CHAPTER IX 



SAVING THE FLAX SEED 



71. Fibre and Seed. 72. Farming Experiments. 73. Theory of 

 Imported Seed. 74. Experimental Results. 75. Harvesting Prac- 

 tices. 76. Final Stacking " Windrows " 77. Deseeding. 78. 

 Artificial Heat. 



71. Fibre and Seed. It has been generally experienced that 

 when flax straw is pulled and retted in the green state, the 

 resultant fibre is finer and silkier than the straw pulled at a 

 later and more matured stage, but the total yield in volume and 

 weight of fibre is relatively smaller. 



The desire and demand for fine and silky fibres are some of 

 the chief factors which induce some flax growers to sacrifice 

 the seed and ostensibly cultivate only for fibre. It conse- 

 quently happens that when the plants are pulled at such an 

 early period, the seed in the bolls is immature and too small in 

 size, and too light in weight for sowing. This seed may, 

 however, be rippled off the green stalks, artificially dried and 

 then crushed for feeding purposes. 



When it is proposed to save both the fibre and the seed, 

 it is usually better and safer to delay the pulling operation 

 from two to three days longer than would be considered 

 necessary if pulled for fibre only. Then if the straw, with 

 the seed capsules, is left to winnow and dry in the field, experi- 

 ence has often proved that, though the flax seeds are not 

 quite matured at the time of pulling, the sap in the stalk will 

 continue to further nourish, perfect and mature the seed 

 sufficiently as to make it suitable to be saved and garnered 

 for subsequent sowing. 



In every case when the flax crop is carefully handled and 

 harvested, the net result of the double crop is always much 

 higher than for the single crop of fibre or seed only. 



The yield of clean seed should vary from three and a half to 



77 



