.

In the Flanders district (Pays de Waes), the flax is steeped immediately after pulling, being put in the water whilst still green, the water used being stagnant. We think that in general the preference must be given to the system employed in Flanders; firstly, because it is difficult to find such a river as the Lys, where the waters are so free from any filth; and secondly, because the flax when steeped before it dries is softer and more mellow, and the fibre is whiter, not having that yellow tint which is always found in flax that has been dried. The linens which we saw in Germany were of a pure and silvery white, and the system pursued there in steeping is that of Flanders. It was pointed out to us that the fibre of flax which had been dried is equally strong, but that it is harder and more yellow. Steeping in the manner followed in Flanders demands great care and attention, and a particular knowledge of the process. As it is not possible for us to explain all the details, we will confine ourselves to requesting the district committees to send us from Flanders some persons competent to give all the instructions necessary for performing it with success.

After the steeping, it is found to improve the quality to keep the flax for a long time in the straw. The older the flax is the better it is. If before it had any faults; if, for example, it had been spotted, and a bad colour from being badly exposed, it becomes equalized and uniform by remaining for a long time in the straw heaped together.

It is good to keep over the flax before spinning it, not only in the straw, but after scutching, and even after hackling. The Germans attach great importance to having a soft and silky fibre. To this end they beat the flax after it is scutched, they rub it with an iron comb without teeth, and they are especially careful to let it grow old, either in straw or after it has been scutched.

SPINNING.

As a general and incontestible rule, it is necessary in order to make good yarn, to proportion the quality of the flax to the description of yarn to be spun. If fine yarn be produced from flax of an inferior quality, the quality of the yarn, and necessarily the cloth, will be bad. It is then a very prejudicious idea, that with any kind of flax, fine yarn can be produced. It is equally necessary to hackle the flax, according to the fineness and quality of the yarn to be spun. The finer and better the yarn to be produced, the more should the tow be separated from the solid fibres. Great care should be given to the process of spinning—it is the fingers that spin, the wheel only twists. The length of the fibre contributes much to the solidity of the yarn, it is, therefore, important to place the flax upon the distaff so that the spinner can always take the fibre by the end, and not by the middle. This observation has been made in France, in the neighbourhood of Valenciennes and Cambrai, where the good yarn for lace is produced. The spinning wheel should be adapted to the description of the yarn to be produced, the smaller the wheel, the more open and flat will be the yarn. The larger it is, the more the yarn is round and twisted. There is this distinction to make between warp and weft, that the former requires to be more twisted than the latter. To make good cloth, the thread of the warp should be round, that of the weft flat and open. Yarn for thread should be more twisted than the other descriptions. This is the reason that at Lempleuve wheels of great diameter, and turned by three cords, are used.

At a moment in which mill-spun yarn, the rival production to hand-spun yarn, lays claim to a superiority, which it bases upon the uniform equality of its thread, the hand-spinners must strain every nerve to attain this equality. It is essential that they avoid, as much as possible, any knots or lumps in the yarn, that they extract any particles of tow their fingers may meet. We could also recommend that the operation may be conducted with extreme cleanliness, that any stains of oil, coal, &c., be avoided, or anything which may be difficult to remove in the bleaching. The Germans beat their yarn a good deal before weaving it, to render it more soft and supple, they affirm that they thereby improve the quality of the cloth. According to them, the softer and more yielding the yarn, the firmer and more solid will be the cloth when bleached, it has not the disadvantage of being too hard and stiff, and, therefore, fraying at the folds. The system may be the object of experiment. It is, also, useful to prepare the yarn by boiling it in a solution of alkali, and by soaking it in milk. Ashes from beech wood are to be preferred to those from ash. This is at least the result of their experience in Germany. We submit the observation to our merchants and manufacturers, to induce them to make a trial, and to communicate to us afterwards the result. The use of any chemical agent in bleaching must be rigorously abstained from, their use has been constantly prohibited by our ancient laws, and even by royal edicts.

WEAVING.

The piece of cloth should be throughout uniform in fabric, and in colour. It is then indispensable, as well for the weft as for the warp, to use yarn from the same description of flax. There must be none of those dry and dead fibres, so that they do not disappear in the bleaching.