622 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



At the close of the first retting period the " ballons " are 

 hauled up on to the bank, the flax straw is taken to an adjacent 

 field where the bundles are opened and the straw arranged 

 on end in small open sheaves — " steeples " — to dry. After about 

 three days the dried straw is collected together and is generally 

 given a rest-period of about one month before being sorted over 

 again, made up into bundles and retted in the river as in the 

 first instance. The second retting does not take so long as 

 the first retting, although the time necessary depends upon 

 several variable factors such as temperature, quality of original 

 straw, extent of first retting, etc. To determine precisely when 

 retting should be finally arrested requires very considerable 

 knowledge, aided by careful and repeated examinations of the 

 retting straw. When the conditions are satisfactory, the 

 " ballons " are taken from the river and the bundles of straw 

 are removed and dried after the manner already described. 



This fermentation process of retting may be accelerated by 

 raising the temperature of the water in which the flax is steeped: 

 a fact which, although known long previously, was first made 

 use of practically by Schenk (1846) who devised a method of 

 retting flax straw in warmed water. Since then many establish- 

 ments have been organised and worked on this principle in 

 various countries including England and such retting establish- 

 ments, generally speaking, met with success. The chief 

 drawback to the successful working of many of them seems 

 to have been want of capital. It is of interest to find it re- 

 corded that in 1853 as many as twenty such retteries were at 

 work in Ireland alone and that, of the flax factories in England, 

 those which had adopted retting in warmed water at a central 

 depot were the last to close down. As recently as 1896 there 

 were two such retteries successfully working in Yorkshire. 



It will serve no useful purpose to mention here all the various 

 modifications of Schenk's original scheme nor the vicissitudes 

 through which they passed. At the present time there are flax 

 retting depots at Bruges, Courtrai, Oenkerk and Appingadam 

 where retting in warmed water is successfully practised and the 

 fibre turned out is of good quality. 



At the small factory near Courtrai flax straw is retted in 

 cemented tanks ; each one being fitted with a false bottom upon 

 which the bundles of straw stand and beneath which steam-pipes 

 are made to warm the water contained in the tank to 27 to 30* C. 



