590 REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. , 



bidity and is slightly discolored ; gas begins to be evolved and is given 

 oif with unpleasant odor. As the decomposition becomes general more 

 weights will be required, for the flax swells and rises. A thick scum is 

 formed upon the surface of the pool, which, if possible, should be removed 

 by allowing a slight stream of water to flow over the pool. It is not 

 possible to give any limit of time for the perfect accomplishment of the 

 retting. In warm weather, with occasional rains, the time will be 

 hastened; cold nights, on tlie contrary, retard the operation. Coarse 

 flax requires a Diuch longer time than fine. The writer quoted above 

 says : 



When it is ready to take out it "will be observed tojsink in tlie pool ; but it requires 

 a much more careful examination from time to timo^ The test m Holland is as fol- 

 lows: A few atalks of average fineness are selected and are broken in two places a few 

 inches apart. If the inner part or wood will then pull easily out with the fingers, 

 and does not break the fiber or drag any of it with it, the flax is considered sufficiently 

 watered. If allowed to remain longer the fiber is injured, and becomes weak and 

 cottony. K taken out sooner than tliis teat shows to be advisable, much of the fiber 

 is knocked away in the scutching, and the general qiiality is dry and coarse. The 

 test should be tried at intervals of three or four hours after the fermentation ceases, 

 for if the weather be warm the change for the worse is rapid. 



As soon as the retting is completed the flax should be lifted from the 

 pools, and upon this operation too much care cannot be bestowed, as 

 the use of iraidements, as hooks or pitchfork, only serve to injure the fiber. 

 The weights are removed, and the straw or sods taken to the manure- 

 pit, as in their water-soaked condition they contain valuable elements 

 needed again in the soil. The bundles should be taken out of the water 

 by hand, two or more persons assisting in the operation. They should 

 then bo set up upon their butt ends in the field to allow the water to drain 

 off gradually. It is ready to spread in twenty-four hours after taking 

 out, though rain will retard it to thirty-six hours. 



The next process is the spreading or grassing, by which the fiber is 

 cleansed and improved in color. A newly-mown grass-field ^vill answer 

 for this purpose, and the flax is evenly and thinly spread over the field. 

 The flax should be turned once or twice, by means of poles 8 or 9 feet 

 long, to insure uniformity of color, and the grassing is finished in three 

 or four days. Thorouglily dried fiber separates from the woody matter, 

 contracting slightly, and when this is noted it is time to lift ; or a few 

 handsful may be tested with the scutching-machine. When lifted tie in 

 sheaves, pack under cover, and the flax is ready for scutching, or can 

 be kept for years, if so desired. This account, condensed from a prize 

 essay by James MacAdam, jr., a former secretary to the Royal Society 

 for Promotion and Improvement of the Growth of Flax in Ireland, will 

 give American cultivators a knowledge of the best practice with flax- 

 retting in Ireland, where the greatest care is bestowed upon the operation. 



All writers seem to agree that the waters of the river Lys, in Flanders, 

 are particularly favorable to flax-retting. Steeping is tliere carried on 

 as a trade by men who have no other occupation. The Courtrai flax is 

 all steeped in the river, large quantities of flax being brought great dis- 

 tances for the purjjose. Mr. Proctor's account of the Courtrai treatment 

 of retting is so concise I give the quotation entire: 



The flax tied up in small bundles is placed perpendicularly in wooden frames or 

 crates of from twelve to fifteen feet square. Each crate is launched into the river, 

 and straw and clean stones laid upon it until it sinks just enough below the surface 

 of the stream to leave a current both above and below it, which carries away all im- 

 purities, and keeps the fiber clean during the period of immersion. The average time 

 required is from seven to' ten days. Towards the end of May the average is nine to ten 

 days ; in August, seven days ; in October, twelve days. An soon as the flax has been 

 eafflciently steeped, the crates are hauled ashore, and the flax spread iipon,the grass to 



