408 FLAX 



Yc-fir Cwta. 



1861 1,133,979 



186o 1.913,132 



1871 2,597,900 



Some timo after Sir Robert Peel's last accession to power, ho proposed that duties 

 should be thrown off all raw materials. Foreign flax then paid a lax of IQl. a ton, 

 and when the minister mooted his intention to let such material come in free, a great 

 outcry was raised against the proposition, which, it was said, would, if carried into 

 law, ruin the Irish farmers. At that time (1842) milled ilax sold at 5*. Gd. to 10s. Qd. 

 the stone of 16 Ibs., and hand-scutched flax at 4s. 6d. to 6s. 6d. the stone. Tho 

 average prices of flax for the first half of 1872 were 5s. 6d. to 8s. 6d. for hand-scutched, 

 and ~s. to 12s. Gd. for milled, per stone of 14 Ibs. 



The flax plant has a single slender stem, varying from 2 to 4 feet in height, ac- 

 cording to the nature of the soil and the season, with the difference of climate, and 

 mode of culture. It has lanceolate, sessile loaves, of a rich green colour, and branches 

 out, at the top, into two or more small stems, each of 2 or 3 inches in length, 

 and bearing light blue flowers, succeeded by globular capsules, pointed at tho apex, 

 and bearing eight to ten seeds of a reddish brown, when ripe. The stem of tho plant 

 consists of an inner part, or core, sometimes hollow, but more frequently solid, com- 

 posed of ligneous matter, surrounded with a bark of fibres, which are united to each 

 other by a gum, the whole being sheathed in a fine epidermis. The plant arrives at 

 maturity in fourteen or fifteen weeks after the seed is sown. It has then changed to 

 a pale yellow or straw colour, and the seeds have become brown. Tho usual period 

 of sowing, in European countries, is from March to May, although in some parts of 

 the Continent the seed is put in the ground in autumn ; but in this case nothing is 

 gained, as the plant becomes mature very little earlier than when tho sowing is done 

 in spring. It is grown on a wide range of soils, sandy, calcareous, clay, loam, peaty, 

 &c., but that best adapted to it is, either a deep, friable, clay loam, or the alluvial 

 deposit of rivers, whether along their banks, their deltas, or where reclaimed from the 

 sea, as in the case of the polders of Holland. Deep tillage, good drainage, and re- 

 peated pulverisation of the soil, are very requisite. The preparations for the crop are 

 begun in winter, by ploughing the surface, and turning it up to the action of frost : 

 they are completed in spring, by ploughing and harrowing. The seed is sown at the 

 rate of 2^ bushels per statute acre, the best season being April. In the British Isles, 

 Belgium, and Holland, tho favourite seed is obtained from Russia, Riga being the 

 port of shipment. Duteh seed is also extensively in use in Ireland, and a good deal of 

 home-grown seed the first year's growth from Riga seed (one year from the barrel), 

 which is considered quite equal to the parent. No manure is used in Ireland, but in 

 Belgium and France rape cake dissolved in urine is considered very useful. The 

 seed is sown broadcast, and the soil is afterwards rolled. When the plant is a few 

 inches high, weeds are carefully removed, and no further attention is necessary until 

 the season of pulling. Flax is not cut with the scythe or sickle, but is pulled up by 

 the roots. About the middle of August it is generally ready for pulling in tho British 

 Islands, but in Belgium and France it is in a fit state two to three weeks earlier. 



The after treatment varies in different countries. In Russia, part of Belgium and 

 Holland, and in France, tho plant, after being pulled, is dried in the sun, being set up 

 on the root end in two thin row r s, the top interlacing in the form of the letter V in- 

 verted. The sun and air soon thoroughly dry the stems, and they are then made 

 into sheaves, and the seed afterwards beaten off. The stems are steeped subsequently. 

 Another mode, in general use in Ireland and in part of Flanders, is to steep the green 

 stems immediately after they are pulled. In Flanders, the seed is invariably separated 

 from the stems before the latter are immersed in water. In Ireland, although this 

 is practised to some extent, yet the great bulk of the flax crop is put in the water at 

 once, with the seed-capsules attached, and consequently there is a very considerable 

 annual loss to tho country by this waste of a most valuable product of the plant. 

 In the Walloon country of Belgium, in its eastern provinces, and in tho greater part 

 of Germany, dew-retting is practised. That is, in place of immersing the stems in 

 water, they are spread thinly on short grass, and the action of the dews and rains 

 ultimately effects what immersion in a running stream or pool accomplishes in a much 

 shorter time, namely, the decomposition of tho gum which binds the fibres to the stem 

 and to each other. Fibre obtained by this method is, however, of very inferior 

 quality and colour. 



If the fibre of flax be separated from tho stem, without the decomposition of this 

 matter, it is found to be loaded with impurities, which are got rid of afterwards in the 

 wet-spinning, the boiling of tho yarn, the subjection of the woven fabric to the action 

 of an alkaline lye, and the action of the atmosphere of rains and of alternate dippings 



