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Sreanes forual
) eSS O (Y '§"s
~~/New-Hamplhire Gazette.
[ Val.-1, )
In Postletbwayt’s Dictionary, under the word
Flax, are the following direfiions, for the
management of that ufeful plant.
WE shall give a thort account of the me-
VY. thod practifed by the Flanders flax
drefler, who was some time ago introduced
into Scotland by the trustees, upon public
encouragement, in order to inftructus in their
way of preparing their {oil, sowing of flax
feed, raising, pulling, watering, and drefling
their flax, and compadre it with our own.—
According to the Flanders method, the best
foil for fine fax is thie ténder & mellow black
mould, or any light foil, mixed with loam &
a little sand, that will not bind with any sud
den drought, The lower the ground lies,
and the flatter itis, the better, provided it be
dry enough to be sown in the proper fea
{fon : It should be fallowed at least two win
ters and a summer. The firft plowing should
be as deep as the foil will admit of, and there
after plowed with an ebb furrow, so often as
the appearance of weeds makes it necessary.
In October or November, before the ground
is to be sown (or rather in Oftoker in the pre
ceeding year, after the firft plowing, if they
have then dung enough, because the sum
mer plowing thereafter dzf{troys theweeds thac
tife with the dung) itought to be well dung
ed and as well dressed at sowing as garden
mould ; and three bushels Winchester mea
sure of good feed, is fufficient to sow one acre
of ground thus prepared ; more i 3 too much
to be sowed on one acre, because our foil is
not prepared as it ought to be : The effe@
of which is, if our {eed be good, all comes up
and one half of it is under growth 5 this un
ripe lintis rotten in the watering, before the
rest is ready,.and the whole is [poiled, by it.
. In ground prepared as before directed,the
weeds are so very few, that oné hand will
clean as much lint ground of weeds in aday,
as eight can do in the ordinary way ; & this
s a confideratle article of extpence saved. , ..
. When flax thus prepared is fully ripe, and
not “till then, he pulls itgand if any. uaripe,
flallzs appear, he caretully separates them
from the rest, and waters thim by them:
feives. - Whea kLis lint is pulled, he ties it
up in small bundles, or sheaves, no, bigger
than one can grasp about with his two hands,
gnd ties them up loosely with.a few stalks of
itfelf, a little below the feed, and then sets
therup oa one. end, two and.two, like
shocks of corn, in the air and fun, until it
he well dried, and then firips the feed boll
from it as we do. He then ties two. and
two of his sheaves together, the {eed end of
the one always to theront end éf’the.oth'én‘
Wherever he can find flat lyirg ground,
ander level to any running water, there he
SATURDAY, Fuly 27, 1776.
digs his ponds for waterirg his lint, as large
as the ground will allow, and near to three
feet in depth : ;When his ponds are filled
from the rivulet with water, he puts in his
lint until his pond is full, but does not fink
it. . The reafon.why he ties the feed end of
one (heaf to the roct end of the other,is, that
the roots being heavier, would fink in the
water, and the feed. end- would be entirely
out of the water ; but, when thus.ballanced
~the lint being much of the. fame fpecific
- gravity with the water, it is just immerfzd,
- and no. maye, and never: comes near the
ground or the mud.: He turps it in the
water every day, and if .the water is very
hot, twice in a day.:. He tries when 1t 1s
enough watered, by breaking a few stalks ;
and if thie boon breaks frezly; and parts ea
sily. with the flax, then he takes it out, and
carries it to a clear running {tréam, & wash
es it very well from all it’s filch and nafti
nefs;and then spreads it upon the grale (very
thin) aswe,do.,,; 3 .3 ‘ T3P b
"It the water appears to be very much
discolored in the pond before his lint is fuf
ficiently made, he lets off the water, walhes
. his lint, and then fills bis pond from the run..
ing brook, and puts icin again until 1t be
enough done. . When his ficft parcel islaid
on the grass, he puts another in the fame
pond, and continues to water his lint, {o long
as the season is warm enough. He turns
his lint on the grass once a day, and keeps.
it on the grass {o long as the dews fall, which
gives the lint a fine colour, without hurting
~lt, and mazkes the yarn spun of it wath and
empty easily, without waiting or weakening
it 3. and the cloth made of it comes {oon to
- a fine colour, without being thinned in the
S |
- So much of his lint as he intends for his
. best feed, be builds upin a stack, like corn,
~with the bolls vpon it, and strips it at fow
.ing time ; and, in the moanth of May there
- after, puts into the water, and follows the
fame method, with that watered in the Au
tumn, _So much of his lint as remains on
his hands undrefled .after the middle of
March, when the dews begin to fall, he lays
~out, again upon the grass for 2 good co
“lour, and always takes up his lint from the
“grass in.dry weather, and about mid-day. .
* .N. B. Care must be taken ia rainy wea
- ther,that the ling reccivcz no damage by.rots
- ting on the grass, but gentle {howers are as
- good as dews, 5 Lbn i SvRdE O
: 1. Our present general way. is to sow our
- lint onany gtound, which puts us to 3 great
ex:pe'ng':”c’;'qfi weed it. We sow it thick (as
‘ we must do in _ordinary ground) whereby
“ond half of it 1 rile before the other is rea-
dy ; and thus the unripe feed, being mixed
with the full ripe, spoils the whole; and the
unripe lint is rotten in the water belore the
other igready.: s :4 %, B 8 A
¢ In the Welt of Scotland, where the fineft
{pinning is, the people are riveted in a most
pernicious ceficelr, that unripe lint' makes
the fineft flax ; & therefore pull all their fint
when the bloflom falls.. This kind of lint
heckles away to almost nothing, and s in
deed in appearance very fine ; but then it
has no substance, and the yarn fpun-of itis
always weak. and ouzy ;it wastes much in
the wathing, and cloth made of it grows as
thin as a cobweb in the bledching, before it
be brought to a full colour: . . .
FPHALADELPRILA Juy b i 7
Lstralt of alctter from the Camp at Sorrel; 1310
Aip TN R 0 e
~ ¢ On the eighth instant a detachment of
about sixteen hundred men, under the com+
mand ot General Thompson, left the mouth
of Nicolette, in order to {urprife the enemy
at Three Rivers. - The design was to have
attacked the town before day, but some un
forefeen'accidents retarded him,fo that it was
quite light before he got near thetown. An
advanced boat discovered the party on their
march; gave the alarm,and was fired upon by
the rifiemen, who drove her offinto the fiream.’
This happened a little-before sunrise ; and as
all prospect of fuccesding by surprise wasthen
over; the Gerneral,determined tomake the at=-
tack, ordered the drums to beat, to-put the
Left face tpon the matter,and intimidate the:
enemy. :in this mannerthe march continued
till they came within the reachof the veflels,
some of which wzre anchored along the shore
tor about.a mile, or 2 mile and a half above
the town,when a brisk cannonade began from
them, tit without eftedt, or occasioning the
least diforder.among the troops, who bore it
with as good a countenance as the best ve
terans in the world could have done. - Col
Maxwell who led the. firft division, feeing,
however, that-in proceeding by the road he
wou'd be expofedtoa very galting fire from.
all-the veflels, ‘feventeen in ‘-number, turred
a little: to the left, in order tocrofs.what ap
peared. to'be a:point of woods, and by which
it seemed as.if we could gain. the heighth of
the town, wheré the firing from_the veflels
would be ineffe€tual.: “This point-turned out
to be a verv thick swamp of great extent, &
‘which took up three -hours or-more to get
through; every fiep to the knee, and very of~
ten a greatdeal Higher. « "Ehis was very un—
favourable to us,forit wasimpoilible for men,
tomarch: through it without being broken,
& a goad deal of confufion. ‘And as the ene-.
my were ready for.us at the. farther fide,
there.was neither time nor ground, to, form
them properly. The consequence vsas, as
you may jidge, that we had the worst of it
«« The General’s original plan was to have,
attacked betore day at four {eparate plages ;.
Fur the remainder fee lass pages —
[No. Vo ]