124 AGRICULTURE FOR COMMON SCHOOLS 



threads, ropes and cloth. Flax is a very old crop, having been 

 cultivated in early times in Egypt. It is grown throughout the 

 world in temperate climates. Russia is the largest flax-pro- 

 ducing country in the world. It produces both seed and fibre. 

 The United States comes next as a seed producer, but not in 

 fibre productions. North Dakota, Minnesota and South 

 Dakota are the largest producers in the United States. 



A moist, deep loam soil well drained is best for flax. Land 

 good for corn is also good for flax. The seed-bed should be 

 made quite fine, so that the young plants can get their food 

 quickly. The seed is sown in May. If the farmer wants to get 

 a large crop of seed he sows about two or three pecks of seed 

 per acre; if he wants to get plants good for fibre he sows about 

 one and a half to two bushels. For fibre the stems should 

 be slender and not branched, so they need to stand thickly 

 in the field. The seeding is done by hand or with the drill. 



If the crop is raised for the seed it can be cut with a binder 

 when the seeds are well matured, but when grown for fibre 

 the plants are usually pulled by hand, or cut very low with 

 the machine. The harvesting for fibre begins when the straw 

 begins to turn yellow. The pulled stems are stood up in small 

 shocks to cure and the heads are pulled off with coarse 

 combs, or a "header." 



The farmer usually does not do more than " head " the flax. 

 He then sells it to the dealer who rets it. Retting is done by 

 exposing the straw to the sun, dew, and rain for several days 

 until it begins to rot, when the outside skin comes off and the 

 long fibres or threads under the skin can be easily separated. 

 These fibres are made up into linen goods of various kinds. 

 The retting may also be done by immersing in tanks of warm 

 water for a few days. 



