106 FLAX CULTURE AND PREPARATION 



pond with the water a few weeks before putting in the flax 

 straw, or a better plan, if circumstances permit, is to run the 

 water into a collecting dam from which the actual retting ponds 

 may be filled as required. The water, during its period of 

 storage, mellows and softens, and experience has universally 

 proved that soft water is the best in which to steep flax. 



The longer the water has been stored in the pond, the sooner, 

 in a relative sense, will the flax be retted. If the water is 

 good and soft there is little reason to allow it to be stored 

 very long in the pond before steeping the flax. 



If the water can be obtained from rivers or other streams 

 which are exposed to the atmosphere for two or three miles 

 of their course it is preferable. The results then obtained are 

 usually satisfactory when the temperature of the water 

 exceeds 60 F. 



The position of the pond should therefore be near to a river, 

 brook, or stream, and arranged so that it can be readily filled 

 and easily emptied. If there is any objection to emptying 

 the water of the pond into the nearest stream, it should be 

 run out on to the land or into a sump from which it may 

 gradually filter its way into the nearest stream. It is advisable 

 to dilute the water as it flows from the flax pond by a 

 simultaneous flush of fresh water. 



Individual circumstances, facilities, and judgment must be 

 the governing factors for decision and action. 



The dimensions of each retting pond should be approxi- 

 mately 36 ft. by 10 ft. by 4 ft. for the produce of each statute 

 acre of flax retted. The sides of the pond should gradually 

 narrow from the top towards the bottom. A clayey soil is 

 preferable. A blue clay tints the flax bluish, a yellow clay 

 imparts a pale yellow and a peaty soil produces a whitish 

 flax. 



Once the pond is filled with flax it is not advisable to inter- 

 mittently permit any surface water within its vicinity to per- 

 colate or freely run into and mix with the water in the pond 

 because such action may tend to retard or stop the process 



