6 FLAX CULTURE AND PREPARATION 



properties and is consequently supplied to cattle for this 

 purpose. The residue and chaff from the de-seeded bolls 

 may be, and frequently are, crushed to a fine powder and mixed 

 with other feeding stuffs for cattle and horses. Flax seed and 

 chaff are excellent foods for increasing the supply of milk. 

 The dust, leaves and waste combine to produce an excellent 

 manure, and even the water from the flax pond may advan- 

 tageously be run on to the land instead of into the nearest 

 stream. 



5. The Flax Fibre. The flax fibres are obtained from the 

 stem of the flax plant which is composed of three different 

 substances wood, fibre, and bark or skin. 



Fig. 2 is a photographic reproduction of a piece of the flax 

 stem, prepared to fully illustrate the location of the fibres in 

 the flax plant. A is the root end of the plant stem. At B a 

 portion of the internal wood has been removed. At C the flax 

 fibres have been pulled from the internal wood and left attached 

 in suspension from the stem. 



Fig. 3 is a diagram of a transverse section of the flax straw 

 as seen under the microscope. D shows the pith or wood 

 centre, *E the flax fibres and F the skin, epidermis, cortex, or 

 bark of the plant. 



The flax fibre is one of the bast tissues of the dicotyledonous 

 annuals ; as shown in the diagram, it occurs in the concentric 

 zone external to the pith D and inclosed beneath the cortex 

 or skin F. 



Flax, in its commercial form, is denominated scutched flax ; it 

 is made up into separate handfuls of about 1 Ib. .each in weight. 

 Fig. 4 is a photograph of typical scutched Irish flax. These 

 handfuls are subsequently made up into bundles or bunches 

 of about 2 stones in weight. To the casual observer the flax 

 in its commercial form suggests that its fibre is of considerable 

 length, but this visible length is artificial it is simply a 

 composition of aggregate bundles of ultimate fibres, longi- 

 tudinally overlapping and held together by a gummy substance 

 chemically denoted pectose (see Fig. 5). 



