FIBRE PLANTS 307 



rowed with a tool of many teeth, to cover. In 

 Europe the field is rolled when the seeds sprout, 

 and when the flax plants are two inches high they 

 get a careful hand-weeding. This work is done 

 by women and boys, who kneel at their work. 

 Sometimes two or three weedings are necessary. 

 The earlier the sowing, the better the fibre, if early 

 frosts do not catch the crop. 



"June makes the flax," they say. Then or 

 never the stems lengthen, and the three months of 

 growth end^ in flowers and seed capsules. When 

 the lower leaves droop, and the pods are turning 

 to yellow, the men go out to pull the flax. Hand- 

 fuls are pulled up, laid with even roots on the 

 ground, after the dirt is shaken out, and all weeds 

 discarded. Bundle is laid across bundle to let in 

 air. So the field is harvested, and the dry stems 

 prepared for stacking or retting. 



The seeds are "in the dough" when the straw 

 is in best condition to make linen. But even these 

 unripe seeds must be removed. Hand labor again. 

 The worker takes a handful at a time, and draws 

 the heads through a rude stationary comb; the 

 capsules roll off as they are drawn through the 

 teeth. 



"Retting" is the process that separates the fibre 

 in the bark of the flax stem from the gummy sub- 



