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CHAPTER X. 



FLAX. 



THE plant which yields flax fibre is unique in its history. 

 Cultivated for the last 5,000 years or so, it has not been 

 replaced by any modern fibre. It was grown in Egypt and 

 Southern Europe in ancient times, and at the present day is 

 one of the most important vegetable products grown in Russia, 

 Austria, Belgium, Holland, Italy, and other European coun- 

 tries, as well as in Egypt, Turkey, India, China, and Japan. 



The figures depicted on the walls of ancient Egyptian 

 tombs have among them representations of the flax plant. 

 The mummies which have been discovered in the same 

 country are wrapped in linen, many of them being considered 

 to be dated not later than 2300 B.C. Ancient Greek authors 

 make frequent mention of flax as a textile material. The 

 remains of flax fabrics have also been discovered in the pile 

 dwellings bordering the Swiss lakes. 



In its cultivated state the flax plant is an annual } growing 

 from 20 to 40 in. in height, with alternate sessile leaves, narrow 

 and lance-shaped. It bears a cluster of blue or white flowers 

 on its top, which in the course of time produce capsules, 

 having five cells containing ten flat, oily seeds, either red or 

 white. 



A deep sandy loam is the soil which best suits the flax plant. 

 After a fine and level seed-bed has been prepared by ploughing 

 and harrowing, a reliable brand of seed should be sown rather 

 thickly broadcast over the field and covered in by the passage 

 of a harrow. 



