48 CORDAGE FIBRES 



The Flemish pullers pull the flax straw up in handfuls 

 about one-half larger than they can grasp in one hand. 

 When pulled they spread it a little as they lay it on the 

 ground in rows. The bunches should be laid with tops and 

 roots alternating, which prevents the seed bolls from sticking 

 to each other in lifting. The straw is stocked as soon after 

 pulling as possible, and never allowed to remain overnight 

 unstooked, except in settled weather. The stooking goes on 

 at the same time as pulling, as if rain comes on while on 

 the ground its colour is injured. A good stooker can put up 

 the produce of an English acre per day with two boys or 

 girls to hand him the bunches. The flax straw is handed 

 with the tops to the stooker. The handfuls are set up resting 

 against each other, the root-ends well spread out, and the tops 



joined like the letter A as shown in fig. 5. The stocks are 

 made 8 or 10 ft. long, and are very narrow at the top, and the 

 straw thinly put up, so that it may dry. In six or eight days 

 the straw is ready for tying into sheaves, like corn sheaves, 

 (see fig. 6). It is then ricked (see fig. 7), and allowed to stand 

 in the field until the seed is dry enough for stacking. In 

 building a stack (fig. 8) two poles are laid parallel on the 

 ground, as shown in the figure, about 12 in. apart, with strong 

 upright poles at each end. The straw is then built in, the 

 length of the sheaf in thickness or breadth. The bottom poles 

 are laid north and south, so that the sun gets at both sides 

 of the rick during the day. 



In building, the sheaves are laid tops and roots alternately, 

 built 7 or 8 ft. high, and finished on the top by laying a single 

 row of sheaves lengthwise across the others, and then another 



