FLAX, PREPARATION OP. 



water flows over and under it. There 

 are posts driven in the river to keep 

 tlie box in its phice, and each steep- 

 er has a certain portion of llic bank, 

 which is a valuable pro|)erty. The 

 flax takes somewhat longer time in 

 steeping in this manner than it does 

 in stagnant and putrid water, and it 

 is asserted by those who adhere to 

 the old method tiiat the flax loses 

 more weigiit ; but the colour is so 

 much finer, that flax is sent to be 

 steeped in the liys Irom every part 

 of Flanders. When it is supposed 

 that the flax is nearly steeped sufH- 

 ciently, wiiich depends on the tem- 

 perature of the air, the flax being 

 sooner steeped in warm weather than 

 in cold, it is examined carefully ev- 

 ery day, and towards the latter part 

 of the time several times in the day, 

 in order to ascertain whether the 

 fibres readily separate from the wood 

 the whole length of the stem. As 

 soon as this is the case the flax is 

 taken out of the water : even a lew 

 hours more or less steeping than is 

 necessary will make a difference in 

 the value of the flax. If it is not 

 steeped enough, it will not be easily 

 scutched, and the wood will adhere 

 to it. If it has been too long in the 

 water, its strength is diminished, and 

 more of it breaks into tow. The 

 bundles are now untied, and the flax 

 is spread evenly in rows slightly 

 overlapping each other on a piece of 

 clean, smooth grass which has been 

 mown or fed ofT close. Fine weather 

 is essential to this part of the pro- 

 cess, as rain would now much injure 

 the flax. It is occasionally turned 

 over, which is done dexterously i)y 

 pushing a long slender rod under the 

 rows and takmg up the flax near the 

 end which overlaps the next row, 

 and turning it quite over. Thus, when 

 it is all turned, it overlaps as before, 

 but in the contrary direction. It re- 

 mains spread out upon the grass for 

 a fortnight, more or less according to 

 the season, till the woody part be- 

 cofnes brittle and some of Itie finest 

 fibres separate from it of their own 

 accord. It is then taken up, and as 

 soon as it is quite dry it is lied up 



again in bundles and carried into the 

 barn, to be broken and haukled at leis- 

 ure (luring the winter. 



" In tiie domestic manufactures the 

 flax is broken or scutched at home 

 when the weather prevents out-door 

 work. The common brake consists 

 of four wooden swords fixed in a 

 frame, and another frame with three 

 swords, which play in the interstices 

 of the first by means of a joint at one 

 end. The flax is taken in the left 

 hand and placed between the two 

 frames, and the upper frame is pushed 

 down briskly upon it. It breaks the 

 flax in four places, and by moving 

 the left hand and rapidly repeating 

 the strokes with the right, the whole 

 handful is soon broken. It is then 

 scutched by means of a board set up- 

 right in a block of wood so as to stand 

 steady, in which is a horizontal slit 

 about three feet from the ground, the 

 edge of which is thin. The brokea 



Upright board to cle;ir tiie t)xx oftlie wood. 



flax, held in handfuls in the left hand, 

 is inserted in this slit, so as to pro- 

 ject to the right, and a flat wooden 

 sword, of a peculiar sha[)e, is held in 

 the right hand ; with this the flax is 

 repeatedly struck close to the upright 

 board, while the part which lies in 

 the slit is continually changed by a 

 motion of the left hand. This opera- 

 tion beats jff all the pieces of the 

 wood which s.,11 adhere to the fibre 

 without breaking it, and after a short 

 time the flax is cleared of it and fit 

 to be hackled ; but the operations 



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