STEEPING, BETTING, OB WATEBING. 51 



alone could do (see fig?). By this means, the seed- 

 vessels, or bolls, are broken, and the seed falls out. The 

 flax is well shaken by separate handfuls, to make every 

 grain of seed fall out. As soon as each bundle is 

 thrashed, the seed is pushed or swept on one side, in 

 order that another bundle may be thrashed in its 

 place. 



The bundle of flax is then tied up, to be ready to be 

 put into the water, in the following way : two bands of 

 rye or other straw are laid on the barn floor side by side, 

 thus (see fig. i.). S S are the bands of straw. One 



;w iw i| H] half of the thrashed 



bundle of flax is 

 A laid with its head, 

 H, to the left, and 

 the other half with 

 its head to the right 

 of the thrasher. 

 The thick portion 

 of each being re- 

 versed in place, the 

 whole sheaf, as pre- 

 pared for steeping, 

 is cylindrical. All 

 the flax is tied up thus, bunch by bunch, as it is 

 thrashed, and put aside into its proper place. Every 

 workman, at the end of his day's work, also carries the 

 seed which he has thrashed to the granary. 



THE STEEPING, BETTING, OB T7ATEBING. 



"Without the steeping, or rouissage, as the French call 

 it, the flax would be useless for textile purposes. The 

 fibres which constitute the flax and tow of the manu- 

 facturers, or material to be spun, are contained in the 

 bark of the plant, and are glued together by a gummy 

 and resinous matter, which must be got rid of, not only 

 in order to separate them from the stalk, or wood, but 

 also to give them the pliancy requisite for their destined 

 E*2 



