109 



. FLAX. 



FLAX. 



110 



In southern climates flax is sown before winter, because too great 

 heat would destroy it. It is then pulled before the heat of summer. 

 In northern climates the frost, and especially the alternations of frost 

 and thaw in the early part of spring, would cause the flax to perish ; 

 it is consequently sown as early in spring as may be, so as to avoid 

 the effect of hard frost. This is in April in Great Britain and Ireland, 

 and in Holland and Flanders. In no country is the ground better 

 prepared for the growth of flax than in Flanders ; and it may therefore 

 be interesting to follow the whole process of Flemish cultivation for 

 several crops preparatory to that of flax, which is the most im- 

 portant produce in that country, and that which, when well managed, 

 gives the greatest profit to the farmer. The best flax grows near 

 Courtray. The soil is a good deep loam, rather light than heavy. It 

 is not naturally so rich as the soil of the polders in Flanders and in 

 Zealand, but the tillage and cultivation are far more perfect, and the 

 produce, if not more abundant, is of a finer quality. Every preceding 

 crop has a reference to the flax, and is so cultivated as to improve the 

 texture of the soil, which is abundantly manured in order to leave a 

 considerable surplus in the ground. If the land has not been trenched 

 all over with the epade to the depth of eighteen or twenty inches, it 

 has been equally well stirred by the narrow open drains which are dug 

 out twelve or fifteen inches deep every year between the stitches in 

 which it is laid by the plough. These drains, or water furrows, are a 

 foot wide, and from a foot to eighteen inches deep. The earth taken 

 out of them is spread evenly over the land after the com is sown. 

 Wh'.-n the ground is ploughed again, care is taken that the place of 

 these water-furrows shall be shifted a foot on each side. Thus in six 

 t lie whole soil is deepened and thoroughly mixed with whatever 

 manure has been put on. This produces the same effect as trenching, 

 and even more perfectly. The whole of the land in which the beat 

 flax grows has been so treated for several generations, and may be 

 looked upon an a species of compost eighteen inches deep. Potatoes 

 or colza are usually planted with a double portion of manure, after 

 which wheat is sown, slightly manured ; then rye with turnips sown 

 the same year after the rye. These are taken up in September or 

 October, and stored for winter use. The land has been well weeded 

 while the turnips were growing, and all the manure is decomposed and 

 mixed with the soil. It is ploughed in stitches before winter, some 

 manure having been previously spread over it if necessary ; and it is 

 left exposed to the mellowing effects of frost and snow. As soon as 

 the winter is over, and the snow is melted, the final preparation goes 

 on. Deep ploughing and harrowing further divide and pulverise it : 

 < rt'ace is laid as level and smooth as possible ; and if there is no 

 i too much wet, which in this light loam soon disappears, the 

 whole i.-i laid flat and level as a bowling-green, or else divided into beds 

 with water-furrows between them. On this the liquid manure is 

 poured out, and the Dutch ashes spread if any are used, or the rape- 

 cakes, as mentioned before. The harrows are drawn over the land, 

 Mul it is left so a few days that the manure may sink in. It is then 

 attain harrowed and the linseed is sown broadcast by hand, very 

 thick and even, about one hundredweight and a half to the acre. A 

 bush-harrow or a hurdle is drawn over, merely to cover the seed, which 

 would not vegetate if it were buried half an inch deep. According to 

 the state of the land it is rolled or not, or the seed is trodden in by 

 men, as is done with fine seeds in gardens. This is only in the lightest 

 soils. Host commonly the tratneau is drawn over the land. This is 

 a wooden frame with boards nailed closely over it, which is drawn flat 

 over the ground to level and gently press it. In a short time the plants 

 of flax come up thick and evenly, and with them also some weeds. 

 Aa soon as the flax is a few inches high the weeds are carefully taken 

 out by women and children, who do this work on their hands and 

 knees, both to see the weeds better and not to hurt the flax with their 

 feet. They tie coarse pieces of cloth round their knees, and creep on 

 with their face to the wind, if possible. Thi is done that the tender 

 flax, which has been bent down by creeping over it, may be assisted by 

 tin.- wind in rising. This shows what minute circumstances are attended 

 to by thin industrious people. The weeding is repeated till the flax is 

 too high to allow of it. 



The seed which is used is generally obtained from Riga, it being 

 found that the flax raised from home-grown seed is inferior after the 

 first year. But many intelligent men maintain that if a piece of ground 

 were sown thin with linseed, so that the flax could rise with a strong 

 stem, and branch out, and if the seed were allowed to ripen, the 

 (*h seed would be as good as that from Riga ; but it still remains 

 to be proved whether it would be cheaper to raise it or to import it. 



When the flax begins to get yellow at the bottom of the stem it is 

 time to pull it, if very fine flax is desired, such as is made into thread 

 for lace or fine cambric ; but then the seed will be of little or no value. 

 It i therefore generally left standing until the capsules which contain 

 the seed are fully grown and the seed formed. Every flax -grower 

 judges for himself what is most profitable on the whole. The pulling 

 then begins, which is done carefully by small handsful at a time. 

 These are laid upon the ground to dry, two and two obliquely across 

 Fine weather is essential to this part of the operation. 

 Soon after this they are collected in larger bundles and placed with 

 the root end on the ground, the bundles being slightly tied near the 

 seed end ; the other end in spread out that the air may have access, 

 and the rain may not damage the flax. When sufficiently dry they 



are tied more firmly in the middle, and stacked in long narrow stacks 

 on the ground. These stacks are built as wide as the bundles are long, 

 and about eight or nine feet high. The length depends on the crop ; 

 they are seldom made above twenty or thirty feet long. If the field 

 is extensive, several of these stacks are formed at regular distances ; 

 they are carefully thatched at top, and the ends, which are quite per- 

 pendicular, are kept up by means of two strong poles driven perpen- 

 dicularly into the ground. These stacks look from a distance like 

 short mud walls, such as are seen in Devonshire. This is the method 

 adopted by those who defer the steeping till another season. Some 

 carry the flax as soon as it is dry under a shed, and take off the 

 capsules with the seed by rippling, which is drawing the flax through 

 an iron comb fixed in a block of wood ; the capsules which are too 

 large to pass between the teeth of the comb are thus broken off and 

 fall into a basket or on a cloth below. Sometimes, if the capsules are 

 brittle, the seed is beaten out by means of a flat wooden bat like a 

 small cricket-bat. The bundles are held by the root end, and the 

 other end ia laid on a board and turned round with the left hand, 

 while the right hand with the bat breaks the capsules, and the linseed 

 falls on a cloth below. The flax is then immediately steeped ; but the 

 most experienced flax-steepers defer this operation till the next season. 

 In this case it is put in barns, and the seed is beat out at leisure in 

 winter. When flax is housed, care must be taken that it be thoroughly 

 dry ; and if the seed is left on, which is an advantage to it, mice must 

 be guarded against, for they are very fond of linseed, and would soon 

 take away a good share of the profits by their depredations. 



Steeping the flax is a very important process, which requires ex- 

 perience and skill to do it properly. The quality and colour of the 

 flax depend much on the mode of steeping ; and the strength of the 

 fibre may be injured by an injudicious mode of performing this opera- 

 tion. The object of steeping ia to separate the bark from the woody 

 part of the stem, by dissolving a glutinous matter which causes it to 

 adhere, and also destroying some minute vessels which are interwoven 

 with the longitudinal fibres, and keep them together in a kind of web. 

 A certain fermentation or incipient putrefaction is excited by the 

 steeping, which must be carefully watched, and stopped at the right 

 tune. The usual mode of steeping is to place the bundles of flax 

 horizontally in shallow pools or ditches of stagnant water, keeping 

 them under water by means of poles or boards with stones or weights 

 laid upon them. Water nearly putrid was supposed the most effica- 

 cious, and the mud was often laid over the flax to accelerate the 

 decomposition : but this has been found to stain the flax, so that it 

 was very difficult to bleach it or the linen made from it afterwards. 

 The method adopted by the steepers of Courtray, where steeping flax 

 is a distinct trade, is different. The bundles of flax are placed 

 alternately with the seed end of the one to the root end of the other, 

 the latter projecting a few inches : as many of these are tied together 

 near both ends as form a thick bundle about a foot in diameter. A 

 frame made of oak-rails nailed to strong upright pieces in the form of 

 a box 10 feet square and 4 deep, is filled with these bundles set 



Frame in which the flax is packed to be steeped in the river Lya in Flanders. 



upright and closely packed. The whole is then immersed in the river, 

 boards loaded with stones being placed upon the flax till the whole is 

 sunk a little under the surface of the water. The bottom does not 

 reach the ground, so that the water flows over and under it. There 

 are posts driven in the river to keep the box in its place, and each 

 steeper has a certain portion of the bank which is a valuable property. 

 The flax takes somewhat longer time in steeping in this manner than 

 it does in stagnant and putrid water, and it is asserted by those who 

 adhere to the old method that the flax loses more weight ; but the 

 colour is so much finer that flax is sent to be steeped in the Lys from 

 every part of Flanders. When it ia supposed that the flax in nearly 

 steeped sufficiently, which depends on the temperature of the air, the 

 flax being sooner steeped in warm weather than in cold, it is examined 

 carefully every day, and towards the latter part of the time several 

 times in the day, in order to ascertain whether the fibres readily 

 separate from the wood the whole length of the stem. As soon as this 

 is the case the flax is taken out of the water : even a few hours 

 more or less steeping than is necessary will make a difference in the 

 value of the flax. If it is not steeped enough, it will not be easily 

 scutched, and the wood will adhere to it. If it hus been too long in 

 the water, its strength is diminished, and more of: it breaks into tow. 

 The bundles are now untied, and the flax is spread eveuly in rows 



