HARVESTING FLAX 231 



delayed until danger from them is practically past. On the 

 other hand, seeding at the earliest safe date is desirable in 

 order to escape the early fall frosts. Flax is usually sown in 

 the latter half of May and harvested early in September, 

 the growing season of the crop being from 90 to 100 days. 



HARVESTING AND HANDLING, 



291. Harvesting the Crop. The usual method of harvest- 

 ing seed flax is with the grain binder. The crop cures readily 

 in the shock and is not easily injured by the weather, though 

 excessive rains will reduce the value of the seed. The 

 seed is removed from the straw with the ordinary thresh- 

 ing machine. The harvesting of fiber flax is quite another 

 matter, as practically all the work must be done by hand 

 to insure fiber of the best quality. Various machines have . 

 been devised for the harvesting and later handling of fiber 

 flax, but they have not been entirely satisfactory. The large 

 amount of hand labor required in the production of this 

 crop accounts for its failure to find favor with American 

 farmers. For the profitable production of fiber flax, an 

 abundance of cheap labor is necessary. The plants are 

 pulled by hand and tied into small bundles, and are then 

 put into shocks for curing. Cutting them off by machinery 

 permits weathering and contact with the soil which injure 

 the fiber at the cut ends. 



292. The Handling of Fiber Flax. While the production 

 of flax for fiber may never become important in America, 

 the various steps in its handling are of interest. The seed 

 is threshed out of the bundle after it has cured for two or 

 three weeks in the shock, either by rubbing or by holding the 

 heads between revolving rollers while the straw is held in the 

 hands. The straw is then bound into bundles for the next 

 process, which is known as retting. This is the preparation 

 of the straw for the removal of the outer layers from the 

 stalk, by spreading it thinly on the ground and exposing it to 



