FIBRE PLANTS 309 



why, nobody knows with certainty. Pools lined 

 with blue clay do better than others not so lined. 

 It may be that the clay does it. 



The dry straw is next broken by passing through 

 corrugated rollers. The result is that bits of woody 

 substance from the stem fall off in the "scutching," 

 or combing, and shaking that follows. Tow is the 

 name given the combings of the scutching tool. 

 Next, the "hackling" does the thorough combing 

 that removes snarls in the fibres, and gets rid of 

 any "shives" (woody particles) the scutching 

 missed. The skeins of flax are ready to be baled 

 and sent to the mills for weaving into cloth, or 

 spinning into yarn. 



A single fibre of flax may be over a foot in 

 length. Though one of the finest of fibres, it is 

 stronger than that of any other textile plant. 

 These facts explain the strength and the filmy 

 sheerness we see combined in some handkerchief 

 linens, and their durability. 



Nobody can fully appreciate the beauty of the 

 flax flower until he has grown a plot of it. "Blue 

 were her eyes as the fairy flax," wrote the poet of 

 the skipper's little daughter, in "The Wreck of 

 the Hesperus." Our flax flowers are a color we 

 can't forget. We can easily follow the steps by 

 which flax is prepared for spinning, and do by 



