HOW TO HARVEST DISPOSITION OF THE CROP. 17 



HOW TO HARVEST. 



Harvesters (with Twine binders) have now come into general use in this country, and 

 may be so adjusted as to cut the Flax quite close to the ground. This should be done in 

 order to secure the largest quantity of fiber, a matter which has hitherto failed to receive the 

 consideration its importance demands at least in the West. 



Pulling the Flax, as is the mode in European countries, is in this country out of the 

 question, both on account of the high price of labor, and the large acreage sown. But our 

 harvesting machinery has been brought to a high degree of perfection, and does the work 

 of cutting very satisfactorily, and at the same time binds the Flax in convenient sheaves or 

 bundles ready to be stocked for drying thoroughly before removal from the field. 



I 



DISPOSITION OF THE CROP. 



We now come to the most vital question of all, as regards the Flax interest in the 

 United States. W T hat shall the farmer, having harvested his Flax crop, do with it ? If he 

 can only thresh it out with the ordinary threshing machine, by which the fiber is torn into 

 small shreds, and thereby rendered unfit for the best manufacturing purposes, he suffers 

 great loss. The value of the fiber is reduced from $20.00 and upwards, to about $3.00 or 

 $4.00 per ton, being only fit for making coarse bagging, twines, upholstery tow, etc. W r hat 

 better can he do ? Perhaps some would answer : Let him put his fiber into merchantable 

 shape, by first "rippling" (or removing the seed), then "retting," "scutching," etc. 

 But this is wholly impracticable. The farmer is a producer, not a manufacturer. He 

 should not be burdened with the various complicated manipulations necessary to prepare the 

 Flax fiber for market. Hitherto this apparent necessity has been a chief obstacle to the 

 development of the Flax industry of the western states, and the indirect consequence has 

 been the absolute waste of hundreds of thousands of tons, annually, of this valuable raw 

 material. It is patent to every intelligent mind that the Flax grower has no time to devote 

 to even crude and preliminary manufacturing operations, even if he had the special 

 knowledge requisite.* 



What is imperatively needed, then, is a system by which the labor connected with the 

 Flax industry be divided. On account of the high price of labor in this country, the pre- 

 paration of Flax fiber requires the employment of expensive machinery, and the erection of 



*The following extract from a letter published in the IRISH FARMERS' GAZETTE, contributed by an intelli- 

 gent writer from the vicinity of Belfast, which is the great center of the Flax and linen industry, points 

 out the disadvantages of the system hitherto followed in Ireland and elsewhere, and advocates a radical 

 reform : 



u The present system of retting and scutching Flax is not at all what it should be. I do not suppose 

 there has been any improvement in either department for the last 30 or 40 years the same slovenly routine 

 year after year ; good Flax straw spoiled from being steeped too much or too little, or from being left too 

 long on the grass ; then when brought to the scutch-mill it is hurried through, because scutchers are paid 

 by the stone, and, of course, the more they can do in the day the better for them. The farmers are per- 

 suaded that the better the yield from the scutch-mill the more profitable for them, while the fact is that in 

 a valuable fiber like Flax the more carefully it is handled and the cleaner it is left the better it will pay the 

 owner. ***** The system, in my opinion, is altogether wrong. 



41 farmers should only be required to grow Flax and should have nothing to do with the steeping of 

 it. That is a delicate process, requiring a practical scientific knowledge and careful attention which could 

 not be expected from farmers generally. 



" In Ireland we can raise Flax straw quite equal to that grown on the Continent, which brings 15 to 20 per 

 cent, more than ours, but where we fail is in the steeping and preparation. I believe the Irish Flax trade 

 will never be satisfactory till the Flax can be bought from the grower and the retting and scutching 

 carried on the year round. It would almost revolutionize the linen trade in Ireland, We would 

 have Flax prepared for sale with a regularity in color and quality unattainable now," 



