PROJECTED REVIVAL OF THE FLAX INDUSTRY 613 



neglected or it is only regarded as of secondary importance. It 

 undoubtedly detracts much from the value of the fibre if flax 

 straw be allowed to remain standing until the seed is ripe ; the 

 fibre thereby loses much in spinning quality, becoming dry and 

 inclined to brittleness, besides ultimately weighing less. The 

 cause of these differences is ascribed tentatively to the seed 

 depriving the plant of its oily sap for its own full development. 



There are, however, but few districts where the seed borne 

 by the plant is entirely sacrificed. Sometimes this is done 

 in Belgium, where small quantities of flax are harvested almost 

 as soon as the crop comes into bloom with the specific pur- 

 pose of obtaining fibre of the very finest kind and of the 

 greatest possible elasticity and silkiness for the manufacture 

 of fine lace. Apart from such isolated instances it appears that 

 Ireland is the only flax-growing country where the asset the 

 seed affords is entirely disregarded. 



To grow flax primarily for fibre and secondarily for seed 

 is certainly the most advantageous course to pursue and it 

 behoves the farmer to harvest his flax crop at a stage when 

 the seed is developed to the minimum extent for it to be of prac- 

 tical value, in order that the fibre may suffer as little as possible. 

 It is everywhere agreed to be the best practice to harvest flax 

 when the lower part of the stem begins to change from green 

 to yellow — when about one-third of the stem has so changed 

 and when the leaves about half-way up the stem have changed 

 colour or fallen. At that stage, an examination of the seeds 

 within the capsule shows them to be just changing from a 

 full green colour to a brownish tint. These are the general 

 signs that the crop has matured sufficiently and harvest opera- 

 tions should commence at once. Efforts are made to get up 

 the crop as near the same stage of ripeness as possible ; no delay 

 is allowable, because during warm summer weather ripening 

 processes proceed rapidly. 



When judging of the best method of harvesting flax it is 

 necessary to have in mind the fact that its value is greatly 

 reduced if the straws are not arranged parallel with one another 

 in a neat, uniform bundle — conditions which reduce the waste 

 occurring during the process of cleaning. The advantage of 

 these ideal conditions of harvesting therefore has to be 

 balanced against the cost of attaining to them. 



The universal method of harvesting flax is to pull it from the 



