BETTING 113 



temperature and condition of the water. The temperature 

 of the water during the retting season varies from 54 to 77 F. 

 As the flax is removed it is allowed to drip for about a day 

 on the banks of the river. It is then dried and stacked until 

 the following year, when it is scutched or re-retted as 

 pre-determined. 



98. Twice Retting. A second retting is usually practised 

 with the flax straw which is judged to contain the best classes 

 of flax fibre. The resultant effects are generally better colour, 

 evener retting and quality of fibre, which more than compensate 

 for any loss of yield of fibre and expense incurred. 



In the Lys district of Belgium, where double retting origin- 

 ated and is now almost exclusively practised, the finest flaxes, 

 after pulling, are set up in long stocks in the field to dry. 

 When thoroughly dry it is put up into stacks or stored away 

 in barns and protected as much as possible from any vermin 

 until the following spring (see Fig. 59). Then, after retting, 

 it is again dried, and if of good quality, it is again stacked 

 until the following spring when it is either grassed or river 

 retted for a second time. In such cases the flax is not ready 

 for the market until almost two years after pulling. 



Experience has repeatedly proved that the quality of the 

 flax improves by storing either before or after retting. 



The second retting may be, if desired, and frequently is, 

 repeated during the same season. Usually not less than a 

 month is allowed to intervene between the first and second 

 retting. When double retting is practised, the first is natur- 

 ally of shorter duration than in single retting. 



Similar results to the foregoing may be obtained by retting 

 in large lakes of clean warm water where the supply is constant 

 and small. The combined advantages of running and still 

 water may be obtained by arranging for a small constant 

 supply of clean, soft, warm water to run into the retting pond. 



99. Dew Retting. The flax, when retted by this method, is 

 spread out thinly and evenly over a field where the grass has 

 been recently and closely cropped. About one to one and 



& (5259) 



