98 FLAX CULTURE AND PREPARATION 



rotating clockwise, removes the bolls from the upper side of 

 the straw. The operator immediately withdraws all the straw 

 which is cleared practically of all the bolls at one operation. 

 The seed bolls then pass forward by gravity, between the fluted 

 pair of rollers 11 and 12 into the box 14, ready for cleaning. 



CLEANING THE SEED 



If for sowing purposes, the seed must be thoroughly cleaned 

 of all foreign matter, including chaff, leaves, dust, and weed 

 seeds. 



If of inferior quality, the bolls may be removed from the 

 straw before being crushed, cleaned from all leaves and dust, 

 and then ground up, seeds and all, into a fine powder or meal 

 ready for mixing in suitable proportions with other feeding 

 stuffs. 



After removing the bolls it is usual to give them a 

 preliminary screening so as to extract any short pieces of 

 broken straw that may have accumulated during the operation 

 of deseeding. 



The separation of the chaff, leaves, and dust from the seed 

 is usually accomplished by passing the mixture repeatedly 

 through a " Boby " machine, or set of same. The Boby 

 consists essentially of a fan, three sieves, and a suitable exhaust 

 through which the dust and small light leaves may be blown. 

 The chaff is carried forward to a separate exit, while partially 

 cleaned seed falls to the ground or any convenient receptacle. 

 An arrangement is added to this machine for the final opera- 

 tion of cleaning and separating the charlock and other weed 

 seeds from those of the flax. It consists essentially of a series 

 of small washers arranged and free to oscillate upon a series 

 of transverse stationary rods. Supported at right angles to 

 these rods and between the washers, are a number of longi- 

 tudinal rods which are attached to a reciprocating bar. The 

 reciprocation of this bar causes the washer to oscillate, and 

 thereby turn the flax seed on to its edge, which allows it to 

 pass through the fine sieve of about yV in. mesh, but the 



