414 



FLAX 



the woody interior, it is removed from tho water, and placed to drain on the banks of 

 the pool or river. It is then taken to a closely-shorn grass-field or old pasture land, 

 and spread thinly and evenly on the ground. In Flanders, however, the system of 

 drying is somewhat different. Instead of being spread flat on tho ground, the slu-avcs 

 are divided into four portions, and these are set upright in capellcs, i. e., the butt ends 

 are spread widely out in a circle on tho ground, and tho tops are kept close together. 

 By this means the sun and air soon dry the flax. When thoroughly dried it is tied 

 up in sheaves, and after remaining a few days in the usual form of a grain stack, it is 

 ricked. In this state it may remain for years without the fibre being deteriorated. 



The next process is termed scutching (French, tdllagc), and is intended to separate 

 the fibre from tho woody matter of tho stem, and thus to make it fit for the spinner. 



922 



The first part of this process is to bruise the stems thoroughly, so that while the fibre, 

 from its tenacity, is intact, the brittle woody part is flattened and broken in such a 

 manner as to admit of its easily being beaten off by the action of the scutch-blade or 

 scutch-mill. In most countries the bruising is done by hand. x In Flanders and France 

 tho flax-straw is first laid flat on the ground, the sheaf being untied and spread thinly, 

 and the workman, placing his foot upon it, beats it with an instrument called a mail, 

 having a curved handle and a heavy square indented mallet, fig. 922. 



The next part of the process is to give the flax repeated blows in a machine termed 

 a brace or braque, Jig. 923. This is generally made of wood, but sometimes of iron, 

 and consists of two rows of grooves T T, the upper one moving on a pivot at tho 



925 



eocket s. A stout pole P runs from end to end of the upper row of teeth. The l.itt. T 

 are wedge-shaped, 4= inches deep, 1 .} inch thick at toji. and ?>ty inches long frmn th>- 

 head H to the socket s. The head weighs about 8 Ibs, and is 10 inches long, and 3{ 



