FLAX PRODUCTION 



107 



scutching blades and some adhering to the shieve. 

 This waste, known as " codilla " or " scutching tow/' 

 is used for spinning yarns for twines, canvas and other 

 articles. Much ingenuity has been applied to the 

 improvement of scutching machinery with a view to 

 saving time and labour and to producing as little 

 short fibre or codilla as possible. 



Sorting and Baling. After the flax has been 

 scutched it is sorted into separate lots according to 

 quality. It is then tied into small bundles, and 

 afterwards packed into bales under pressure. The 

 best qualities are covered with sacking, and each bale 

 is marked to indicate its grade. Raw flax is almost 

 invariably known in the market by the name of the 

 district in which it is grown, and is further classed 

 by special marks or letters to indicate the grade. 



PRODUCTION OF FLAX 



With the exception of Asiatic Russia, flax cultiva- 

 tion for fibre is almost entirely restricted to Europe. 

 An estimate of the production of the principal flax- 

 growing countries during 1907-1913, as far as official 

 data are available, is given in the following table, 

 which has been adapted from the statistics published 

 in the Year-book of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture. 



