126 PLANT PRODUCTS 



by treatment with caustic soda, when it becomes stronger 

 and more glossy. 



Linen. — The flax plant, like cotton, has a double 

 utility. The flax plant, or linseed, grows in temperate 

 climates, and can be used either for the production of fibre 

 for flax, or linseed for food and oil, but not usually with 

 much satisfaction for both. The crop is rarely grown more 

 often than once in six or eight years, and does not need a soil 

 in a very high condition. I/inseed is sown on the flat in 

 well-ploughed land. Potash fertilizers are good, but phos- 

 phates only encourage weeds. The plants are preferably 

 pulled by hand, when the plant is only two -thirds of its 

 full height, that is, pulled about twenty inches high. The 

 seeds are then either beaten or ripped off, and the straw or 

 flax is retted, or rotted, by immersion in soft water. In 

 some cases the flax stems are merely spread out on the grass, 

 and allowed to decay with dew and rain falling upon them. 

 This is a process which takes from two to four weeks. Under 

 the system of pool-retting, the straw is immersed for about 

 ten days in standing water. In some cases it is preferable 

 to rett in running water in a stream. Combinations of the 

 different methods are sometimes used. The fermented 

 material is then run through a process of breaking and 

 scutching, combed out, and finally spun like wool or cotton. 

 Irish linen has the highest reputation, which is said to be 

 due to the slow bleaching which takes place from exposure 

 to the wet, pure air from the Atlantic. 



Jute. — Jute is a native plant of Bengal. It requires 

 moisture, and a fairly high temperature. It is sown in 

 March to May, and cut in four months' time, when it is six 

 feet high. The rough foliage having been removed, the 

 stems are removed in a similar way to the manufacture 

 of linen, then beaten, and combed out. The crude jute is 

 packed into bales and then exported for use in sacking and 

 other rough purposes. Jute, as a material for cloth, has 

 tended to die out in India, and has been replaced by cotton 

 materials. The lower parts of the stem often make an 

 inferior type of jute, and are, therefore, commonly cut off 



