238 • HOW TO makp: the farm pay. 



latter should always stand in the pool several days before tlie 

 flax is harvested. The pool, if accessible on both sides, may be 

 eixteeu to twenty feet wide, if accessible only on one side, 

 eight to ten feet will be more convenient ; the size and ar- 

 rangemoat of the pool being wholly a matter of convenience. 

 The flax should be kept from the bottom by a layer of rails or 

 boards. Where soft water is to be had, the flax could be set 

 into the pool before it is turned on. The water should cover 

 the flax about six inches. Put boards over the whole and hold 

 them down by means of flat stones. After the water has been 

 on the flax seven days examine it by getting into the centre of 

 the pool and putting the hand down into the heart of the 

 bundle ; if it feels hard and wiry, leave it another day and until 

 it begins to feel soft, then repeat the examination thrice a-day, 

 until it feels quite soft, when a bundle should be taken out and 

 a lock of it bent several times across the forefinger ; when the 

 woody part of the stem breaks, and the loose fibre detaches from 

 the stem, it is on the point of decay and should not be left in 

 the water longer. Take out carefully by hand and not with a 

 fork. Never itse the same water tioice. It should n )w be spread 

 out very thin on the grass, for a week, to dry, then bound in 

 large bundles and housed. It is now ready for market, and 

 will bring a good price. There are other methods of retting, 

 but the above is the simplest and best. Any method that 

 accomplishes the same result is just as good, as for as the 

 flax itself is concerned, but the above is a safe, sure, con- 

 venient, and economical mode, wherever a stream of water is at 

 hand. 



A proper selection of seed is as necessary for the best success 

 in raising flax as in raising wheat. Riga seed has been often 

 pronounced the best, and we recommend with this crop, as we 

 bave for others, that the farmer raise his own seed. He can do it 



