518 a ICON. C 1 U S I iO'N}
Which s l i Ibecatite fo fte r an d p leafanter rto w o r k . ’ T h e y -a lifb fb t in d r it
•caper, and m ore expeditious^, to ferape the Vegetable; ic o ^ r in g from
:the..fibres, w h ic h ! is .done! ,w ith ,,th fe e ,,fti'o k e s o f . a k n ife d ; I t. ifeflien
tw ille d ; and p u t in to a tu b o f w a te r ,,.\yhere, j t rem«{iqs. until; th e jd a y ’s
w o r k ’ is fin iflie d .' T h e day; fo llo w in g ' it f e w a / h e d - a n d .b e a t e n - in ; a
ru n n in g ftream. 1 W h e n Tu ffie ien tly beaten’, it .is. dried , .and riBbods ®’Q
o th e r preparation.; un til jit!: i-snhackled and fp ifii.in to y a rn for: w e a s im g tfi
‘ 'T h e nmiibers em p lo y e d ‘a t th is w o r k w e r e as fd lfow .; 0
1 i nieh ; - ‘ 7 Worden-; ' J?
- 3 w h o a te invalid's ; J
- ' ' r u . • ‘ P “ 1 ; ■
- 2 w o m e n ;
- ■ 2 m e n ; • -
- 1 8 ; -
In v a lid ^ g a th e r in g the fla x .
P rep a r in g it - - ; ' -
B e a t in g and w a fflin g “it -
P la x -d r e lfe r “ ” - - *‘i 1
S p in n e r s - - -
W e a v e r and affiftant '
■' Total
b y ; w h o le w e e k ly la b o u r fix te e n y a rd s o f canva s, o f th e , fiz e .,,o f
•No. 7 w a s made. It is to be rem arked , th a t, the w om e n , and m o l f .p f
th e m en , cou ld be em p lo y e d a t no other w o r k ; and that tlye la b o u r , p f
m an u r in g and, cu ltiv a t in g th e g r o u n d ; the' lofs o f ; o th e r crops ; th e
m a n y p re ced e s ufed in m an u fa c tu r in g th e E u ro p e an h em p , and th e
ac cid ents to w h ic h it is liable d u r in g its g r ow th , are a ll, b y u fin g this
f la x , a v o id ed , as it needs n o cu ltiv a t io n , and g row s in fuffic ient abund
a n c e on all the cliffs o f th e ifland [w h e re n o th in g , elfe w i l l g row ) to
g i v e conftant em p lo ym en t to fiv e hun d red peop le . In d e ed , fh o u ld it
be th o u g h t an objed t, a n y q u a n tity o f can va s , ro p e , o r lin en , m ig h t be
-made th e re , p ro v id ed ; there w e r e -men and w om e n , weavers., fla x -
dreffers,. fp in n e rs , and ro p e -m ak e rs , w i th th e ' n e ce ffa ry to o ls ; but
.deftitute as o u r p eop le w e r e o f the fe aids,' all th a t cou ld b e d o ne w a s
to keep in em p lo y th e f e w , th a t cou ld be fpared from o th e r effential
.w o rk . I f a m ach in e cou ld be conftrudted to feparate the vege table
c o v e r in g from th e fla x en filaments , a n y q u a n t ity o f th is u fe fu l ar ticle
m ig h t be p repa red w i th g re a t e x p e d it io n .
th e
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