PROJECTED REVIVAL OF THE FLAX INDUSTRY 619 



the fibre-winner has little to do. The long fibres composing the 

 11 bundles " already mentioned are themselves made up of long 

 chains of shorter fibres which are held together and in position 

 by an inter-cellular gum or resin (pectose). 



Successful separation of fibre from flax straw depends upon 

 the isolation of the long fibres without going so far as to weaken 

 the binding between the smaller, individual fibres composing 

 them. Up to the present time, this pectose decomposition has 

 been accomplished best by a natural fermentation process which 

 sets in when the damp straw is allowed to rot : a process which 

 now goes by the name of " retting." 



Of the various ways of effecting this decomposition, the 

 simplest is that known as " dew-retting," the straw being spread 

 thinly in regular rows over the ground and alternate dew, 

 sunshine and rain allowed to carry the process forward until 

 the fibre is easily detachable from the wood. The very nature 

 of this process, depending as it does upon favourable weather 

 conditions, frequently gives rise to a product of low value : 

 nevertheless, in some districts, this method is the only one 

 which is possible and enormous quantities of dew-retted flax 

 are prepared annually. One acre of standing flax requires 

 nearly two acres of land over which to spread it and there it 

 remains for two or three weeks. It is then turned over care- 

 fully and left for three or four weeks longer, although the time 

 required depends upon prevailing weather conditions. Fibre from 

 dew-retted straw is usually of bad colour although it bleaches 

 well. Sometimes in Belgium, more often in Russia, winter 

 retting is practised, the flax straw remaining out in the field for 

 some months without suffering much harm and the fibre ulti- 

 mately obtained is of pale colour. In Western Europe only the 

 poorer qualities of straw are dew-retted : crops which are not 

 considered good enough to treat by other and more costly 

 methods. 



A method of retting only seen in South Holland and East 

 Flanders is to pack the deseeded undried straw into long, narrow 

 ditches containing some two feet of water and then to cover the 

 whole mass with sufficient mud taken from the pit, so as to 

 completely immerse the straw and prevent it rising above the 

 liquid during retting. Like other fermentation processes, retting 

 proceeds more quickly during warm weather and as this method 

 is carried on immediately after harvesting the crop in July it 



