142 



FLA 



FLA 



rake, but with teeth longer and 

 nearer together, made of hickory 

 or oak, is fastened upon a block, 

 and the flax, taken in parcels no 

 larger than the hands can firmly 

 grasp, is drawn through, and the 

 bolls rippled off; attention to sort- 

 ing at the same time should be con- 

 tinued. The bolls are to be rid- 

 dled and winnowed immediately ; 

 spread thin on a clean floor, or on 

 sheets, in the sun, and when sufli- 

 ciently dry, and beginning to open, 

 threshed. By this method the foul 

 seeds are completely separated 

 with little trouble, and good clean 

 seed is ready for an early market, 

 often the best without the use of 

 expensive machinery to make it so. 

 Here the operations of the farmer 

 ought to end ! The proceps or 

 preparation being foreign to and 

 unconnected with his other pur- 

 suits ; and which has been the 

 greatest objection to extensive 

 flax culture. Can there be a rea- 

 son why the farmer is to prepare 

 his flax more than the hides of his 

 cattle, which he sends to the tan- 

 ner ? They are both chemical pro- 

 cesses ; and to dissolve the gluti- 

 nous or resinous substances by 

 which the fibres are attached to 

 the stem, without impairing their 

 strength, is perhaps as critical,and 

 requires as much care and judg- 

 ment, as to extract the animal jui- 

 ces from the hides, and fill the 

 pores with tannin. In short, the 

 flax grower, and flax preparer and 

 dresser, should be distinct profes- 

 sions. They are said to be so in 

 Flanders and Holland, and were 

 extensively so in Scotland, where 

 the farmer sold his flax on the 



ground, or in sheaves at his barn 

 or rick. 



" The preparation of flax by 

 steeping is very general in the 

 great flax growing countries in Eu- 

 rope, but it is not quite finished in 

 the water. It remains spread some 

 days on the grass, which is neces- 

 sary to render it soft, and give that 

 silvery appearance so desirable. — 

 The destructive process of dew 

 rotting, is most commonly practis- 

 ed in this country, and when wa- 

 ter is resorted to, it is at an impro- 

 per season, and the process imper- 

 fect ; which is the cause of its be- 

 ing so harsh and brittle. Perhaps 

 no part of the system requires such 

 an allowance for difference of cli- 

 mate. In the humid atmosphere 

 of Ireland, it is not very material 

 when it is spread ; but in this cli- 

 mate, v;hen exposed to a July or 

 August sun, every drop after a 

 shower, becomes a burning-glass, 

 and literally scorches the fibres ; 

 besides such a highly putrid fer- 

 mentation as will then take place in 

 the water, though it separates the 

 harle more speedily, not only in- 

 jures it, but communicates a stain 

 that renders the process of bleach- 

 ing much more tedious and expen- 

 sive. 



" The flax should not be put in- 

 to the water till about the first of 

 October, and remain from ten to 

 fourteen days, according to the 

 temperature of the weather, and 

 should be taken out before the fi- 

 bres will separate freely, spread on 

 the grass, when the frost will very 

 much assist the operation, and the 

 flax exhibits a gloss and softness 

 that it is impessible to give it oth- 



