232 



FIELD CROPS 



the weather for three or four weeks. After this time, the 

 various layers separate easily and the wood and bark are 

 removed by a process known as breaking. The straw is 

 either pounded with wooden mallets or bent in some sort of 

 machine, but the best quality of fiber is obtained when the 



Figure 



. — Samples of flax: at the left, the fiber type; at the right, flax grown 

 for seed production. 



work is done by hand with mallets. Any coarse fiber, bark> 

 or wood which remains is removed by a process known as 

 scutching, which consists of beating the bundles of fiber with 

 a series of paddles. This is sometimes done by hand, but 

 usually by machinery. The fiber is then sorted according 

 to its quahty and baled into bundles of about 200 pounds 

 each. It is kept in these bales until it is spun into thread 

 and woven into cloth, either alone or in combination 

 with cotton. Some of the finest laces and fabrics are made 

 from linen thread. The coarser fiber, or tow, is used in the 

 manufacture of twine and in upholstering. 



MARKET AND RETURNS 



293. Market Grades of Flaxseed. Minneapolis is one 

 of the principal markets for flaxseed, and the official grades 

 fixed by the MinneapoHs Board of Grain Appeals may be 

 taken as standard. These grades are No. 1 Northwestern, 

 No. 1, No. 2, and N-o grade, No. 1 Northwestern flaxseed 



